NanoApostle is a boss rush sci-fi game that is almost entirely composed of difficult encounters against massive bosses. The game contains six boss fights, which will take on average somewhere between 6 and 8 hours to complete and 10 to 20 hours to platinum, depending on how good you are at video games.
The game puts us in the shoes of Anita, a young girl who wakes up inside of a testing lab with a parasite attached to her. Anita and her parasite, Kuro, are subjected to various tests and treated as a living weapon, facing up against massive robots and cyborgs until they eventually die, all for the sake of combat data.
So, is there any more to this game? Are the bosses any fun? Is it made only for crazy people who like ultra-hard games? (Yes). Find out the answer to these questions and more in our full review for NanoApostle.
NanoApostle
Developer: 18Light Game
Publisher: PQube
Platforms: Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: September 12, 2024
Players: 1
Price: $17.99
It goes without saying that NanoApostle is a very tough game, but it never feels overwhelming or too difficult to keep track of. The game is visually clean and fights don’t consist of throwing mechanics at the player until they are exhausted, instead relying on careful timing and subtle changes from boss to boss.
There’s a good chance that your first boss encounters will be a massacre, as you slowly learn how to react and exploit each move performed by the bosses. The game forces players to engage with its systems on a mechanical level, and will constantly throw out tests of your reflexes and memorization during fights.
Each boss fight has a different set of objectives, like reaching the boss’ second phase a certain number of times or interacting with the boss’ attacks in specific ways, as well as a few “perfect” run requirements, which involve not getting hit by certain mechanics or clearing the fight without taking any damage.
NanoApostle is relatively simple as far as its combat goes: The player has a melee attack and a ranged shot, both of which can be charged, as well as a dodge. The game does a lot with these three systems, and each boss introduces new mechanics, as well as new power-ups, that can change how you’ll approach future encounters.
Every new fight in NanoApostle serves as an escalation of the last one, being visually and thematically different, but serving as increasingly tighter tests of your basic game knowledge, constantly providing less room for mistakes.
Every single one of the game’s systems are instantly recognizable and understandable, which creates a fast-paced experience where your mechanical execution is what truly matters. There are subtle visual indicators for attacks that can be parried, and every attack feels perfectly timed to give you just enough time to react.
Your moveset and skills evolve as each fight passes, and every new encounter both introduces and puts a new mechanic to the test. The best example of this is the game’s third boss, who has an entire health bar of armor above his regular health, which forces the player to use charge attacks in a bunch of different ways to break through.
Kuro’s moveset may be very simple, but it’s expanded by just how many attacks of opportunity the player gets when facing bosses, making their movesets an extension of your own. Every new mechanic introduced also affect older bosses, which makes it really interesting to replay earlier fights and see just how many different interactions your attacks can have.
It feels fantastic to take down earlier bosses with your new tools and knowledge, making what was a huge obstacle at some point feel trivial. The upgrades and new skills you get matter a lot, but the biggest layer of meta progression in NanoApostle is your knowledge of fights.
Visually, NanoApostle scratches a very specific itch, Kuro is this mass of Tokyo Ghoul-esque tentacles, who surround Anita in a protective manner. He’s not as impressive during combat because of Anita’s small size, and you’ll probably not even look at your character that much during combat, as focusing on the boss is what matters the most, but he still looks pretty cool in the game’s art.
The bosses all look fantastic during their encounters, and are incredibly expressive with their animations. Not only are their designs great, but their animations are very readable without sacrificing their style.
Every boss has an instantly recognizable theme, and their fights are all wildly different. The fourth boss is an especially fun encounter, as he breaks up the game’s pacing of sci-fi-themed enemies by looking straight up supernatural.
Overall, NanoApostle is possibly one of the best boss rush games out there. The game perfectly balances its difficult encounters by giving tools to the player, and taking the time to platinum it was a blast. It goes without saying that we need a sequel ASAP.
It’s almost difficult to put into words just how special it is when a game manages to extract 200% out of its mechanics in a way that feels so satisfactory from beginning to end. NanoApostle is a masterclass in boss encounters, as every time you replay a fight you find a new way that a boss’s attacks interact with yours.
The game’s last boss may be a little overtuned if you are trying for a no-hit run, which is a platinum requirement, but considering how NanoApostle gets balance patches nearly daily, this might be tweaked in the future. The amount of work that has gone into the game post-release is more than commendable, and shows that the 18Light Game team is not messing around.
NanoApostle was reviewed on Microsoft Windows using a game code provided by PQube. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Nanoapostle is available on Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
