Title: Extremely Powerful Capybaras

Developer: Studio Bravarda

Release Date: December 5th, 2023

Reviewed On: PC

Price: $5.99

Check out our first coverage of Extremely Powerful Capybaras at Pax West 2023!

From Studio Bravarda, Extremely Powerful Capybaras is an adorable, action-packed roguelite adventure. Play solo or with up to four of your friends, fighting enemies, gathering weapons, and chilling as you embrace your inner capybara. Born from the spirit of Vampire Survivors, this brightly colored game had our team addicted when they tried at Pax West 2023, and now we’ve been given a chance to review the full version.

Disclosure: Boss Rush Network received a review code for the PC version of Extremely Powerful Capybaras. Neither Studio Bravarda nor PM Studios made any stipulations upon this review, nor did they or any representatives read it prior to publication.

Analysis

Gameplay

Though a controller is recommended for the smoothest gameplay, keyboard controls worked well. Aside from movement (WASD or arrow keys), main gameplay includes E for interaction and spacebar for dash. A mouse can help speed up ability selection when leveling up, but direction keys work just as well.

There are three levels: Fishy Swamp, River Rat’s City, and Volcanic Springs. Each level has a fifteen minute survival countdown. With a three star difficulty rating system, players start at Fishy Swamp with one star, working their way up, and once they defeated all three, the frenzy modifiers activate, allowing for each level to be customized with faster, stronger, and tougher foes. The more difficult a level is made through the frenzy modifications, the more coins you earn for defeating it, allowing players to unlock additional classes, level up their current ones, and upgrade abilities.

When defeated, enemies drop either orbs which provide experience in different quantities depending on color or watermelons which heal your capybara. How these are randomized, I couldn’t tell. Some rounds I’d go nearly the whole length without seeing a watermelon. Others, I’d get a watermelon within the first few seconds. Neither matched my needs. The watermelons and orbs don’t disappear, so if you generate one and don’t need it, just leave it for later.

Each time you fill your experience bar, you’ll level up, and the experience required increases with each level. For the first three minutes, the level up screen stops you every few seconds, pausing combat and presenting four abilities which you can equip. While disruptive at fist, once I knew which abilities I wanted out of the gate, the quick pause wasn’t an issue during solo play. If you don’t get what you want in the lottery draw, you can reroll three times. Rolling again does not prevent you from pulling the exact same four.

It’s easy to see how Extremely Powerful Capybaras could become the next big streaming hit, allowing groups to play together against adjustable foes. The graphics are adorable. Movements, though simple, are smooth, and players need to grind to earn coins to upgrade their abilities in order to progress. If you aren’t careful, you can easily lose hours to this game.

Classes

The game starts with four classes: Assassin, Warrior, Druid, and Bard. You can easily switch between them when playing solo, so there’s no need to worry about picking just one. Each class pairs with an ability, which players discover as they go, and once a player plays the full pair, they unlock an advancement such as the Druid becoming the Seer when fully upgraded with Mighty Bowl.

Additionally, all abilities which can be upgraded may be used by every single class, including the two hidden classes which can be unlocked. Of the ten available ability slots, two are taken form the start. Every capybara starts with dash and one class ability.

The Assassin wields four throwing stars, giving them a 36o multidirectional attack that allows them to attack in all directions regardless of where they’re facing. When combined with the Tornado Top and Hummingbird abilities, you create a solid wall between you and your enemies; however, by around the eight minute marker, the enemy hoard will overwhelm you if you don’t turn yourself into a capybara wrecking balls. Their ability to dodge is almost uncanny.

While I half-wanted to see a reinforced lute for a more physical and comedic attack, the single-directional strumming wave proved extremely limiting. I debated for some time whether the Bard or the Druid had the least effective class-based attack, and the Bard definitely lost. River Rat’s Fist and Hummingbird were vital to every single successful run I did with the Bard. Rodent’s Revenge also helped as the Bard’s attack is most useful when throwing yourself at your enemies, which was a little too in character for my taste.

The Druid took me to my first victory; however, the diagonal range attack proved a bit difficult, requiring more holistic attacks to cover the gaps. Like the Bard, the Druid does well with River Rat’s Fist and Hummingbird for a quick early round combo. Of all four starting classes, the Druid has the only real range weapon, and if you don’t get lucky on your ability draws, the Druid’s class-based attack can still be useful if you have to run away, so they win out over the bard.

Easily the best and easiest class to start with. The Warrior’s spear attack allows a multi-directional attack, maximizing early game orb collection. Because of the flexibility of the Warrior’s starting attack, players can easily select the less precise but more destructive abilities like Jackfruit Meteor, and with Rodent’s Revenge equipped along with Hummingbirds, the Warrior took me to the end every single time.

Training Grounds Reviews

Prior to the release of the full version, Studio Bravarda offered a free prologue, Training Grounds. Not only did this give players a chance to experience the mechanics and check out the game, but the reviews gave Studio Bravarda a chance to uncover the more problematic bugs and address them. Common ones noted were issues with online gameplay de-syncing, performance issues with the menu, and complaints about the music / sound design.

Unfortunately, I was not able to test multiplayer with the review key, so I can’t comment on the sync issues. That being said, the menu repeatedly lagged, and the regularity of the ability selection level-up screen in the first three minutes of every level would undoubtedly make early gameplay stunted with more than one player.

Though the music and sound design weren’t noteworthy, I would say the majority faded into the background easily enough, and as there aren’t audio cues, I ended up muting in game audio and playing my own music. However, the audio shift to the menu screen was grating, so I can’t say those reviews were completely unwarranted.

The most frustrating glitch in the full version of the game had higher level enemies in position and attacking from the onset, providing no time to acquire the abilities which are generally needed to defeat them.

Additionally, a few reviewers argued that Studio Bravarda mischaracterized the game as a bullet hell. The game’s blurb states, “Become the bullet hell…” indicating the game is a bullet heaven due to the player being the source, but whether that’s intentionally confusing phrasing on the developer’s end or whether reviewers who misinterpreted it jumped to conclusions, I’ll leave up to you.

Final Score (3 out of 5 Stars)

If you are a completionist, Extremely Powerful Capybaras will be a slog; however, the cute graphics and quick fifteen minute rounds per level prove addictive, leaving a player feeling like their goal is within in reach. To get everything in the game, including the two hidden classes, you’ll likely have to spend a few hours if not several depending on your experience with reverse bullet hells or bullet heavens.

Ultimately, outside of the visuals, Studio Bravarda has kept to the usual aspects of the genre. Each of the three levels has different enemies. Most are only slightly different visually with the same attacks. The most unique ones are the beholders, but those are shared across both River Rat’s City and Volcanic Springs. However, unpredictable attacks and individually difficult enemies aren’t what would be expected in a reverse bullet hell anyway, so the bigger problem comes down to the items and abilities equipped throughout the game being identical except for one class-specific one.

If the intention was to create a reverse bullet hell inspired by the cuteness of capybaras and RPG classes, then they managed the former, but their lack of individualization failed the latter outside of visuals. Instead of making the synergies a mystery for players to find, each class could’ve had four or five abilities specific to them which, when leveled up, allowed the Warrior to become the Barbarian, the Druid to become the Seer, et cetera. The remaining slots could be shared between the classes, catering to a more diverse experience when playing solo. As it currently stands, outside of the first thirty seconds of a level, any class can be modified into basically the same exact character.

Most of these issues were brought up in reviews of Extremely Powerful Capybaras: Training Grounds, which is what took this from three and half stars to three. If you’re going to put a free demo, regardless of what you call it, you can’t just say you’re using it as a test run if you aren’t going to fix the problems in the full version.

Tell us what you think! Will you be playing Extremely Powerful Capybaras? Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.

Source: Studio Bravarda

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