Beastfall

Your first destination is the challenge mode with seventeen stages, along with a tutorial on how to play. There’s not much to worry about in terms of controls. You have basic left and right movement, a jump that can be pressed again for a double jump, and a parry button that cannot be spammed because it needs a second to recharge after each use. There’s also healing, but you can only use it a limited number of times per battle. The bad news is that a gamepad is not supported, so you are left with a keyboard and mouse combination. The mouse is tied to attacking. The left mouse button is your basic attack, and it can also act as a jump substitute because you can mash it to gain height with each attack, hold it for continuous damage while staying in place, or time your attacks to create combos and deal higher damage. The right mouse button is reserved for ranged attacks. Unlike the default main attack, the ranged attack can be changed by collecting power up orbs that regularly drop from above. One thing you need to realize right away is that button mashing does not work and is actually punished. If you fail to time your hits, indicated by a constantly moving arrow and two markers between which you need to strike, your damage decreases. If you time it correctly, your attack damage increases. You do not even need to hit a target to do this, and you can perform it while standing on the ground or away from enemies. A boss fight always starts off simple, but becomes more intense once you reduce the boss to half health. The best strategy is to build up perfect strikes during the easier phase, then switch to rapid attacks during the harder phase. Your damage will weaken with each strike, but you may still deal enough to defeat the boss before your attacks drop to zero damage. Winning a fight is enough to earn a star and unlock the next boss. However, you can earn two additional stars by finishing within the time limit and keeping your health above a certain threshold. Maintaining health is the easiest part, since you can simply heal right before the boss is defeated. The time limit is not very strict either, especially on the easiest difficulty. The spectacle and visual effects are impressive, accompanied by a great soundtrack. The music even changes when a boss transitions to the next phase. As for the visuals, while they look amazing, they lack a sense of weight. Bosses feel like animated images that you hit while watching damage numbers appear, with little feedback when your attacks connect. Earning all stars grants a skill point that can be spent on a fairly simple skill tree with some repeating nodes. For example, several nodes increase health, healing capacity, or range, or reduce cooldowns such as blocking. If you fill all nodes in one of the three branches, you unlock an ultimate perk. If you are not satisfied with your choices, you can reset your points and try a different build. After defeating the seventh challenge boss, you unlock story mode. In this mode, you also fight bosses, but before each battle you can enter two buildings to gain either a random perk or healing. You must defeat several bosses to complete a chapter and unlock the next one. Skills purchased in challenge mode and relics earned from progressing through chapters carry over. Story mode also includes cutscenes, but the text is very small and difficult to read.