If you are familiar with the bullet hell genre, the idea of Witch Thief will be interesting to you. The developers tried to take their shooter into 3D settings and we applaud the idea, but has it turned out to be a good move in the end?
Beautiful Graphics and Minimal Story
Nobody expected a meaningful story since that is usually not a case in this genre. So, a grimoire corrupted with powers of an evil warlock is making other mages evil and our heroes have the task of putting the evil away once and for all. Witch Thief offers a total of four characters, but you only start with one. The room for dialogue is the start of a level and boss fight, which doesn’t leave plenty of room for character death.
As for the graphics, everything looks quite pleasing. Witches have spell and bullets and their effectiveness is portrayed by cartoonish and colorful animations. As for the sound, it is adequate and nothing more, but it is an indie game, so I guess you cannot expect too much.
Slow Down Time or Throw a Bomb
For those that played this type of games, there will be no surprise once the bullet hell starts. Your goal is to hit the enemies before they hit you, which means there is also plenty of dodging involved. If you want to aim precisely, feel free to slow down time by utilizing the focus button. Once you get surrounded, an excellent way out may be to throw a bomb.
Do not forget about the defensive end and dodging the attacks. It is a shame that this is a rechargeable command as that makes things a whole lot harder. While we are on the topic of difficulty, there are several available levels. The replay value is a bit limited due to the fact that there are only five levels.
A Bit Different Than Usual Bullet Hell
If you adjust the settings to normal difficulty, you will have three lives at your disposal. There is no option to continue and the fact that levels can last for a long time makes things harder. To make them easier, you can utilize checkpoints and healing items that can refill your health bar. The concept is a bit different than regular bullet hell games, but that doesn’t mean Witch Thief is bad. On the contrary, it boosts the fun players can have per level.
Considering it is 3D, it is worth noting that you will be playing from the third-person perspective. This is a smart move since it makes it fairly easy to watch your surroundings and see from where the enemies are coming from.