Vexx (Xbox)

Acclaim Studios Austin, aka Iguana Software, is perhaps best known for developing the Turok franchise, though one of their last games was an obscure platforming game in 2003 by the name of Vexx. My interest in this game came from stumbling upon mentions of it online, and my curiosity took over from there. Since then, I had deliberated on whether to actually try it, even after learning of its difficulty, only to commit to taking the plunge when I found a complete physical Xbox copy of the game in the wild. Despite the difficulty level and some technical issues that became very apparent as I continued playing, I don’t regret my time with the game and even agree with the idea that it deserves more attention.

The world of Astara has been invaded by creatures known as Shadowraiths, led by the evil Dark Yabu. Vexx, who was put into slave labor with his grandfather Vargas, manages to escape and find the legendary Astani war talons, which permanently bind themselves to his body. With the power of the war talons, and help from an old man named Darby, he now seeks to rescue his grandfather and liberate Astara from Dark Yabu.

The game sets up an interesting premise, however I couldn’t help noticing that the story is largely nonexistent after the opening cutscene, only coming back for a midgame cutscene and the ending. From my research, apparently there was originally supposed to be a lot more to the narrative, however as it stands it’s generally easy to follow even if it seems to drop at least one or two plot threads halfway through. This, however, does not take away from the impact of a major twist during the midgame cutscene, which only gave me more of a motivation to press on despite the issues I had with the gameplay.

If you do any research on the game, you will likely find the gameplay commonly compared to Super Mario 64. I will freely admit that, as of this writing, I have never played that game, however I know enough about how the game works from watching gameplay footage that I began to agree with the similarities once I thought about it. For those who lack this frame of reference, the main goal of Vexx is to collect a number of Wraithhearts across various worlds by completing given tasks (in the form of riddles) assigned to each world. There are a total of 81 Wraithhearts to collect, though in this case the absolute minimum needed to reach the final boss is 60. The similarities to Super Mario 64 are more apparent in that you are instantly returned to the main Hub after collecting a Wraithheart, which can be obtained in any order you wish. Collecting enough Wraithhearts unlocks more of the worlds to explore, which you can also jump between in any order after you fulfill the requirements to unlock them.

Though the Wraithheart tasks differ between worlds, they usually include collecting 100 Shards or 6 Soul Jars spread across the level, or visiting a special hidden level accessible after manipulating a sundial to the right time of day. The sundial also has an additional effect on gameplay, as enemies you face in each world become more aggressive during the night, which can also occur naturally through the game’s day/night cycle. Also worth noting is that touching a spot where you already collected a Wraithheart boots you back to the Hub, however your progress in that world does not reset, allowing you to go back and keep going. Tracking down uncollected Wraithhearts is also made easier by the controller vibrating similarly to a heartbeat when one is nearby, giving you some idea as to whether you are going in the right direction or not.

Though not pictured here, the enemies get tougher and scarier at night.
(Vexx is on the right.)

The tasks for collecting Wraithhearts can get very creative, showing that a lot of thought was put into their placement. For example, one of the goals in Tempest Peak Manor involves beating a game of Breakout (not Pong as reported by some sources) on a giant TV screen, which involves turning on a video game console and a TV and playing the game on the thumbstick of a giant game controller. One other notable one in The Below involves opening a chest, to which the combination can be found “in the book”, meaning in the back of the physical game manual, much like Metal Gear Solid and reading the back of the CD case. There are even Wraithheart goals that cross over between worlds, such as one in DragonReach requiring you to go through one in TimberDale and one for Tempest Peak Manor being located in Summit of the Sages, suggesting a lot of interconnectivity between each world. The level designs can also get very creative, such as Tempest Peak Manor resembling the interior of a giant mansion and having a special “the floor is lava” rule, with the worlds themselves designed in a way that encourages exploration so you have an idea on where to go to collect Wraithhearts.

The game employs a lives system, for which you start out with five, though you can gain additional lives by collecting hidden icons shaped like a silhouette of Vexx’s head. While I haven’t been able to confirm this myself, I have also read that collecting 100+ Shards in a level (after obtaining the Wraithheart associated with that mission) also gives you an extra life and that losing all your lives results in you starting over at five. You also have a set amount of health with each life, though it is possible to regain health by defeating enemies or, alternatively, by smacking headstones and destroying breakable objects such as rocks. Defeating enemies also fills up a Frenzy Meter located in the upper right corner of the screen, which when filled up can grant you a temporary ranged attack until the meter runs out or you get hit (whichever comes first), which can come in handy with crowd control or tougher enemies.

Vexx can also swim underwater, though can only breath underwater for so long unless you run into an air bubble, otherwise it takes down your health and the meter speeds up. Additionally, swimming up to a ledge automatically launches you upwards onto it, removing the need to jump up yourself. The combat system is simple, yet lends itself well to combos, giving the game a touch of God of War in addition to Super Mario 64.

The ability to launch into the air comes in very handy.

In regards to what I’ve described, the controls are pretty solid and work as intended. As hinted at the beginning, however, the game has a rather steep difficulty curve, primarily in regards to the level design and the placement of a number of Wraithhearts. This isn’t unmanageable, however due to my skill level I eventually resorted to using a guide for assistance with obtaining some Wraithhearts and at the tail end of the game resorted to consulting a speedrun to collect the ones that were doable for me. Even with all that assistance, I was barely able to get the minimum 60 required to fight Dark Yabu. The Dark Yabu fight itself, however, was so difficult that I gave up after numerous tries due to the skill requirements surpassing my own physical limits, leading me to watch the ending online.

Not helping in this regard is the camera, which is permanently inverted and cannot be changed. I was able to adjust to this eventually, though only up to a point, however there are also times where the camera seems to have a mind of its own and can get stuck in some level architecture. As a result, a lot of the difficulty can come from fighting the camera more so at times than the actual enemies, leading to a lot more frustration than probably intended. This inverted camera also has an effect on the swimming controls, and so can take some time getting used to for those who are more used to non-inverted cameras.

The visuals, on the other hand, have aged surprisingly well. The environments display a lot of detail and creativity, feeling like a living, breathing, interconnected world, aided by some immersive sound design. A particularly creative world is Tempest Peak Manor, whose aforementioned mansion layout lends itself easily to a lot of creative level design (ex. a pole can be created from an extendable radio antenna). For as much as there is, the load times are surprisingly short, allowing for a very smooth experience that can very easily be played in chunks.

The environments have a great amount if detail put into them.

In addition to the sound design, the background music in each area is very memorable, though some tracks are more memorable than others depending on who you ask. The voice acting is also good, with Dark Yabu having a presence, though the lack of subtitles during cutscenes means I was thankful there was good sound mixing by default.

In spite of its overall difficulty, I still enjoyed my time with Vexx and don’t regret my purchase. If you can find a copy of it on any platform, this obscure game is definitely worth giving a chance, even if the difficulty curve gets to you.