Malebolgia

I bought this as it seemed very interesting, pertained to what I like and appreciate, and similar to other games I play. Characters and lore looked and seemed very interesting and I wanted to explore this world. I read it had a Dark Souls-vibe, which meant I'd die. A lot. No problem. Looks and actually game-play are far different. While the art style of the game is minimalist with characters and architecture being simplified polygons, I at least assumed the game-play would be more of the late 2000's RPG game or battles would include more intricacies. Nope. It seems there's a very slow delay when trying to parry or attack. You feel the weight of the weapon your character welding to be like Thor's hammer and not a knight's sword. Actions seemed perfectly timed to collide with each other as there is one speed and one speed only: Slow. When I would try to parry an attack, it barely or didn't make it in time, only to unblock and try to hit when the other character was already preparing for another hit. It felt like I old Nintendo controls, https://media.tenor.com/images/5b665942bc58193388318f5cfced89e8/tenor.gif NOTE: This is my opinion and thoughts of the game and not an overall view of the game for general audiences. As with many reviews and opinions, take this with a grain of salt and do your own research. This notice should not be necessary, but is included due to previous inflammatory commentary on reviews from previous games due to people being "butt-hurt" that I said either something bad about the game, disagreed with it being good, or using "wording or descriptions" one doesn't agree with.

I don't know what's happening. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go.

Очередная игра, что попадёт в список рекомендаций "Для врага" Если эту игру делали как хоррор, то всё чем она может напугать - это бедностью своего исполнения. Может и осилит кто, но честно, оно вам надо? Лучше б я купил винрар.

This is a low poly untextured action/adventure game trying very hard to rip off a Dark Souls vibe by including really clunky, unenjoyable "parry or die" combat that made Dark Souls popular and spawned hundreds of terrible copycat games, encouraging developers to make their game stupidly difficult because that might work for them too (but it won't). So, badly optimised for a Unity game, we have no textures, low poly assets, terrible gameplay, fixed controls. Where's the fun? There isn't any. $17 though... ouch. You can get Dark Souls for less than that, and that's an actual game that people want to play.

Malebolgia has a fantastic look and tone that carried the experience for me. Running around this castle with your torch casting super sharp shadows was wonderful; the game is incredibly clean even running on a low-powered handheld PC. While that was great and I found the combat serviceable, the biggest complaint I have is some of the map design. There are hints of something great with the game signposting future areas (courtyard, demon door on another stairwell) and having impressive one-off room design, but there’s a lot of running through areas that look too similar and don’t give a great sense of place. There is a decent map to alleviate that but it still makes traversal a bit tedious in-between bigger areas. There’s a bit of environmental progression in that the world that I really liked though. The map can change as you progress through chapters of the game; sometimes doors will be blocked off, forcing you to take another path, or the environment will change (red sky, thunderstorm). I would have love to see moment like this take a bigger emphasis (final run through the castle being much more...lit) but as-is it was appreciated. It’s not super long at ~6 hours so if you’re interested I recommend you give it a try!

hidden gem.

Malebolgia is a moody and slow-paced action adventure. And yes, it's like Dark Souls, as cliche as that line has become. You explore a grand palace killing demons and figuring out your situation and how to escape. You only have one weapon, a halberd, and a few moves like a combo strike, a block and a dodge. You also have a torch that acts as a lifebar and a second tool and sort of weapon. There's some enemy variety, a good amount of bosses - overall a serviceable, if simple, combat scheme. The strongest part of Malebolgia is the oozing atmosphere of loneliness and dread. The palace's halls are tall and foreboding, there's a blizzard outside, the demons are chanting echoes, the muted colours make everything seem distant and unknowable. It's good stuff. The bosses have amped up orchestral music, but otherwise it's just you and a simple but effective ambient track. And whichever demon slowly tries to hunt you down. You could feel a little bit annoyed by the final chapter where it's not exactly clear where to go immediately. There's sort of an implication you need to do one tedious set of tasks, but you don't actually need to do that at all. Vague because of spoilers, I know, but it just stuck out to me as not being clear enough. Although you could say that's part of the charm. The game can be beaten in around 4-5 hours. It's very stylish and shows a clear vision. Try it out.