Skully is an upcoming 3D platformer from developer Finish Line Games with a unique twist. The protagonist of Skully is none other than a single skull, rolling around and hopping to traverse the world around it. Screen Rant recently got a chance to try out a preview build of the game and learn how enjoyable a platformer can be when the player character doesn't have legs.
Skully is set on an idyllic, uninhabited island. The island is ruled by a family of elemental spirits who have begun quarreling with each other. To prevent the conflict from getting out of hand and destroying this island paradise, one of the elementals creates Skully, an animated skull filled with mud. With Skully's help, this elemental hopes to smooth things over with his siblings and bring peace to his island home.
Skully is not as helpless as appearances suggest. By simply rolling, Skully is able to build up impressive speed, and he can achieve remarkable distance through jumping, which is great as long as one doesn't stop to wonder how he's getting off the ground. He can also climb up vertical walls covered in vines, which makes even less sense. Skully is perfectly spherical, so constant motion is recommended to prevent him from accidentally rolling somewhere he shouldn't. Another good recommendation is that Skully be played with a controller instead of the keyboard if at all possible; managing some of the game's platforming challenges can be a very daunting proposition without the use of a joystick.
The island that Skully must save is rendered gorgeously. The environments look wonderful, and simply rolling through them is lovely even if you're not doing any jumps. The water that surrounds the island sparkles invitingly in the sunlight, which is a shame, because it's one of the biggest obstacles Skully will encounter. Contact with water drains Skully's health at a devastating rate, and it will kill him in seconds if the player doesn't act fast. If Skully dies, he is resurrected at the last mud pit he visited. These checkpoints can be found scattered throughout each level, and they're plentiful enough that even if the player dies on the cusp of unlocking the next one, not too much progress is lost.
As a skull without a body, there isn't much Skully can do when confronted with enemies. Fortunately, by interacting with the aforementioned mud pit checkpoints, Skully can conjure one of three alternate forms to help him traverse the island. In the preview build he relied on the first of these forms, a hulking, ape-like construct that can use a powerful shock wave attack to destroy foes. It also has an impressive punch that can break certain walls and unlock new paths. While this was the only form playable in the preview, the trailer showed off a bit of the other two forms. One of them seems to be able to use telekinesis to move platforms into place, while the other one has a speedy dash ability.
Even with these extra forms changing up the gameplay, Skully is a very straightforward title. The level design is linear, and the only incentive to go off the beaten path or challenge more difficult jumps are small floating flowers that litter each level. As enticing as these collectibles appear, the only real reason to collect them is to unlock concept art to be viewed from the game menu. Considering how lovely the game world is, it's somewhat disappointing that there's so little incentive to go out of the way to explore it.
The preview took place entirely on the beach, but seven different ecosystems are promised in the full game, and the trailer showed off a few. These include a dangerous lava-filled zone and a lovely forested region. There will be 18 levels in total to explore, which should make for a decently substantial game.
Skully looks like a perfectly pleasant platforming journey. The protagonist's unique shape offers some strange and at times frustrating new jumping challenges, but the stakes are never high enough for failure to be too distressing. The platforming genre is one of the richest in the video game world, and while it seems unlikely that this modest little skull will be able to challenge the greats, Skully still looks like a wonderful game to roll with.
Skully releases on August 4th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. A digital PC code was provided to Screen Rant for purposes of this preview.