A fantastic action soulslike. Combat is a genuine 10/10 for me.
Many soulslikes have lots of weapons but their movesets and playstyles are similar. E.G. Big Hammer and Big Sword are both slow weapons that stagger.
This game has only 3 weapons, but their movesets and skills go very deep to the point that you can have different playstyles within these 3 types. Great care has been taken to make these weapons feel unique and fun, and it shows.
The rest of combat is also extremely satisfying. Mechanics work in tandem and nothing really feels left out or forgettable, it's all interconnected in terms of mechanics. It's difficult for me to explain, but if you play it - especially in bossfights - you will feel a certain flow from sub-mechanic to sub-mechanic that you don't see in many slower games in this genre. This flow is accentuated when you try out different weapons, and notice similarities and differences in the order of events and which part of the moveset you use more.
Graphics are nice, and so is performance. Played both on a 3060 laptop and 5070, never got below 100fps on either of them. Due to the chosen artstyle, lowering graphics settings is less jarring if you're going for really high framerate boosts.
The mix of anime and semi-realistic styles goes surprisingly well, enhanced by the environments and level art being unique and interesting to look at and play through. The game does, however, have lots of VFX. Sometimes it's helpful, but especially in later bosses with spells and flashier movesets, you start to lose track of what's going on or what to pay attention to. Keep this in mind before purchase, if you know this is something you struggle with.
In terms of level design, it's quite linear. Many soulslikes play on an interconnected level with little to no loading screens. This game uses specific levels, and has shortcuts and checkpoints throughout. It serves this game well enough, though, as the story has you progressing through quite a large area wich - given this game's context and mechanics - makes a classic souslike interconnected layout nigh-impossible or at the very least incredibly unimmersive.
Due to this level structure, it gets away with a lot of other quality of life things: you get a total of 0 boss runbacks in this game, because it always respawns you in front of the boss arena. It also lets you pick up your lost XP from outside and even gives you some when you die, making it feel less like you're banging your head up against a bosswall and instead you're actually progressing. It's a tiny detail that makes all the difference in the experience.
You do also get to replay these levels and bossfights any time you like. The enemies scale slightly with your level, but not infinitely.
Sadly, this is also necessary due to one of my least favourite mechanics in any game:
Random Loot.
Enemies, bosses and chests give you random loot, which also has randomised stats. You can make gear from bosses, which costs a certain material that only the bossfight can give you. This is annoying because it then STILL gives you random stats. Picture this: you've just defeated a cool boss, you feel awesome! You go to check the boss rewards and see something you like for your build, but you don't have the materials. So... you pause the story and all sense of progression to grind the boss you just defeated, again. You don't feel so jolly after that.
But finally you have the Boss gear you wanted. Great! Next level has better gear, you'll probably ditch it in half an hour. This is why I hate these kinds of mechanics. Yes, you can upgrade and change stats in this game, but I feel as though it is discouraged with how rare the materials for this are. It just gives me a bad feeling every time to see a game with random mechanics. You either get lucky, or you don't...
Lastly, I want to express one more gripe I have with the last part of the midgame. Any other part of the game is well-designed, but this part has a lot of cheap enemy placement and projectile-spamming bosses with shields. Every game has a "that part", and this is it for me. It just feels like the misunderstood Soulslike trope of "haha you die now". Y'know, enemies around a corner that push you off, then nothing for the next 10 minutes, then another 3 of those in a row while an archer is shooting you off a plank.
These are the reasons this game sits at an 8/10 instead of a 10/10 for me.
So in summarry, combat is fantastic, graphics are cool and flashy, levels are fun for the most part and bossfights are just plain good fun.
Thank you for reading my rant!
