Phoenotopia: Awakening

***Phoenotopia: Awakening*** is the remake of *Phoenotopia*, both being side-scrolling action adventure video games. All the features from the original Flash game have been revised and mostly replaced with completely new assets in addition to the many new mechanics, such as cooking and fishing.

*Phoenotopia: Awakening* is developed by Cape Cosmic and first released on August 20th in 2020 for Nintendo Switch in the US eShop. The game is later available for Microsoft Windows and the Macintosh operating systems on Steam and GOG, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

## Story

*Phoenotopia: Awakening* follows the similar premise of *Phoenotopia* and begins with a short narration briefing on the Great War that took place centuries ago. The war ended with the creation of the Phoenix weapon that eventually devastated the planet, forcing the remaining population to hibernate in underground bunkers while waiting for the Earth's recovery from the war.

And now, the story continues with the adventures of Gail, a young girl who sets out into the world to solve the mystery behind the sudden abduction of the villagers in her hometown Panselo Village by an unknown spaceship. With the only clue from the stars she has, Gail will travel the land and learn about the crisis the Earth soon has to face!

## Gameplay

*Phoenotopia: Awakening* is a side-scrolling action adventure that takes the player to a vast world of over 40 locations with diverse aesthetics and music, from lively desert towns with locals providing interesting Side Quests, to hostile dungeons filled with clever puzzles and dangerous enemies.

While the progression of the Main Story is mostly linear, player is free to revisit past areas for previously inaccessible collectibles. Besides the recurring main collectibles of nearly two hundred Heart Rubies, Energy Gems, and Moonstones, other collectibles include Consumable Items, Quest Items, Equipment, Tools, as well as learned Techniques and Songs.

Every aspect from the original *Phoenotopia* game has been revised and expanded for at least three times upon, according to the Dev Blog. Besides the additions of new mini-games such as cooking and fishing, Players now have more combat options in the form of debuting tools such as Civilian Crossbow. In addition, the Overworld mechanics now allows players to move around in a top-down view, which greatly expanded the exploring aspect.

## Development

Soon after the launch of the original *Phoenotopia* game, the development for *Phoenotopia: Awakening* began alongside the potential sequel. Quells later decided to focus on the remake instead, as mentioned in the 2nd year anniversary Dev Blog.

After the official launch date of August 20th in 2020, there were also multiple small updates that added QoL changes and various miscellaneous bug-fixes to the game. Notable changes include the implementation of Accessibility Options that reduce the difficulty of mostly the combat mechanics.

## Reception

At launch, *Phoenotopia: Awakening* received mixed reviews that generally praised the aesthetics and soundtracks, but criticised the combat system when compared to that of the Metroidvania genre before the implementation of the aforementioned Accessibility Options. The game received a score of 9/10 on Nintendo Life and 8.2/10 on Metacritic.

## Trivia

* *Phoenotopia: Awakening* is inspired by classics such as *Cave Story* and *The Legend of Zelda* series. The influence from *Zelda II: The Adventure of Link* can especially be seen in the Overworld Battles mechanics and 2D combat system.
* In one of the Dev Blog, Quells mentions that the dialogue script has well over 80,000 words in the 10,000+ text boxes of *Phoenotopia: Awakening*, which is comparable to the length of a novel.
* Since Quells anticipated that the sequel would not be released for at least another decade, the ending of *Phoenotopia: Awakening* was made to be more conclusive compared to that of the original game in order for the remake to better stand on its own.

## References

1. ↑ https://phoenotopia.tumblr.com/post/185287433788/2019-may-update
2. ↑ https://phoenotopia.tumblr.com/post/149235269068/announcing-phoenotopia-remake
3. ↑ https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/phoenotopia\_awakening
4. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/phoenotopia-awakening
5. ↑ http://phoenotopia.com/
6. ↑ https://phoenotopia.tumblr.com/post/189409587663/2019-december-update
7. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenotopia/comments/7x4un0/the\_phoenotopia\_timeline/dubuvt7/