Of the three games from First Break Labs that we got to try, ILA was the one I was most excited about, and it’s shaping up to be a fun and whimsical title.
Developed by a 14-person team in Barcelona, ILA: A Frosty Glide is a small-open world about a witch exploring a small but mysterious island searching for her lost cat. While the game will draw comparisons to other whimsical witch games like Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, I liken the gameplay to something closer to A Short Hike with a much more active platforming feel.
Ila’s broom isn’t just a typical broom you can fly around–in fact, it doesn’t really fly. In the game it’s called a skatebroom, and it glides. Upon first having control of Ila, I smirked as I ran around like Naruto, with the whole arms-to-the0back thing, and ground pounding glowing spots on the ground for treasure.
Upon getting a grasp for the game’s controls, I encountered a fork that would either lead up a snowy mountain or down towards a nearby cavern. I chose to go up, and people might be surprised to see exploration does feel quite open. As I made my way through various platforming obstacles, including a loop, I timed my jump wrong and fell all the way to the bottom, having to start over. I was running low on time, but I played enough to know that this is something I can’t wait to dive deeper into it when it comes out.
It’s fun seeing how far you can glide around if you’re looking for a chill time.
The endpoint of the demo was clear, but most of the enjoyment I had was gliding around the level and seeing how the different items and obstacles affect traversal. Visually, while the game is hardly an Astro Bot or Mario, the game made use of a blocky style similar to Tunic that gave it a nice sense of style to add to its charm.
ILA: A Frosty Glide is currently slated to release this fall on the PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Switch.
Of the three games from First Break Labs that we got to try, ILA was the one I was most excited about, and it’s shaping up to be a fun and whimsical title. Developed by a 14-person team in Barcelona,…
Of the three games from First Break Labs that we got to try, ILA was the one I was most excited about, and it’s shaping up to be a fun and whimsical title.
Developed by a 14-person team in Barcelona, ILA: A Frosty Glide is a small-open world about a witch exploring a small but mysterious island searching for her lost cat. While the game will draw comparisons to other whimsical witch games like Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, I liken the gameplay to something closer to A Short Hike with a much more active platforming feel.
Ila’s broom isn’t just a typical broom you can fly around–in fact, it doesn’t really fly. In the game it’s called a skatebroom, and it glides. Upon first having control of Ila, I smirked as I ran around like Naruto, with the whole arms-to-the0back thing, and ground pounding glowing spots on the ground for treasure.
Upon getting a grasp for the game’s controls, I encountered a fork that would either lead up a snowy mountain or down towards a nearby cavern. I chose to go up, and people might be surprised to see exploration does feel quite open. As I made my way through various platforming obstacles, including a loop, I timed my jump wrong and fell all the way to the bottom, having to start over. I was running low on time, but I played enough to know that this is something I can’t wait to dive deeper into it when it comes out.
It’s fun seeing how far you can glide around if you’re looking for a chill time.
The endpoint of the demo was clear, but most of the enjoyment I had was gliding around the level and seeing how the different items and obstacles affect traversal. Visually, while the game is hardly an Astro Bot or Mario, the game made use of a blocky style similar to Tunic that gave it a nice sense of style to add to its charm.
ILA: A Frosty Glide is currently slated to release this fall on the PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Switch.
by Danreb Victorio
