Rose and Locket Early Access Demo

A Wild West Journey Through the Underworld That’ll Take Your Breath Away

This is one I’ve been looking forward to. Rose & Locket has been on my radar for the better part of a year now, and I’ve been eager for a chance to get my hands on it.

Regular readers (all 12 of you) will know that a while ago I featured Rose & Locket alongside Guinea Pig Parkour and MindSeize on my list of indie games you should follow on Instagram. I consider them one of the stand-outs on the platform.

I commended Rose & Locket for its unique “wild-west underworld” aesthetic, striking visual style and creative character design. My eyes usually glaze over most of the indie game content I see on social media, but this one caught my attention as soon as I saw it.

I don’t think too many people know about Rose & Locket, but the game has a growing audience. I think their Twitter following grew from 1,000 at the beginning of the year to almost 4,000 at time of writing.

I took a break from reviewing games for a while to game for pleasure and make a dent on my Steam backlog e.g. Witcher 3, Dark Souls, and Darkest Dungeon. Hence, I’ve waited until now to finally see the playable demo.

Was it worth it? Yes it was.

Mechanics, Story and Gameplay

Rose & Locket fits into the rather wide bucket of the action-adventure genre, and features intense, fast-paced combat, action platforming, cinematic story moments and stark landscapes.

This isn’t a run-and-gun where you just hold down the right thumbstick and shoot your way through the whole game.

Well it is, but it’s more subtle than that. This is a game where you have to be quick to survive. You dodge and jump over your obstacles, evade your way around death, and strike at precise moments while also acting more from instinct than thought.

The story centers around Rose, a wild west bounty hunter whose daughter, Rosebud, is trapped inside an enchanted locket. The evil spirit who imprisoned her blackmails Rose into hunting down seven spirits in exchange for her daughter’s freedom.

Rose & Locket is done by two-man team Whistling Wizard, based in New Zealand, Roger (artist) and Ryan (programming).

Rose & Locket Highlights

The gameplay of Rose & Locket is fun, simple, straightforward and satisfying. It’s invigorating and leaves you with few if any dull moments. But the gameplay isn’t what elevates the game to a stand-out in the genre, as mechanically Rose & Locket is similar to other action adventure games I’m familiar with.

Notice that I say mechanically. Artistically and visually Rose & Locket is one of the most unique games I’ve played in a long while. The art, acting and music come together for a short but very memorable experience. It had moments that even gave me chills and took my breath away.

What really makes Rose & Locket interesting to me is its unique visual style. I haven’t seen or played any other indie game that looks like it does. Not in indie gaming at least.

The game’s art style does bear a certain resemblance to the works of cartoonist Gendy Tartakovsky, particularly Samurai Jack. I think it’s the character design. Rose and Jack both look similar with the slim builds and snow-white outfits.

Apart from that though, the devs attribute the resemblance to the use of negative space in both.

Rose & Locket is a very stylish game. It’s striking use of color contrast and shadow makes all of the designs, characters, and monsters really pop out of the screen.

The game doesn’t just look good either, it sounds just as good too. The sound design is top-notch and the music really gives me chills.

The voice acting is really spectacular. Voice actress Melissa Medinavo (@melissamedinavo) does a superb job at making Rose and Rosebud come to life. Even in the relatively short playtime the demo provides, she makes both Rose and her daughter relatable. You can feel their bond and the struggle they’re going through together from the emotions in their voice.

Feedback for the Early Access Demo

The Rose & Locket Early Access Demo is an example of a game that understays it’s welcome. It packs a punch and sticks in your head, and best of all it’s scott free. The demo really left an impression on me in the time I spent with it, but the playthrough is too short to really feel satisfying.

Imagine being presented with a molten lava cake topped with powdered sugar like the kind you find in fancy restaurants, given a little dessert spoon, and then having the desert ripped away from your reach the moment you take your first bite. That’s comparable to how I felt after playing through the Early Access demo for the first time.

This isn’t a criticism of the game itself. This is just a short teaser meant to give you a taste of what’s to come later, and the devs have confirmed that there’s another demo on the way. I’ll be waiting for it with eagerness and anticipation.

The Early Access Demo is packaged with a combat build where you can experiment with the combat mechanics. You cycle through waves of enemies on an endless loop while you play around with the different guns and get used to moving Rose around. It’s pretty fun, and a welcome addition to the Early Access demo.

A few niggles here and there. The combat build could use some additional features, and some of the UI elements could use some more tutorializing. I didn’t know how to change weapons in the combat build at first, and some little things like a score counter or a way to adjust difficulty settings would have been welcome.

However, I’m mindful that both the demo and the combat demo didn’t cost me a dime, and that the devs announced that another demo will be released soon. The few niggles I have aren’t meant as criticism as much as some friendly feedback for the developers, for them to take or leave as they choose.

Recommendation for Rose & Locket

Rose & Locket is a game that left an impression on me from the moment I saw it online. It’s not only fun to play, but a beautiful looking, sounding, and acted game.

The Early Access demo only lasts minutes, but the quality and production value crammed into that timeframe outweigh many other indie games I’ve seen with larger teams and more resources.

Rose & Locket is one of the games I’m most excited about this year. You can quote me on that statement. Please donate to their Patreon and follow them on Twitter and Instagram. You can play the demo at Itch.Io or GameJolt