Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands

i was looking for another party-based rpg and this was really good, actually!! first thing i want to compliment is the battle system, it was very fun, like seriously, centering the combat around the turn bar, or even having a turn bar in itself is something i hadn't seen before, and it works so well! the music was AWESOME! hoho and the upper bus's bgm was by far my favorite tracks and a lot of the songs in this game are bops. overall really fun! P.S. RH is THE goat

Bullish belligerents bagged Babby Bass! Best brace by Bass the Bass' Bass Base Basement, before badness befouls Babby.

I'm not even going to beat around the bush, Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is probably one of the best real-time-RPGs on Steam, period. This game is extremely funny, challenging, charming and absolutely full of content. I picked it up because I liked the webcomic it was nominally based on and was expecting it to be heavily reliant on callbacks to the webcomic but frankly it stands completely alone and you will like it even if you've never read or seen the webcomic. The game contains a large varied soundtrack to go with it's strategic gameplay style and large amount of stuff to do. It's full of flavor text, incidental dialogue, jokes, gags. The combat is actually pretty deep and you have a large variety of tools at your disposal to help deal with the musical challenges ahead of you. Even if you don't like turn based combat I think it's worth picking this up because A.) It goes on sale for cheap very often and B.) Recently accessibility options have recently been added which make the game much more pleasant for people like me who dislike thinking and C.) It's just so funny and charming that even if you don't like the combat you'll may be able to completely look past it for the writing. Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands -appropriately enough- rocks and I think it's a real hidden gem.

Deathbulge is SUPER funny and interesting. It's one of those games I think everyone should try at least once, just to see if it clicks. The writing is amazingly funny, all the characters are unique and fleshed out and the combat system is pretty unique. However, I have to be honest that I'm writing it while taking a break from playing it - there are some rough edges that will likely alienate more players than endear. I recommend it, but reco trying the demo or getting it on sale if you're on the fence. THE GOOD: -Runs like a dream on the Steam Deck! -The writing is beyond good. It's so funny and alive. Each character, including NPCs, all feel unique and different. The actual narrative is so silly that you can't help but be pulled in. -The artwork is super fun. There's a muscular skeleton in your party. The forest is filled with flexing trees. The bus driver is a luchador. It goes on and on, really. -I'm a sucker for Earthbound and this honestly reminded me of it a lot. THE BAD: -Levelling up can feel pretty meh overall. I never felt like I was actually getting stronger, I felt like I was doing 1 more damage per level while the new enemies were doing 10+. -There's a class system in the game... I never found a good reason to change. HP and Speed are your two biggest stats to worry about, and changing almost always seemed to obliterate one or the other. -Similarly, you can get new attacks throughout the game but they commit the sin I hate the most: For one gain, you take two negatives. Why would I want an attack that does *slightly* more damage but will hurt me 2 out of 3 times? THE UGLY: -The combat system isn't hard, it's tiring. The game tells you off the top you can request 'easier' combat, but that's just recognizing that the system doesn't really work. There are two main flaws: 1) Your party has a single ATB pip but enemies all act independently - meaning as you get later in the game, you're taking 4+ hits for every 1 action you get; 2) The combat system revolves around attacking / defending the ATB track and attacking / defending the 4 measures on them... You can see where this is going. You quickly find yourself bogged down in re-doing the attacks you spent ages setting up because 1 or more of the enemies nuked all your progress in a single turn. Or, worse, you're on your heel the entire time playing a fully defensive game and that sucks. -It doesn't have the Earthbound system where as you grow in power enemies eventually run away from you, so no matter how strong you are you'll just get mobbed by enemies that drag battles out endlessly with status effects. -They give you a bevy of options to mix and match your combat style for each character, but none of them feel especially impressive or can only be put in one spot and not another. I wish I had access to ALL of them like spells instead of equips, because I can't build a well-rounded party or character - they end up with pre-defined roles so I don't get steamrolled in combat. I can't stress enough how much fun I've been having with this game. My girlfriend would constantly be looking over at me like I was crazy because I'm laughing about some silly little thing like the setup of the bus. I just wish that later combat didn't feel like a chore, because I *want* to see what happens next. Hopefully a sequel is in the works with a revamped combat system, 'cause there's an insane amount of love and talent here. They will CRUSH a new game with learnings from this one. If you like weird and unique stuff, please give this game a shot. More people need to experience it.

This game is a refreshing, cool experience that puts me in a really good mood every time i open it. It also has a way of expressing itself no game has done yet I've seen, in its artstyle, fighting mechanics, personality, scenarios, everything is extremely fresh. I recommend playing this game completely blind, no spoilers, no tutorials!! The soundtrack is wonderful too! So wonderful in fact, I purchased it before I even finished the game. Pro tip: if given the opportunity, lie! :) There wont be any consequences.

Slow start, impressive build variety and customisation once you get things going mid-game. Great themes of music, rock culture and comedy fished in. Has in game hints of getting 100%