Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands

I never write reviews. This is my first one in just about two decades of being on Steam. I love this game. It's a masterpiece. I've done maybe six or seven playthroughs so far, thoroughly enjoying the mechanics of the game with each go. It's a pleasure to mess around with different strategies and self-imposed challenges to keep things fresh and sample the rich variety of builds you can play. It's a testament to how well balanced the game is that even suboptimal setups can succeed with tight gameplay. This is even true in the latest update that introduced a series of optional hard boss variants (which I found lots of fun and very rewarding). It's beyond clear the creator has a deep passion for games and an earnest desire to create something of high quality. Everything, from items to status effects, is implemented in a way to eliminate frustration and make everything feel more meaningful and impactful. The game's design is genius. I could write a thesis on Deathbulge at this rate—that's how groundbreaking and unique this game is. Beyond the mechanics of combat and such, the presentation of the game itself is aces. The art is soulful, the music and sounds are top notch, and the story is entertaining. Seriously, the level of effort in the hand-drawn graphics is mindblowing, and I have the game's stellar soundtrack on my forever playlist. For players of classic RPGs, there are subtle references peppered throughout. It's such a thrill whenever I spy something familiar and feel oddly aligned with the creator's thoughts. I don't want to say much more because I think a lot of the satisfaction comes from discovering these hidden gems on your own. Moreover, the game is hilarious. I've followed Deathbulge since the comic days, and the style of humor is on point. The game does not disappoint in this regard, and I catch myself unconsciously smiling at the jokes even in my nth playthrough. There's just so much STYLE, and it's delivered smoothly and consistently. Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is such a beautiful experience that I'm sad I won't find anything else quite like it. It's criminal that this game hasn't exploded in popularity. I have zero online presence, so I don't have the means to push Deathbulge on social media, but I hope this review convinces at least one person to try it. To the creator and all others involved: you nailed it, 100% brilliant, you can die happy now knowing you produced something transcendent.

Completely unexpected gem. I got this at a high discount, but I would have been more than happy to pay full price. The dialogue and characters are absolutely incredible, and the combat system is unlike anything I've seen before, with a lot of depth and interesting builds that makes it keep your attention, with constant new options and mechanics that stop you from falling into the "hit the win button" problem. Even if the mechanics were bad, it would be worth playing this for the writing, and vice versa. This game absolutely delivers, if you're on the fence you should go for it.

Just finished this game (on the PS5 version) and blimey what a superb effort from everyone involved. A passion project full of love, detail and polish throughout, and best of all, it's a lot of fun! It was bittersweet getting to the end of this as it just kept getting better and better, with a surprising amount of turning points in the plot. I really enjoyed the memorable cast of characters (every NPC has a unique sprite & portraitS, unreal effort!) and I'm honestly gutted knowing there's no more charismatic interactions to get into. The game is full to the brim with many genuine laugh out loud moments and some conceptually preposterous moments that end up being super memorable. Some RPGs suffer from a bit of a DRAG in pacing at times but Deathbulge knows to keep the momentum going, amping up the stakes and knows when to wrap up nicely as well. A must have, especially if you enjoyed the original Grandia games, it scratches that itch in a lot of ways and not just the combat! A real treat from start to end, games like this don't come often.

A criminally underated game. Funny, fun and very worth the price.

Found about about this game via YT shorts (vids were of a dev talking about the game). Had a blast start to finish (which includes going for all the achievements). Love this one.

This game is so good! I hadn't heard of it before, but a friend convinced me to try it and a few weeks later I've completed it 100%. It doesn't take itself too seriously, has tons of personality and that makes it so fun to play. What I love most is the little storylines everywhere. The game encourages you to explore and return to talk to NPCs. Also runs very well on Steam Deck and is gentle on the battery. Easily one of my favourite games this year.

I liked it it was fun