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Vernal Edge

Vernal Edge is a 2D action-packed Metroidvania featuring an intense combat system, tight platforming sequences and a powerful story of rivalry, revenge and growth.

Critics

Storyline

The Kingdom of Haricot stands out as a complete mystery as 20 years before the event of the story, it inexplicably took to the skies, turning into a series of disconnected floating islands, allowing the power-hungry Church of Aloe to take hold of the land. Entering Haricot by sneaking on one of the Church’s aircrafts, Vernal has a personal disdain for the Church and its agents. She is an independant adventurer, travelling through Haricot as she searches for revenge on her long-gone deadbeat dad. Blessed with an abnormal martial prowess and helped by the amnesiac automaton Chervil, she goes through the different islands of the Kingdom with her own aircraft.

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Mostly Positive

12 Steam reviews

Review History

Reviews

12 total

≥h

Steam User 1856STEAMRecommended

This game's combat and movement systems are phenomenal. If you are a fan of DMC-based, free-flowing combat systems, you will thoroughly enjoy Vernal Edge.

The game is a metroidvania with a simple revenge story and heavy focus on "locked room" arenas. 100% gameplay took about 10 hours, and a bonus difficulty is unlocked after being the game once (there is a code to unlock early, do not do this, you will be frustrated). Vernal edge has very sparce tutorials, which I believe actually work toward the game's benefit. Most mechanics are shown and not told, and discovering how systems interact through discovery rather than tutorial textbox creates many [i] holy crap you can do that [/i] moments, it scratches the itch just right. You aren't given much signposting as to where to go either, but I believe the tradeoff is balanced rather well. Most areas are able to be 80% cleared in their initial visit: you find the metroid progression move and the entire area revolves around using it. Cleverly, most larger-sized islands contain movement upgrades, while smaller ones contain optional content. An almost nearly essential combat item is located in a slightly hidden spot [spoiler] in a shop in the first major town [/spoiler], but the game clearly indicates something is important nearby with a textbox (and honestly, if you have any intuition from previous metroidvanias it should be very simple to find). Very minor sequence breaking is possible, but no major item can be sequence-broken, all the majors are out in the open. There is an "easy" order to collect items (some movement is really strong), but you can get an island's major item on the first visit every time.

The pixel art is good, the progression/escalation feels good (for the most part), the story is simple yet has very interesting subtext/implications, and the combat has the sauce. For a comparison against its contemporary heavyweight contender Hollow Knight, Vernal Edge is much less "smooth" and more gritty, but substitutes graphical polish and precision control for weightier, comital, and more inter-connected gameplay/interaction systems.

[h3] Now I will glaze the combat and movement. [/h3]
The primary combat loop revolves around managing enemy stagger bars, denoted as blue orbs below enemy health bars. Once an enemy is "broken", a timer begins in which they can be freely attacked without retaliation. If an enemy is grounded, they recover very quickly. There are multiple ways to knock these enemies airborne, the easiest are the up-attack (simple launcher) and the down-attack (slide). Keeping enemies staggered is key to success.

Basic attacks have a normal, up, down, aerial, and charged variant. Depending on the direction you hold (or hold for charge), you will perform a different attack. Charged attacks and the final hit of a fully executed combo (no up or down held) will deplete one orb of the stagger bar. [spoiler] A charged down attack does 2 stagger damage, and is necessary to upgrade on higher difficulties. [/spoiler] You can also guard attacks from one direction, and deal stagger damage on retaliation. Attacks are rather comital, as you are locked into an animation for the duration of the input. Dashing can interrupt some inputs, letting you narrowly escape, while guarding cannot (although guarding is much stronger defensively). Some enemies track you very well, however, so dashing can be a worse alternative than the almighty simple jump.

The titular "pulse edge" is a major healing/movement component of combat. At any point you can throw a projectile to mark the first enemy struck. Attacking enemies builds up "pulse mana", and once the bar reaches solid white, you can perform one of several [b] PULSE [/b] moves, depending on the direction held and if you're airborne, on the marked enemy. Activating these moves generates red healing orbs from enemies on hit. Some pulse moves also act as movement. [b] Do note [/b] there is minor hitstop during some moves, meaning directional inputs can be "eaten" and you perform a different move than what you want. There's a learning curve in knowing how much hitstop happens, and when to slightly delay an input rather than spam.

There are two upgrade/customization options as well. Spells act like traditional spells, and you can have 4 equipped at a time. You have a "spell mana" bar that starts full, and each spell depletes a certain amount of mana. Once your mana is fully gone, the bar will turn green and slowly recharge. Spells can be cast [b]as long as you have mana[/b], meaning if you have a sliver left you can still use an expensive spell.
Memories act as a passive bonus, changing or improving combat capabilities. Equipping a memory takes "memory points", which you'll find as an item. Each memory takes a certain amount of points, usually proportional to the strength of the upgrade. One of the earliest memories lets your "pulse mana" recharge faster if your "spell mana" is drained/recharging. Never unequip this. Pulse is the only way to reliably heal, so if you're going to die, spend all your mana so you can recharge pulse faster.

The movement, much like the combat, is comital. It's both very rigid yet super smooth, I can't describe it well. You have a short dash, and the earliest upgrades are a "wall jump" that's just one jump to reach higher spots, and a slam down that breaks boards (no combat damage) and lets you slide fast down slopes. Later, you receive much more airborne mobility. Platforming is challenging but fair, and shows you the simple way to use your movement options.

Cool mechanics if you want to be spoiled
[spoiler] Slamming into a slope causes you to slide. You can jump to conserve momentum, and attacking during a slide does a cool spin. Once you have the air-dash move, if you dash diagonally downward and slam in quick succession, you can begin sliding [b]anywhere you want[/b]. [/spoiler]
[spoiler] Hitting taunt in the air makes you do a little spin. After getting the launch move, hitting taunt now makes you do a small double jump. [/spoiler]
[spoiler] If you need more height, use the charge aerial up attack (makes you spin). I find jumping, charge up-air, and dashing lets you collect some items early. [/spoiler]
[spoiler] [b]All moves[/b] allow directional inputs. This includes the taunt attack memory, it has different versions depending on the direction you hold, and if airborne (taunt down air is really good). [/spoiler]

Mar 20, 2026·24h·Verified

Steam User 9823STEAMRecommended

This review is gonna spoil quite a bit of the game aspects such as gameplay and mechanics, for that i'm gonna say if you're looking to spend some time (20+ hours) and you wanna play a fun metroid-vania with an interesting fighting system, amazing music, sound design, art direction and worldbuilding, give it a go. to ain't silksong, but not everything is that way.

So before i absolutely glaze this game for the beauty of a game, let me set some expectations.
The game is the first major release of the developer and it shows in many aspects and you have to take that into account when you judge any game. With that being said, lets talk pros/cons, starting with cons.

cons:
1: Tons of upgrades and variety of spells, from the get go.

2: Unbalanced spells to the player favor(timebomb is skitz and you can't tell me otherwise)

3: Not a big variety of enemies to encounter.

4: Not a very clear upgrade system for damage upgrades, after a point i felt like a did a bunch of damage out of
nowhere, when early in my playthrough i did nothing and had to do lots of combos and keep them stunted.

5: The way the plot is presented to you feels awkward at best and kinda being spoonfed at most. On that lots of plot lines don't resolve nor followed up, kind of happens and that's it.

6: Little to no direction in terms that it feels fragmented and disjointed, which i founded interesting, gave me the
sense that as the land is fragmented and everything is in the air, so is the information given to you.

7: Tutorials page/guide missing, a big foul ,for me and any game generally that has a clear combo system. It is needed its generally if you forget how something works or you want a refresh on what you know.

8: quest markers of any kind and unresolved, though i will admit this more of a me issue than the games issue, though something seem to be leading or set up to something but never actually go anywhere, example is the flower guy in pyrena, i get that it's the little flower map location but it felt i had to bring the guy somewhere or fetch something for him.

now the pros:
1: Amazing soundtrack, never felt like a music piece was out of place with the theme and rosalis theme is a vibe

2: combat system and combos are the best thing about the game, juggling 3 different enemies and using the to poise break the next whilst hitting pulse with the powerful strike, and then you also have spells the supplement you entire play style and combos, imagine the above + you time there recovery wit ha timebomb+ a charged attack to those who have poise +3, going immediately to guard, counter, chain, chain, chain, etc.e
Easy W to the team i have no complains

3: Memory system is wanna my complains in terms of getting stuffed with a lot of upgrades but at the same time is one of the aspects that makes you say, if the game was a little bit longer this could've been amazing. Not straight upgrades but a fun way to make variations in play style, a bit of a stretch to say that it's like sekiro's shinobi tools system, but you get the point, need a little be more polish but still great.

4: Amazing mobility options, dashing downwards to then get a big leap for dashJump through levels, using charged air up to get a bit of height, the small extra small jump that you get from the air taunt to cheese the pyramid when and where you couldn't because you don't have a certain upgrade is the kind of, some say junk and not intended to get certain treasures until i have a certain pulse ability, but for me as a player, i appreciate when a game gives the opportunity to test the limits of where i can go with i little bit of creativity.

5: Fantastic animation and sprites, backgrounds effects etc.

All in all the cons don't over weight the pros in my opinion, i just listed them out to say what felt that it didn't hit the mark, but vernal edge is a fantastic game with ambition and i hope Hello Penguin Team is doing well and i can't wait for the continuation of the story in vernal edge 2 : electric boogaloo

(HELLO PEGUIN TEAM LLC., RELEASE VERNAL EDGE 2 AND MY MONEY IS YOURS !!!!)

Mar 20, 2026·19h·Verified

Steam User 0141STEAMRecommended

This game sits right at the edge of being amazing and just being "kinda okay."

There are a lot of things it gets right but will have one little thing that keeps it from being perfect.

The movement abilities and skills you get through the game are really cool and fun and unique, but sometimes they feel a little imprecise and some platforming sections get a little awkward for it.

The character designs are great and the story has an interesting setup, but a lot of those characters don't really get fleshed out and the payoff on the overall story is underwhelming. I love a good story of a character on a quest of revenge to kick their terrible parent's ass, but it felt like the final payoff on the story didn't quite hit. It didn't feel like the reasons for your father's actions were well explained enough to really give the overall narrative a good payoff.

The combat is fun and tough and rewarding when you really get into a good flowstate, but the constant being locked in arenas, minimal enemy variety, and just how intensive the combat is designed to be with having to combo, juggle, and break through guards... well it can wear on you. The arena tower, while on one hand being one of my favorite parts of the game, was also the most draining. There were a few sections of the game where when I finished I just needed a break and put the game down for a while.

Aesthetically the game nails it. I love the way zones were broken up into sky islands and while there isn't a lot to flying the ship around the overworld to go between areas, it still had this charm to it and I'm glad it's there. It could have been a simple menu that you scroll through and select the area you wanted to visit and it would serve the same function but something about being able to fly a little low poly ship between floating islands makes "level select" feel more part of the world.
Overall I really enjoyed the game and I do think it's worth playing if you're a big metroidvania fan and looking for something that has a bit of unique feel. The combat was clearly the focus, and for me it really clicked, it just was *a lot* sometimes. I definitely would say to give it some time for you to really get used to the combat, it's one of those systems that rewards mastery and the better you get at it the more fun it becomes to juggle enemies to death.

Mar 16, 2026·15h·1·Verified

Steam User 0303STEAMNot recommended

Game controls very poorly, very bad combat, very floaty. It doesn't take more than 13 minutes to realize this game is mechanically and fundamentally flawed beyond saving

Mar 15, 2026·Verified

Steam User 3390STEAMRecommended

A great time from start to finish and one of the best Metroidvanias I've played. The music was a treat for the ears and the pixel art is wonderful. A lot of people have mentioned having issue with navigation, but I never had any problems figuring out where to go.

My only real negative is that the game does have some technical problems, mostly Vernal getting stuck on terrain sometimes.

10/10 game, give it a try!

Mar 14, 2026·19h·Verified

Steam User 2431STEAMRecommended

-Unique and fun combat system. There could be more spells, though.
-The lack of maps does NOT do the game any favors. Plus the game is pretty vague about where to go and what to do.
-Movement is very innovative, if not always intuitive.
-Story is solid; nothing groundbreaking, but solid.
-The art has some rough spots, but the game is far from ugly.
-The music adds a really good atmosphere.
Overall, Vernal Edge is a great game to sink your teeth into. Would be happy to revisit someday.

Mar 10, 2026·15h·1·Verified

Steam User 9321STEAMRecommended

If Vernal Edge is so good where is Vernal Edge 2? 🤔

Mar 1, 2026·17h·1·Verified

Steam User 4791STEAMRecommended

Mt bom

Feb 26, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 7136STEAMNot recommended

重复性太高

Feb 22, 2026·6h·Verified

Steam User 5955STEAMRecommended

Really fun, I don't think it deserves so many negative reviews.

My view is obviously biased by getting it on sale for 4 bucks, and I will say this is probably closer to a 10 dollar game in quality and issues. Get it on sale.

The main negatives are the loss of a world map (for a nice looking flying section which is meh) and due to that how often you can wander around lost. You're normally offered up 4-5 islands per section to visit and normally only 1 has progression items to allow you to do anything in the other islands.

Otherwise, great game. Fun combat (DMC like?) great art, very good chill music, and the movement abilities are butter smooth.

Feb 20, 2026·9h·1·Verified

Steam User 9840STEAMRecommended

Um jogo muito bom, com uma bela exploração, tem um grande focos nas mecânicas de movimentação, o combate é bem divertido mas com um problema minimo nas colisões dos ataques inimigos que são um pouco fora do limite da animação em si. Finalizei no modo difícil e não achei tão angustiante pois o jogo te da muitos recursos para ficar forte se você estiver disposto a explorar os cenários para pegar as melhorias.
Visualmente mostra um diferencial apenas durante a viajem entre as ilhas que achei bem diferente.

Feb 18, 2026·21h·Verified

Steam User 9472STEAMRecommended

Juegazo

Feb 18, 2026·23h·Verified

LANGUAGE	AUDIO	SUBTITLES	INTERFACE
English	Y	Y	Y
Chinese (Simplified)	Y	Y	Y
Chinese (Traditional)	—	Y	Y
English (UK)	—	Y	Y
French	Y	Y	Y
German	Y	Y	Y
Japanese	—	Y	Y
Portuguese (Brazil)	—	Y	Y
Portuguese (Portugal)	—	—	Y
Spanish (Spain)	—	Y	Y

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Vernal Edge

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