Games have been a pretty popular medium for adaptations over the years. Whether a movie tie-in, an experience based on comic narratives, or even unique stories with the IP as a base, name recognition is a sure way to bolster numbers (just look at the landscape of Star Wars and Marvel games). Probably one of the more ubiquitous stories that’s been parodied or retold over the years is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. While Scrooge McDuck bouncing on his cane across the moon was enjoyable, I never expected to get a look at Ebenezer’s life where he’d be tasked with helping spirits unshackle themselves from their mortal sins, but here we are.
Ebenezer and the Invisible World is a Metroidvania that places the player in the shoes of Ebenezer as he traverses Victorian London. Following the guidance of chained spirits, he must face against evil entities (both alive and dead) as he attempts to get to put an end to the death grip of the industrious Malthus family, and Caspar in particular. Ebenezer will find himself interacting with both realms almost simultaneously, and while not wholly unique, it’s fun to see the different ways of getting around, such as the spirit train.
There’s a lot of mechanics you’d expect given the nature of the genre, but it also brings in some that aren’t always standard. On top of different weapon choices that will change the range, speed, and damage of attacks, they’ll have other effects such as regaining more of your magic to conjure spirit attacks (basically your varying specials for when things get nasty – you earn more as you progress and complete spirit tasks). On top of weapons, you’ll find little “familiars” that you can equip to assist you further, each showing what kind of benefit they’ll provide in the menu – the first one I found made a huge difference in my progression. There are also relics that will provide passive stats, like infinite air underwater, an arrow to point toward secrets, reciprocating damage when you’re hit, and much more. On top of these, you’ll find items for healing, as well as items you’ll use to upgrade your health and magic bars.
The experience is mostly enjoyable, especially following the patch that included a bevy of improvements from the state the game was in previously. That’s not to say it was bad or unplayable, but adding the D-Pad support really made the game feel more natural. The rebalancing in combat is also very noticable and makes the game less frustrating. The art style didn’t grab me at first, but it is a good looking game, especially when you begin to see more of the set pieces. While it’s not Symphony of the Night, it’s also not a slapped together 2.5D experience for the sake of saving money. The game is pretty forgiving, as death means returning to the last save point with all your progress and items from where you died. Admittedly, save points can at times seem far apart, especially at the beginning, but later on it’s really just a matter of proper navigation and avoiding battles that are too dangerous.
For the most part, my frustration in the game was due to my lack of patience (why Soulsborne games generally don’t jive with me), although I did run into some genuinely frustrating glitches. The first resulted in the game crashing whenever I tried to enter a particular room – it crashed a couple different times, but I was glad to realize it wasn’t required to progress. In reality it probably had some item I’d benefit from or something to complete a quest, but I won’t know until it’s fixed. The other was getting caught on a wall with no way to get off, which resulted in losing a fair amount of progress upon a reset. The game is also inconsistent with keeping your equipment as you have it upon death – sometimes it’d stay, other times I’d have to equip my gear again.
For players looking to enjoy a Christmas themed Metroidvania, Ebenezer and the Invisible World is tailor made for them. Aside from some evil spirits plaguing the experience and making me put the game down here and there, it was never enough to say bah humbug and not come back to it again. I’d be interested to see the team give this treatment to other stories from the past.
8 out of 10
Pros
- Fairly Deep Builds for Battle
- Interesting Use of IP
- Spirit World Interactions
Cons
- Glitches
- Inconsistent Mechanics
Ebenezer and the Invisible World was developed by Orbit Studio in association with Play on Worlds, who also published it. It launched on NS, PC, PS4, PS5, X1 and XSX. The game was provided to us for review on PS5. If you’d like to see more of Ebenezer and the Invisible World, check out the official site.
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