METALLIC CHILD – Review

Our Verdict: 8/10

METALLIC CHILD by Studio HG is a rogue-lite game with a cute anime aesthetic. But don’t let the cuteness fool you because this game is packed from end to end with action.

METALLIC CHILD is a rogue-lite, core-action game, featuring Rona, an android known as “Metallic Child,” taking place in a space laboratory in the latter part of the 20th century.

A large-scale rebellion has taken place in the space laboratory Life Stream.
All robots aboard, with the exception of Rona and Pan, are conspiring to crash Life Stream into planet Earth.
Rona has stood up to stop this plot, and you will be the one to guide Rona by remotely operating her through this “game.”

What is Metallic Child

Classified as a core-action rogue-lite game, Metallic Child is quite unique. Unlike your standard Rogue-lite games, Metallic Child turns things around with its gameplay. While it has your straightforward isometric action, it also features other types of mechanics.

You have sections where you’ll turn into a jet and be in a bullet hell section, there are parts where you’ll get a crosshair and it turns into a shooter. There are some classic “running away from a massive rolling creature” moments as well.

The combat is also very addictive and fun. With the amount of variety that is available to the player, combat is an absolute blast. Powering up is done by robbing enemies off of their cores which never gets old. It’s one of my favourite mechanics in a videogame. Stealing from the enemy to improve yourself.

Look and Feel of Metallic Child

The game’s visuals are slick and clean. Since there’s so much happening on screen at once, you need good visual clarity. And that’s present over here. There are some fantastic designs present here.

There’s plenty of boss fights pleasant and they are all so different from one another. No two boss fights feel the same. It’s challenging but not because of visual clutter. The majority of the particle effects in the game are top-notch and I’m glad because there’s a LOT of particles flying around.

The UI fits the narrative quite well since you’re controlling Rona remotely. The HUD is like looking through a camera with all the important information about the robot on your screen. They’ve got vibrant colours that make it easy to read the information at a quick glance during intense battles.

Final Verdict

METALLIC CHILD is a great rogue-lite game that manages to blend a lot of different genres into its gameplay. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, thanks to the combat system. Add onto that the variability that lends itself to multiple playthroughs, and you’ve got an addictive game.

METALLIC CHILD is available now on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.