Firegirl: Hack ‘n Splash Rescue is a sidescrolling roguelite from Dejima and Thunderful Publishing in which you rescue people from fires. Your dad was killed by a huge fire monster 10 years ago. Now fire monsters are returning, and it’s your job to collect the fire tomes in the hope they’ll lead you to the culprit behind the fires. It’s a decent story, but nothing to write home about.
Once you get playing, it’s time to fight fires on a time limit. There are fire monsters you can shoot in exchange for a little extra time, doors and obstacles you can destroy with your axe, a way to fly upwards using your hose, and people to rescue.
Actions feel sluggish. The hose takes a moment to start shooting and a moment to put away. Flying slows your sideways momentum. Landing causes a short animation and a restart of the long windup to running. And the axe has a slow startup. That means, in this firefighting game, it’s best to fight as few fires as possible to save precious time and simply run through levels until you find a survivor to rescue.
If you’re looking for a cautious roguelite and like the theme and graphics, this one is an alright but frustrating time. However, with the abundance of amazing sidescrolling roguelites that exist, you may just want to play one of those instead.
Firegirl: Hack ‘n Splash Rescue releases on December 14 on PC and in 2022 on consoles for $17.99, and it is currently discounted 10%.
Watch our full Review in 3 Minutes for Firegirl: Hack ‘n Splash Rescue.
