Miraculous Rise of the Sphinx Review #XSX
Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx is based on the hit children’s TV series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir that revolves around two teenage superheroes, Ladybug (Marinette) and Cat Noir (Adrien). While fans may be overjoyed with this video game incarnation, the game unfortunately suffers from the curse of the Sphinx or specifically… the transitional curse of the TV/Movie to the video game format that more often than not is a miss than a hit. Regrettably Miraculous Rise of the Sphinx falls somewhere in the middle that is a very clunky experience on the Xbox Series X.
The game is also developed by Magic Pockets and as it is based on the characters from the TV series, some knowledge of these characters is required. At its core Miraculous Rise of the Sphinx is an adventure game with basic combat mechanics, however navigating the environment is very awkward, even though there is an arrow pointing you in the right direction. Fast travel does help somewhat.
If you haven’t guessed it by not, the story (obviously) revolves around Ladybug and Car Noir who are once again up against the villain known as Hawk Moth, including a plethora of thugs and bosses to be found along the way. As you progress, you awarded new abilities to help you move through the game.
While the game is dubbed a superhero game, it also focuses on the normal life of these teenagers that is a little boring at the best of times but I’m sure fans will enjoy. My kids just wanted to get back to the action! Like the TV series, it features the crush that each of the characters has on each other which is endearing but it’s nice that the developers have been faithful to the original cartoon series. Add in other friends, heroes, villains and Miraculous Rise of the Sphinx definitely mirrors the TV show well.
While the controls are well mapped on the XBX, combat mechanics are a little lacklustre as you make your way through a plethora of thugs that is repetative. However when you face the bosses in the game such as the first one, “pigeon man”, it becomes less of a button masher and more a game of timing. As a result, each boss has a particular way on how they must be defeated, including collecting new powers along the way to help. There’s also an element of Parkour as you jump across the rooftops of Paris which is relatively smooth. Further, the game also supports 2-players that does increase the enjoyment factor of the title.
Graphically, the game is reminiscent of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, so kudos to the developers for successfully recreating this universe with its all its characters and Paris-like environment. However… the environments are a little repetitive and lacking some attention to detail plus the frame rate shutters. Additionally the cutscenes work well in progressing the game which does mirror the animation from the TV Series. Audio when used works well, however there is quite a considerably amount of text to read that would have been far superior if this was spoken. Music, sound effects are okay but again, nothing that memorable bar the cutscenes.
Final Thoughts?
Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx is a game that targets children, however it lacks the polish of other games and as a result becomes quite repetitive and frustrating which mirrored the opinion of my kids. In the end, this game based on the popular TV series could have been a far more superior experience. Just because a game targets children doesn’t mean it needs to be mediocre.
Summary: Miraculous Rise of the Sphinx targets the younger gamer but fails to deliver a modern gaming experience.
2.8
Hmm....
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