The Tarnishing of Juxtia

grabbed on sale, actually pretty cool game. really nice artwork, once you got used to the controls/combat it was actually really satisfying

I just finished my first playthrough of The Tarnishing of Juxtia, which took me about 9 hours. Before diving into the details, I want to say upfront that this is easily the hardest 2D soulslike I’ve ever played. I’ve tackled plenty of tough 2D soulslikes and metroidvanias (including both Blasphemous games), but this one sits at the top for difficulty. It’s important to note that The Tarnishing of Juxtia is not a metroidvania. There is zero ability gating and almost no exploration. The game is extremely linear — you’re almost always funneled in one direction, with only a handful of easily found secrets along the way. Bosses and Combat Challenges The bosses are genuinely excellent and among the toughest I’ve faced in the genre. Traitor Saint Apathia stands out as the hardest by a wide margin — she took me well over 100 attempts across her three encounters. On the flip side, the final boss was surprisingly easy and I beat him on my first try, which felt a bit anticlimactic. Scattered throughout the game are numerous combat challenges, some optional and many mandatory for progression. A couple of them felt particularly brutal (borderline unfair), and after several attempts I eventually gave up on them. It’s possible this was partly a skill issue on my end, but they stood out as noticeably rougher than the rest. Gameplay and Progression At its core, The Tarnishing of Juxtia is a classic 2D soulslike. You level up stats (Strength, Dexterity, Health, Stamina, Mana, and Intelligence — though most stats use different names than the usual Dark Souls conventions) and upgrade weapons that scale with your build. The familiar soulslike loop is all here: • You lose your souls on death and must retrieve them before dying again or they’re gone permanently. • Souls are used for both leveling and buying items. • Checkpoints come in the form of fountains (no fast travel between them). • “Waterballs” serve as a limited fast-travel system once unlocked. • You can mix and match armor pieces freely. • “Gifts” function like rings from the Dark Souls series. • You earn special abilities from bosses and can use a variety of spells. Equipment is limited to: 1 special ability, 2 spells, 3 gifts, and 2 weapons. There is no equip load system. The Negatives While I overall enjoyed the game, there are a few clear issues: • Gifts are very polarizing — they usually come with one strong benefit and one harsh downside. I ended up not using any of them because the drawbacks felt too punishing. • Enemy AI is inconsistent. Some enemies have massive aggro ranges while others barely react until you’re right on top of them. • Hitboxes are the biggest problem. Many enemies and bosses have hitboxes that extend unnaturally far behind them, even when they’re attacking forward. This felt like a lingering bug rather than intentional design and made several encounters (especially with elites and certain bosses) much more frustrating than they should have been. One important warning: Once you defeat the final boss, the credits roll and you’re sent back to the title screen. If you load your save afterward, the game automatically starts NG+. Make sure you’ve done everything you want to do before fighting the final boss. Final Verdict Despite some jank and the hitbox issues, The Tarnishing of Juxtia is a hidden gem. I was hesitant to buy it because of the mixed reviews, but I’m glad I did. The bosses are fantastic (which is the most important part of a soulslike for me), the game is mostly bug-free, and it delivers a very challenging, focused experience. Final Score: 9/10

耐着性子打完 游戏不及格！ 建议设计师多玩下一流的银河城游戏 动作和战斗系统尤其糟糕 特别是爱玩高速游戏的玩家别入坑 会被活活气死！

IDK why the reviews are so bad for this game, bought it for cheap and loved every second from start to finish. Bit on the easy side but nonetheless it has become one of my favorite games of this type. Great game full recommend.

Очень достойная игра занявшая меня на 8 часов. Имеет очевидные минусы(странный баланс брони и оружия где есть откровенно более сильные варианты и более слабые, много багов в том числе крашащие игру, в одном месте в локации-саду очень отвратный платформинг). Но она сделана с душой, почти не душит и дает умеренный челлендж и играется как вполне себе хороший соулслайк. Некоторые видел жалуются на малое разнообразие врагов, но мной этого замечено не было, для продолжительности игры и ее локаций ассортимент их весьма достойный, да и все противники так или иначе относятся к одной из фракций. Лор в целом приятный, но ничего невероятного и нового. По скидке(я брал где то на 70% скидке кажется) КРАЙНЕ СОВЕТУЮ, не по скидке только если ищете 2д соулслайк поиграть аля Salt and Sanctuary.

bom jogo, um pouco lento a game play, mas nao atrapalha a diversão.

la verdad q lo jugue, intente disfrutarlo pero tiene muchas parte sinjustas, le falta un balance encuanto al daño de ataque de algunos bosses. la verdadno lo recomiendo

loved it! not your classic metroidvania: bosses are more challenging than most games. at the same time, the map is less extensive than most games.

Very Underrated

Primeira analise que escrevo assim. Pontos Positivos: - Pixel art bonita - Cenários bonitos - Design de personagens bem feitos Pontos Negativos: - Alguns HitBoxes parecem inconsistentes você pensa que desviou mas toma o Hit - Sistema Simples e com um detalhe que quem percebe logo de começo pode tirar toda e qualquer dificuldade do game - Spoiler - True Ending na minha visão bem paia, o final ruim ao menos tem um " fechamento " ...