When I was first told of the premise of Fresh Tracks, not gonna lie, I was sceptical. Hearing that it was a skiing roguelite with Viking themes, I thought it would a typical running game with a few roguelite elements thrown in – not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we already have plenty of those.
However, after testing out the game, I am so glad that I was wrong. Fresh Tracks is a game that really strays from its genre and offers a blend of beautiful visuals, fun gameplay, and the pièce de résistance – sweet, sweet tracks that accompany you on your journey.
To briefly explain, in Fresh Tracks, you play as Skaii, who skis through Norwyn in search for god-like figures known as Mythics, in order to do battle against the God of Terror, Mar. Throughout the game, you’ll learn more about the Mythics and the various bosses you encounter as well.
Snow, Vikings, Foes and Rhythm Gaming
Let’s begin with the premise. As with most roguelites, your entire goal is to reach the end. If you perish along the way, you gotta start all over. So, what makes Fresh Tracks unique?
If I had to name one, it would firstly be the plethora of amazing music you enjoy as you go through each run. While your mechanics mostly remain the same for the majority of each run, the music always switches around, making it more akin to a rhythm game than a typical roguelite. As the player, you’ll have to make adjustments to match the random song you get, making things challenging and fun, as it ensures that gameplay never gets stale.
Speaking of music, Nordic chanting and traditional instruments were my first guess as to the kinds of rhythms I’d be skiing to. To my surprise, Fresh Tracks boasts a variety of different musical genres, from lo-fi to pop and even heavy metal. Safe to say, all my scepticisms about the game were quickly stifled.
Visually, the game’s aesthetics takes inspiration from Norse culture and Vikingdom. Although most of the time you’ll be skiing through snowy Nordic forests and Viking villages, you will eventually reach supernatural regions with runes and mystical monuments galore. However, a word of caution: don’t let the cool aesthetics and worldbuilding distract you like it did for me, because getting distracted means you’ll soon end up in Valhalla.
Hack & Slash While Enjoying the Norwyn
The gameplay for Fresh Tracks starts out simple: don’t hit the obstacles. You may ask, how would you know what the obstacles are? As the game will teach you, if it doesn’t have a light blue glow to it, DODGE!!!
Basically, with sword in hand, you will have to slash the light blue items or any enemies in your way, which in turn will power you up. However, solid objects (obstacles without the light blue glow) cannot be slashed, forcing you to jump, slide, or lean to avoid them. That might simple at first, but juggling between slashing, hitting your notes and avoiding obstacles can prove to be difficult down the line as things ramp up in difficulty.
Touching on the topic of upgrades and mythical powers, as you progress through Norwyn’s trials and tribulations, you will accumulate various upgrades for not only your sword, but your skis as well. Like the swords, different skis provide certain bonuses and power ups. Combined with the various powers the Mythics grant you, you will soon become one heck of a ski-warrior.
Fresh Tracks also features four difficulties to choose from. However, the differences between the difficulties feels more like changes in stats, as the randomised songs for each run already provide enough changes in difficulty.
But what is a roguelite without its boss level? The boss fights in Fresh Tracks turn the music up to epic proportions to illustrate just what kind of challenges you’ll face, as while it may be peanuts to get to a boss, surviving the boss’s onslaught is another story. You’ll face an increased number mobs and obstacles, on top of a longer than usual song, which means the level lasts significantly longer.
Verdict: Fresh Tracks really is “Fresh”
Overall, Fresh Tracks really does feel fresh. While the sick beats can easily be the most enticing part of the game, personally, the worldbuilding and design is also nothing to ignore. Repeatedly dying before you “get good” is part and parcel of the roguelite experience; however, the tricky part is keeping players interested enough to stick around after a few deaths, and Fresh Tracks really makes you want to rise to the challenge.
Fresh Tracks is available now on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
This article was contributed by TJ.
