Couch co-op seems to be in a bit of a resurgence with games like Killer Queen Black, Cup Head, and even Diablo 3. While playing games with friends over the internet has taken precedence of late, these couch multiplayer titles are still revered when they pop up. I was pleased to see so many on the show floor at PAX East, but one of the most surprising titles was Rez Plz by Long Neck Games.
Rez Plz is a side scrolling adventure puzzle platformer that stars two wizard brothers. They need to solve the worlds many puzzles by using their spells learned on their journey. The only catch is…they are terrible wizards. In fact, they don’t even know any spells off the bat. They only have a single scroll that lets them resurrect each other. Many of the game’s puzzles ask you to sacrifice one of the brothers in order to use him as a platform, or a weight for a switch, to advance to the next room. It is a good thing you have a resurrection scroll! It is your most valuable tool against the various perils that await you and your partner in Rez Plz. If you play solo, you take control of either brother with the press of a button, but I cannot imagine this game being more fun alone than with a buddy in tandem.
After clearing the first level, we were given another power to help us brutalize ourselves and get through some more advanced obstacles like flame throwers and fire pits. Now we are able to turn ourselves into a boulder. We used this power to stomp out enemies, block flamethrowers, and create platforms in the aforementioned fire pits. It added a nice little layer to the Rez Plz formula to this point. I can’t wait to see what other over-the-top powers the brothers will find and how it works with the grisly premise of the game.
The pixel art is sublime, with bursting colors and dark, brooding backdrops. The snippets of dialog I saw during my demo showed a lighthearted silliness that juxtaposes the mechanic of killing your brother over and over again. This game should also be a hit with streamers and content creators as well. The use of death will no doubt create hilarious situations full of laughs in the pursuit of progress.
Rez Plz was a pleasant experience and I cannot wait to see how this turns out in the end. This could be a really fun experience, and we don’t have to wait too long for it. Rez Plz is set to come to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC in Q2 2020.
