DOOMBLADE

Using the doomblade to move around or in combat is both extremly unique and very fun. The coolest thing that happened while playing was actually the nature of the fast travel, where you get dragged from one warp point to another at high speed. Once I got some of the late game abilities I realized you could just abandon the fast travel network and access non-conected points by moving through the void on your own, which was just a really cool thing to be able to do. The whole ability set just makes you feel really cool in general. I had a great time.

I'm very torn on this. I've had moments were it was great fun, but also quite a lot of frustration. The fundamental gameplay idea is a lot of fun, having a targeted dash as the most basic action. There's cool stuff there, and it goes some neat directions, for example with the upgrades. But it's lacking polish, the refinement to make a good idea into good gameplay. For one, the level design is fairly standard metroidvania, which means a lot of somewhat cramped corridors. Which is fine if you walk and jump, but annoying if you want to dash for target to target. The game could be a free flow from target to target across the map. In rare moments, it is that, and those are genuinely great fun. But it happens rarely. The enemy design is another. Some of them are too bulky, and some of them like to be invincible until they shoot something. Now, those shots hurt you, even during a dash. Which means you have to wait and carefully position yourself to attack them, which also doesn't make for great pacing or fits the best version of the fundamental gameplay. Also, ♥♥♥♥ the shield enemies. They are always a pain, and not in a fun way. The overall structure isn't fantastic either. It's often not that clear where to go. Graphics, sound and story are all pretty decent. The game has a sense of humor that isn't outrageously funny, but it does give it character and produces a smile. If you really like Metroidvania and want to see a fresh take on it, then this would be a good game for you. It lacks polish, but it's good enough that you can see the potential. If you just want to have a good time, consider twice. You can still have fun with this, but it can also be pretty annoying.

Amazing Metroidvenia. I enjoyed the time playing the game. I would recommend it even on full price.

I desperately want to recommend Doomblade because I want more small developers and small metroidvanias to succeed but unfortunately I can't. Doomblade has very unique mechanics but too many of the systems within the game let it down. I'm very close to the end of the game and it has become too much of a slog to continue. If you're going to play this game you NEED to play with a keyboard and mouse. I have no idea how much more frustrating this would be on a controller but I imagine it would be a lot. The game suffers in a few main areas. The first of these that quickly becomes evident is the save/checkpoint system. You don't get any checkpoints. Everything is manual saves as you progress so if you die you lose all map progress, anything you may have picked up, and have to go back. This is made very frustrating when there is a long segment of rooms to traverse or enemies to deal with and you have to redo them. I don't understand why it is like that because redoing that stuff is not fun. It quickly becomes tiresome and annoying as it feels like the game is wasting your time. The movement mechanic is pretty innovative and unique which is what made me think I was going to love the game but it is often let down by very annoying encounter mechanics. Whenever you hit something you "bounce" and you often do so in to other enemies or hazards, taking damage that is unnecessary. There are a decent number of gauntlet rooms where you're fighting waves of enemies and these really suck due to the lack of checkpointing and general length of these rooms. Some of the enemies which inhabit them are absolute tanks and take way too many hits to kill. Maybe this is better if you scour the map for damage upgrades but that brings me to the next issue. Knowing where you're supposed to go in this game is an exercise in frustration. I was constantly getting lost, especially after getting new powers because the game doesn't breadcrumb well enough. I'd essentially scour the map screen for areas that I could clearly tell I hadn't explored, then I would systematically rule them out one by one. This isn't fun, it is tedium. I ended up having to review a guide just to figure out where to go at one point because I was so lost which rarely happens to me in most games. It is just that confusing and lacking in direction. As I said I desperately want to recommend Doomblade because I think it has some good ideas but the edges are just too rough for me to do so. It's a huge bummer because I was having so much fun at the start of the game. At some point I simply had to realize I was no longer having fun.

peanut would love some pets and treats :) 　　 　　🌸＞　　フ 　　 　　| 　_　 _ l 　　 　／` ミ＿xノ 　 　 /　　　 　 | 　　 /　 ヽ　　 ﾉ 　 │　　|　|　| ／￣|　　 |　|　| | (￣ヽ＿_ヽ_)__) ＼二つ

グルームリングと呼ばれる弱き種族の一人である主人公は、洞窟の中で不思議な声に導かれ、言葉を話す剣「DOOMBLADE」と出会う。宿敵ドレッドロードに奪われた力を取り戻すため、主人公はDOOMBLADEと共に冒険の旅へと向かう。 ゲームシステムは一般的な2Dメトロイドヴァニアなのだが、特徴的なのはその攻撃方法だ。操作は簡単で画面上の敵をクリックするだけなのだが、その瞬間、地上・空中を問わず敵に向かって一直線に突進攻撃が繰り出される。他のゲームのように剣を振ったり弓を撃ったりはできず、攻撃はこの突進のみ。だが圧巻なのはそのスピードで、目で追うのも大変なほどの圧倒的な速さで突進が繰り出される。さらに攻撃ヒット後はその場で急停止するので、そこですかさず次の敵をクリックすると、その場から再度突進が繰り出され、次、次、次と超高速の突進攻撃を連続して繰り出すことができ、画面内を駆け巡り敵を殲滅していく様はまさに痛快の一言だ。（なおこの攻撃方法のためパッドよりもマウスでの操作が推奨される） しかし本作の難易度は高め。クリック一つで自動攻撃してくれるため一見簡単そうだが、弾を撃ってくる敵や正面からの攻撃を受け付けない敵に対しては背後に回り込む必要があり、高速で動き回る戦いの中で、「どの順番でオブジェクトを攻撃すれば敵の背後を突けるか」を瞬時に、かつ連続で判断し続ける必要が出てくる。また突進攻撃の制御には精密な操作と高い戦術的な思考が求められるためボス戦や特定のシーンでは頭を悩ませることになる。他にも攻撃以外の挙動が鈍重であることも高速移動とのギャップで混乱に陥りやすく難易度を上げる要因となっている。 クリアまで14時間ほど。システムは独特だが操作にクセはないため、慣れてしまえば操作方法で悩むことはないだろう。メトロイドヴァニアらしくできることが短いスパンでどんどん増えていくので、終盤になるほど動かす楽しさが増していくのもGood。また、全てのボスが極端に難しいわけではなく、比較的容易に一発クリアできる場面もあり、いわゆるソウルライクのような苦痛の先の達成感だけでなく、敵をいなして圧倒する気持ちよさが両立されている点は素晴らしい。そして忘れてはいけないのが音楽。メタリックなBGMは高速なゲームプレイに非常にマッチしており、プレイヤーの高揚感を煽ってくれる。世に溢れるメトロイドヴァニアに慣れてしまった人でも、再び夢中になれる本作はおすすめに値する秀作といえるだろう。 最後に、本作は公式には日本語に対応していないが、XUnity.AutoTranslatorによる日本語化が可能であることを確認している。

Controlling the combat with mouse aiming and clicking is super fun and highly original with the metal music i and it making great atmosphere. However, the movement controls completely ruin it. Character responds are poor, the base movement is incredibly slow, and putting jump and dash on the exact same button is an awful design choice. On top of that, the map is a total mess. The game forces you into doing constant backtracking. The map never shows where to go next so you are forced to look everything up online. Great ideas, but confusing and every loading screen take 20s and more for no reason.

w game, 10/10

When it comes to Metroidvanias, one of the key components is backtracking, and this game does it well. The music, the fast paced platforming, it's really nice and fluid. My only complaint is that it's a bullet hell kind of game. You think you can clear a room then you get ambushed by enemy bullets going through the wall. I like fast paced games, and about an hour in, I'm 10% of the way through, which is a lot faster than what I anticipated. The game does recomend you to use keyboard and mouse, but I've been enjoying the fluidity of using a controller. Does this make the game harder? Probably, but being able to fly across the map is a lot of fun. A lot of areas are locked between ability walls, but the map is massive and getting currency is really easy, but when you die, you go back to your last checkpoint, so back to square one. You keep some money, but the ones that you got before the save. So if you get, let's say, 1k in currency (bones), and not save, that would be gone. It's a lot of going back and forth, and I'd give this game a good 7/10. Music: 10/10, it kept me engaged and I locked in Combat: 8/10, sometimes the attacks don't hit and you end up taking damage. You can pogo using your attacks, which can take a bit to master. Map: 7/10, I know backtracking is a big thing in this game if you couldn't get to an area without an ability, but a lot of the rooms (at least in the beginning) is a bullet hell mess, but it's so satisfying clearing a room with one sweep. This game isn't going to be for everyone and it's understandable. The lore in the game is also interesting and kind of has the same writing style as Hollow Knight. If you aren't big into Metroidvanias, this game isn't for you. But if you are, imagine Hornet from Silksong but she's on crack

Addictive and fun, but can seem like a slog with how many times you have to look around for a very specific powerup. Wish there was more player choice with where you could go, but gameplay is still very fun even if the story is a little lacking in my opinion.