You can block enemy attacks, but both shields and weapons will shatter after a few blows. Yet perhaps the biggest congruence between the two is their affinity for dodging. The game has no difficulty settings, most enemies can kill you in a few hits, and there are only a handful of opportunities to heal yourself on every level. Indeed, it was infamous for its stern challenge upon its original release.
Blade of Darkness' combat is not merely violent, it's also highly treacherous. Or more to the point, the moment they swing theirs at you. The similarities become evident the moment you swing your weapon at an enemy. Each character has their own introductory level, Dragon Age-style, before your chosen warrior embarks upon the same meandering quest to retrieve the legendary Sword of Ianna. The game has you select one of four heroes to play as, Sargon the Knight, Naglfar the Dwarf, Zoe the Amazon, or Turkaram the Barbarian. I haven't played Blade of Darkness since before Dark Souls came out, and booting it up in 2021, the number of links between the two are certainly striking. I thought Blade of Darkness was a game about chopping the legs off orcs, when did it suddenly become the progenitor of Dark Souls? What's most fascinating about this re-release, however, is the game's Steam description, which reads "Blade of Darkness is a hardcore fantasy action-adventure with unique combat mechanics and role-playing elements that pioneered the 'soulsborne' genre".
But it has recently been unleashed from its copyright dungeon by publisher SNEG, relaunching on Steam with a slightly abridged title and some much-needed support for modern screens and machines. The action RPG developed by defunct Spanish developer Rebel Act Studios has spent much of its existence trapped in a realm of legal limbo. Then again, Blade of Darkness is a game suited to myth.
0 kommentar(er)
