GwenBlade: Halloween

This game is a great time killer and VERY fun! LEARN the mechanics they will help you! For early access, there's not a lot in the way of levels, equipment, or powerups, but it is still fun! I high recommend checking this out as this dev is insanely nice, and this is essentially being treated like it's their baby. Lots of love going int it!

very cool game that looks and sounds awesome, like the previous title. the bullet time adds to the experience and is not distracting, which is rare. I wish the gameplay was a little more fleshed out. There's not a whole lot of upgrades, and they're often very expensive. The game also ends quickly after 25 floors or so. I hope the developer continues to improve on this in their next game.

Pretty fun and dynamic game even in the ea! Once I learned all the controls, it became very satisfying to collect power-ups and progress further. Waiting for a full release :)

[h1] Stylish Action Rogue-Like, but Very Early Access [/h1] [i] The game oozes style, from the comic book style text pop ups, to the almost dance-like attacks. It's great to see the character just skate through the battlefield tearing enemies apart! [/i] GwenBlade: Halloween is the Early Access new entry in the GwenBlade series. A hack-and-slash roguelike that focuses on stylish gameplay, the artist background of the developer quickly becomes apparent with the flashy visuals and cool character designs. The game is great! Even at this stage of Early Access, but there are some caveats... Pros: -Smooth Gameplay: The game is super smooth and handles like a dream. Prompts are super responsive, and it feels amazing to carve your way through the battlefield with attacks, dodges, and jumps. -Stylish as Hell: The game looks fantastic! While I realize this style might not be everyone's cup of tea, the game just oozes personality. It almost looks like an animated comic book with some of the design choices! -Cool Powerups: While very limited for now, the current powerups really give you some oomph during a run. From mirage swords that fly towards your enemy, to a curse that deals high damage after a short time, you'll get lots to help you out! Cons: -VERY Early Access: This is probably the biggest make or break point for this title, at this time. While the dev plans to add more maps (biomes), weapons, enemies, and more, the game is very limited at this point. Right now the meta progression for the game does not appear to be fully implemented, as the vendor is there between runs but cannot be accessed. There's also currently only one weapon, one spell, a handful of enemies, a few powerups, and one map. For now, this almost comes across a bit more as a tech demo than a game. If you're okay buying a game for now that may be limited in what's available, definitely pick this up! The game plays great, and the dev is very active and regularly providing updates and interacting with the community. I'm all for supporting indie devs, and believe that if you're interested in this type of game, get in on the ground floor for a few bucks and watch it grow!

Fun hack and slash!

GwenBlade 2: Halloween builds upon the foundation of the original game while leaning fully into its seasonal theme, transforming ArcWillow’s quirky hack-and-slash adventure into a spirited, humorous, and deliberately theatrical Halloween special. From the first cutscene, it’s clear the developers wanted this installment to feel like both a continuation and a playful holiday detour—brighter, spookier, more self-aware, yet still anchored by the fast, combo-driven combat that defined its predecessor. The story follows Gwen as she investigates a supernatural disturbance tied to mischievous spirits, cursed decorations, and overconfident villains who seem pulled straight from a Halloween costume catalog. The narrative doesn’t attempt to be dark or heavy; instead, it embraces camp, timing its jokes and dramatic moments with enough sincerity that the humor lands without undermining the stakes. The writing strikes a charming balance between parody and earnest adventure, making it easy to remain invested even when the plot embraces deliberate absurdity. Combat remains the heart of the experience, and ArcWillow enhances it with clever thematic twists. Gwen’s moveset feels tighter and more fluid, giving players greater control over aerial attacks, dodges, counters, and weapon swapping. Seasonal abilities—pumpkin bombs, spectral slashes, broom-spin traversal—add variety without overwhelming new players. Enemies, while whimsical in appearance, require attention and adaptation, using different attack patterns, resistances, and group behaviors that reward experimentation. Boss encounters are especially memorable, each functioning as a theatrical set piece with puzzle-infused mechanics that prevent battles from devolving into simple DPS races. The combat loop—fight, explore, upgrade, repeat—remains satisfying because it constantly introduces new ideas rather than stretching old ones thin, and difficulty scaling feels fair, even for genre newcomers. The world design takes full advantage of the holiday theme. Instead of traditional fantasy environments, Gwen travels through haunted suburban streets, pumpkin farms, enchanted costume shops, fog-covered graveyards, carnival lots, and candlelit forests alive with personality. Each zone contains optional challenges, hidden collectibles, and environmental storytelling that reward curiosity. ArcWillow continues its trend of designing compact but dense areas—levels aren’t sprawling for the sake of size, but they feel alive with interaction, secret paths, and visual humor. The Halloween aesthetic is playful rather than grim, with exaggerated decorations, mischievous NPCs, and lovingly detailed props that sell the seasonal atmosphere. It’s a game that knows how to be visually festive without losing mechanical clarity. The audiovisual presentation plays a major role in the experience’s charm. The art style maintains the hand-drawn, stylized look of the original GwenBlade but introduces more dramatic lighting, sharper color contrasts, and layered particle effects that highlight combat. Character animations—especially Gwen’s—are expressive and energetic, giving every swing personality. The soundtrack leans into theatrical Halloween energy, mixing harpsichords, playful orchestral strings, eerie children’s choirs, and upbeat combat rhythms that shift alongside gameplay intensity. Sound effects, from exaggerated monster groans to the satisfying slice of Gwen’s blade, reinforce the game’s whimsical tone. Taken together, the audio and visuals create a cohesive identity that feels polished, confident, and unmistakably tied to its seasonal theme. Progression systems strike a balance between accessibility and customization. Players earn currency and materials to upgrade weapons, unlock new combat abilities, refine movement skills, and purchase optional cosmetics that reinforce Gwen’s personality rather than relying on fanservice. The upgrade tree encourages players to develop personal playstyles—aggressive rushdown, careful counterstriking, aerial juggling, or crowd-control focus—without punishing experimentation. Side quests, optional arenas, challenge rooms, and collectibles add replay value, and while the overall campaign isn’t lengthy, it feels intentionally designed to avoid overstaying its premise. The game understands that seasonal titles work best when they deliver a focused, satisfying arc rather than inflated runtime. Criticisms mostly stem from expectations rather than execution. Those wanting a dramatic narrative shift or major mechanical overhaul from the first GwenBlade may feel this installment is more refinement than reinvention. Some enemy types recur more often than expected, and certain platforming segments can feel mechanically stiff compared to the fluidity of combat. A few difficulty spikes may frustrate players who aren’t comfortable with reaction-based gameplay, and completionists may wish for more endgame content or alternative modes after finishing the campaign. However, these issues never fundamentally disrupt enjoyment—they simply reflect the game’s modest scale and seasonal focus. GwenBlade 2: Halloween succeeds because it understands exactly what it wants to be—a spirited, polished, charming extension of the original game designed to celebrate a theme rather than overshadow its own identity. It offers tight combat, memorable bosses, playful writing, standout environmental design, and a festive mood that feels crafted with genuine affection rather than marketing obligation. ArcWillow proves once again that style, pacing, and personality can matter as much as scale. For fans of action-adventure indies, players who enjoyed Gwen’s first outing, or anyone seeking a lighthearted Halloween-themed game that delivers mechanical depth without sacrificing humor or warmth, GwenBlade 2: Halloween is a delightfully replayable treat. Rating: 7/10

Great action-packed game with a nice cartoon vibe. Recommend!

Great hack & slash roguelite. The feedback from the hits is so satisfying. The visual style is great and quite unique. I like how varied the attacks are, there are melee combos and ranged attacks that feel different and do different things. The variety of enemies is good as well, the designs are interesting, and they differ mechanically. And upgrades - the most important aspect of a rougelite are done very well. Almost all of them greatly affect and change how things are, instead of +2 % to crit they are like "every time you jump there is an attack on the ground" or "at the end of every combo you shout a projectile at the enemy" When you add different status effects to this (that stack) after few floors you become a killing machine just jolting around the level doing 10 attacks in a second. But what makes it interesting is that enemies scale according to this as well. So it's not easy, it's the only way to survive. My only complaint is that I think it has a way to go in terms of tutorial/telegraphing about it's stamina/poise system or whatever that is. I played quite a while, and I'm still quite confused about how it works.

This game is really cool, just buy it and play it. ❤️(ps pour les fr jouer a se jeux il est vraiment bien )

It's nice