Blade of Darkness is a remaster released in 2021 of the original Blade: the Edge of Darkness (or Severance: Blade of Darkness), an action-adventure game from 2001. It's hard for me to sort out my feelings about this game, since it's one of the PC games that I played in my childhood (last time I played it was at least 14 years ago) and I love it, but it is difficult to recommend in 2022, because it just feels old and somewhat dated; furthermore, the remaster does little to update the game: there is now support for 16:9 screens, it is more compatible with modern OS, there are achievements and it has support for joysticks (although it has some problems: there are som combos you can't perform and overall it just felt weird, I generally prefer to play with a controller, but this game was easier with M+K). I didn't see any changes apart from those. I'm glad I can play this game without any headaches on Win10, but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed to find various bugs (I'm 99% sure I experienced some of these in the past) and the same jankiness when I was a kid (if you're very nostalgia driven this could be a plus? idk).
Getting into the gameplay, the main focus of the game is combat. You have to select between 4 characters: the Knight, the Barbarian, the Dwarf and the Amazon; with different stats and more importantly, with different weapons to wield. At this time, one could say that combat is proto souls-like: enemies have (basic) attack patterns and one has to identify them and react accordingly. One mistake and you will be punished for it, possibly in a fatal way. You have to press buttons simultaneously to make combos, akin to Street Fighter if you like, to make more powerful moves and thus eliminate the enemy.
The levels are linear, although they allow a certain degree of exploration, encouraged by the discovery of more powerful weapons. In addition to weapons, there are the typical healing potions which you can grab and save for later. Also, some levels have traps and present some level of variety: There are castles, fortresses, caves, tombs, temples, graveyards, among others. Is not that much, but they're a nice change of scenery. There is not much to say about the music and sound other than is serviceable, although completing it more than once makes it feel repetitive but still I liked it. On the other end of the spectrum, there are sections that don't have music, and I think it would be better if they had some kind of background music or ambiance.
On the narrative and theme, it is a fantasy game (low fantasy), resulting from mixing Conan the Barbarian and Lord of the Rings (not my quote but very spot on imo). There are orc enemies, knights, trolls, minotaurs, demons, among other monsters. The mission is to find a holy magic sword to definitively defeat the Evil. Simple. The story is definitely not the focus here, I don't think it's even necessary to enjoy the game, but it seemed like a good addition that gives flavor to the game; in the introductory cinematics and at the end of the levels it is implied that there is a world much bigger than the one the player sees, naming characters and places that I had next to no idea what they were, but it was cool. I like that they spent some thought in worldbuildind, trying to make it believable, despite not being the focus, and in my opinion, not even a necessity.
Now, why did I have a hard time reviewing this game? In short, because this is bumpy, rough and janky to play. At least by the standards that, in one way or another, we have acquired over the years. The game, when it works, is fun. I'd be lying if I said it isn't: after all, I completed it with all 4 characters and, for the most part, I had fun (not so much with the dwarf tho, fuck the dwarf). The problem is that there are many times that the game does not cooperate: Faulty hitboxes, attacks that visually clearly connected but didn't deal any damage, faulty jumps that more often than not make you fall to your death, instances where you'd get stuck either inside an enemy (be careful of skeletons), inside a wall or inside a hole, moments when the volume suddenly rises for a couple of seconds and nearly kills you with a heart attack, janky lock-on system and maybe a gamecrash or two. I had just one, when I was trying to get the no saves achievement and was 60% through the game. Pain.
They're probably more bugs, but these were the major and annoying ones. Also, if I'm talking negatives, it's impossible not to mention the "final" boss. I truly believe is one of the worst bosses I've ever fought in a videogame (beware, rant ahead), because it is not very well designed. This motherfucker teleports when he's in your weapon reach, and, if you manage to hit him, you can only hit him once before he tp's because he has some kind of magical shield or barrier that provokes your weapon to bounce (as if you were hitting a real, physical shield). This is because this dude (that only appears on this level and I'm not sure if its even mentioned earlier in the story) is supposed to be beaten with the sacred sword I mentioned at the start. But, and big but, you need the fully powered sword. To unleash the full powers of the sword you have to collect 6 runes, which are hidden in different levels and are deemed as OPTIONAL; and is the only way to consistently hit his barrier because the upgraded sword has ranged attacks. So, if you are clueless, or want to beat the game quickly (both cases are me.Also if you collect all runes, then you have to beat one extra level, with the true Mr. Evil, which is a very linear level, kinda long, and very boring imo) and didn't get all runes, you are pretty much fucked (I realized all of this playing with the Dwarf, which has a laughable reach. Paaaaain.), unless you are the Amazon and maybe the Barbarian, which have combos with long reach, and maybe they can hit him, I really don't know. Luckily, when you destroy his barrier, you can hit the guy normally and stops teleporting whenever he has the chance. I'm sorry for this very long rant and going a bit off rails, but I really HATED this boss. Fuck you Dal-Gurak.
Finally, for the visuals I have nothing to say. I mean, it's a game from 2001, you can't say it looks good compared to what we have now, but I don't think it looks awful and I liked the style and setting the devs were going for, although I think there are like 3 or 4 levels that don't mesh very well with the rest of the game. I read that this was one of the first games with real-time shadows, so round of applause. Seriously, very cool.
I can't say in good faith that it's a good game and that you should play it, nor do I think it's a bad game. It is simply a game that, currently, is somewhat mediocre. I found there is some mods for both the new and old version but I didn't dive much into that. Might be some pretty cool stuff there.
I’d recommend Blade of Darkness to someone who likes “old” PC games, specially action/adventures ones and/or to someone with high tolerance to bugs and jankiness that could make you load or restart your game. Despite this lukewarm review, I still love it very much. Do yourself in favor tho, and if you play pick the Amazon or the Barbarian.
Getting into the gameplay, the main focus of the game is combat. You have to select between 4 characters: the Knight, the Barbarian, the Dwarf and the Amazon; with different stats and more importantly, with different weapons to wield. At this time, one could say that combat is proto souls-like: enemies have (basic) attack patterns and one has to identify them and react accordingly. One mistake and you will be punished for it, possibly in a fatal way. You have to press buttons simultaneously to make combos, akin to Street Fighter if you like, to make more powerful moves and thus eliminate the enemy.
The levels are linear, although they allow a certain degree of exploration, encouraged by the discovery of more powerful weapons. In addition to weapons, there are the typical healing potions which you can grab and save for later. Also, some levels have traps and present some level of variety: There are castles, fortresses, caves, tombs, temples, graveyards, among others. Is not that much, but they're a nice change of scenery. There is not much to say about the music and sound other than is serviceable, although completing it more than once makes it feel repetitive but still I liked it. On the other end of the spectrum, there are sections that don't have music, and I think it would be better if they had some kind of background music or ambiance.
On the narrative and theme, it is a fantasy game (low fantasy), resulting from mixing Conan the Barbarian and Lord of the Rings (not my quote but very spot on imo). There are orc enemies, knights, trolls, minotaurs, demons, among other monsters. The mission is to find a holy magic sword to definitively defeat the Evil. Simple. The story is definitely not the focus here, I don't think it's even necessary to enjoy the game, but it seemed like a good addition that gives flavor to the game; in the introductory cinematics and at the end of the levels it is implied that there is a world much bigger than the one the player sees, naming characters and places that I had next to no idea what they were, but it was cool. I like that they spent some thought in worldbuildind, trying to make it believable, despite not being the focus, and in my opinion, not even a necessity.
Now, why did I have a hard time reviewing this game? In short, because this is bumpy, rough and janky to play. At least by the standards that, in one way or another, we have acquired over the years. The game, when it works, is fun. I'd be lying if I said it isn't: after all, I completed it with all 4 characters and, for the most part, I had fun (not so much with the dwarf tho, fuck the dwarf). The problem is that there are many times that the game does not cooperate: Faulty hitboxes, attacks that visually clearly connected but didn't deal any damage, faulty jumps that more often than not make you fall to your death, instances where you'd get stuck either inside an enemy (be careful of skeletons), inside a wall or inside a hole, moments when the volume suddenly rises for a couple of seconds and nearly kills you with a heart attack, janky lock-on system and maybe a gamecrash or two. I had just one, when I was trying to get the no saves achievement and was 60% through the game. Pain.
They're probably more bugs, but these were the major and annoying ones. Also, if I'm talking negatives, it's impossible not to mention the "final" boss. I truly believe is one of the worst bosses I've ever fought in a videogame (beware, rant ahead), because it is not very well designed. This motherfucker teleports when he's in your weapon reach, and, if you manage to hit him, you can only hit him once before he tp's because he has some kind of magical shield or barrier that provokes your weapon to bounce (as if you were hitting a real, physical shield). This is because this dude (that only appears on this level and I'm not sure if its even mentioned earlier in the story) is supposed to be beaten with the sacred sword I mentioned at the start. But, and big but, you need the fully powered sword. To unleash the full powers of the sword you have to collect 6 runes, which are hidden in different levels and are deemed as OPTIONAL; and is the only way to consistently hit his barrier because the upgraded sword has ranged attacks. So, if you are clueless, or want to beat the game quickly (both cases are me.
Finally, for the visuals I have nothing to say. I mean, it's a game from 2001, you can't say it looks good compared to what we have now, but I don't think it looks awful and I liked the style and setting the devs were going for, although I think there are like 3 or 4 levels that don't mesh very well with the rest of the game. I read that this was one of the first games with real-time shadows, so round of applause. Seriously, very cool.
I can't say in good faith that it's a good game and that you should play it, nor do I think it's a bad game. It is simply a game that, currently, is somewhat mediocre. I found there is some mods for both the new and old version but I didn't dive much into that. Might be some pretty cool stuff there.
I’d recommend Blade of Darkness to someone who likes “old” PC games, specially action/adventures ones and/or to someone with high tolerance to bugs and jankiness that could make you load or restart your game. Despite this lukewarm review, I still love it very much. Do yourself in favor tho, and if you play pick the Amazon or the Barbarian.