Can AI Save Humanity? | Retrace The Light Review

I found a fun new game that got overlooked when it launched at the end of 2025, but I’m not super sure how to categorize it. Retrace The Light is listed as a top-down Metroidvania 3D Platformer. Where I am at a loss is the Metroidvania tag. 

Now, I’m not the most knowledgeable on the genre, but when I hear Metroidvania, I think of a large map with a lot of backtracking after receiving new abilities. A slow unlocking of new areas. Retrace The Light doesn’t have this aspect. It presents the player with a nice, linear progression. 

How Much Metroidvania Is In The Game?

In Retrace The Light, you play as Enforcer Decem, a worker for the advanced AI Primus, known as Mother by the enforcers. The progression revolves around being assigned a mission by Mother, completing it, and returning to receive a new mission. 

I love how streamlined the game progression is, and I think the Metroidvania aspects appear in individual missions rather than the overworld. The missions, which take you into realms called Mirrormazes, have you exploring winding lands scattered with collectables. 

The collectables include pages recounting events, giving you more insights into the world you are exploring. Some collectables can be brought back to your home base and sold for extra money for upgrades. One thing before paying for upgrades is to find them in the Mirrormazes. They come in two forms, primary and secondary. Primary modules are earned from defeating bosses, and secondary modules are hidden amongst the levels.

Once you get the modules, you have to spend some money to activate them. The primary modules will give you attacks, and the secondary modules will complement the attacks. 

This is a great way to encourage exploration; every corner of the Mirrormazes has some type of goodie to be found.

Now, this might turn some people off because it’s not a typical Metroidvania, but I love how it divides up the gameplay styles. It helped me not get lost, to be able to put the game down for a couple of days, and not have to relearn where I am and what I was in the middle of. 

The Narrative

Set in the future, explore 3323 as an enforcer. The world has embraced technology, and sentient AI lives alongside humans. Primus, the Mother of the enforcers, has collaborated with the humans to create a civil and safe society. The job of the enforcers is to jump into Mirrormazes, a physical representation of a human who is suffering from extreme emotions. 

Think in terms of Persona 5, with the Phantom Thieves jumping into Palaces to “fix” someone with evil intentions. These Mirrormazes are elaborate, filled with enemies, puzzles, and always wrap up with a unique boss. 

I won’t go too far into the narrative to avoid spoilers, but the narrative revolves around humans and the influence of AI.

Retracing

Let’s focus on the retrace ability. This is the first ability you receive and is a core mechanic the game revolves around. By clicking a button, you will move faster and leave a blue trail. Another button allows you to retrace. You can stop at any point in the trail, and this is key for both exploration and battles. 

On the exploration side, there are sections of the Mirrormazes where you need to jump from platforms to activate a switch or solve a puzzle that requires faster movement. One thing to remember is that you can retrace certain objects; this is how a lot of puzzles are solved. Take the time to play with retrace, perfect the mechanic in order to get further in the level. 

When it comes to battles, retracing can help win a boss fight or make overworld fights easier. Retracing helps you dodge, get closer to enemies, or put you in the perfect position to back strike an enemy. A zone will appear during retracing, and you will be able to do a special attack and deal extra damage. 

Retracing isn’t only about moving yourself; just like you can move objects, you can move overworld enemies. Move enemies out of the way and take on one at a time, or even toss one off a ledge. Bosses are too big to retrace, but the ability is needed to fight them. Bosses move quickly and have big attacks. Retracing is the best way to stay alive. 

Bosses and Exploration

Each Mirrormaze represents a different person suffering from emotional turmoil. This means each is unique in appearance and puzzles. Progression in the game means more complex puzzles and mechanics.

Each zone will end with a boss. They have multiple phases, attack patterns, and designs. The bosses are a huge part of why I enjoy the game. They are unique; there are no reused designs, and you must learn the attack patterns. All of them have two phases, and the gameplay changes. They don’t just get faster or hit harder. 

I love how much effort and time were spent creating each of these bosses. I might have gotten frustrated with them and spent a good amount of time with them, but I enjoyed learning the bosses and eventually feeling the satisfaction of beating them.

For exploration, Mirrormazes are shockingly beautiful. You could easily make the assumption that the world, especially the representation of people struggling, would be dark, depressing, and void of color. But that isn’t the case. There are a lot of colors around the world, and there are beautiful trees that look like they are changing to an autumn red. Water is a vibrant blue, and the grass is still green. 

Even though home base might be a sterile combination of white and gold, the Mirrormazes are still alive, showing that humans aren’t a lost cause. 

Ending

I highly enjoyed my time with this game. The world was fun to explore, and the bosses were a great challenge. The story was deeper than I expected going in. Even though this isn’t a traditional Meroidvania, I will still recommend this to anyone who enjoys playing top-down, action platformers.

After putting in over 10 hours, I would give this a solid 4.5/5 stars. It is a great time, and the pacing feels perfect for a shorter game.