Genre: Action RPG
Modes: Single-Player
Developer: more8bit
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Release Date: September 19th 2019
Available On: iOS, macOS, tvOS
Reviewed On: iOS
In 2017, Luis Moreno Jiménez had an idea. He wanted to take the visceral and challenging gameplay of Dark Souls and combine it with the visual style of 8-bit games on the NES. For as ambitious as the idea is, they delivered their intention with Bleak Sword. With the core gameplay centred around the formula popularised by FromSoftware, Bleak Sword is a fast-paced, satisfying and rewarding game that any Apple Arcade owner should give a try. The art style is very simple, but it manages to portray a dark, twisted and fantastical world, and the charming but simple character models fit well. Bleak Sword is a fast-paced and challenging experience that you will not forget for some time after finishing.
A KNIGHT'S TALE
Bleak Sword takes place in an unnamed fantasy world where Prince Rhael has betrayed his father and brother. He murders them and seizes a powerful artefact known as the Bleak Sword. Rhael seizes the throne after the murder of his father, the king, marking the start of a Red Age, a period where monsters and forbidden creatures take over the land. You play as an unnamed warrior who must journey across the land to overthrow Prince Rhael and break the spell cast on the world by the Bleak Sword. Bleak Sword does not set its story up amazingly; there is an opening cutscene, and then the story only comes back into play at the end. There are no cutscenes that progress the story throughout the game; the only cutscenes take place before and after beating a boss at the end of the world. The story is not the selling point of the game, and there are many other areas where the game shines, but the narrative is given focus at the beginning of the game. To see it amount to nothing worthwhile is sad to see.
While I can not give much praise to the game's narrative, Bleak Sword's visuals are one of its strongest points. The game's graphics resemble classic 8-bit video games from arcades and classic home consoles like the NES and Intellivision. The best part is that despite the 8-bit, 2D style of the game, Bleak Sword feels like a fully realised 3D adventure. Despite the level-by-level progression, every area is a visual treat and has some of the bleakest (pardon the pun) and most depressing atmosphere I have seen in a long time. Most areas are black and white, adding to the dank visual style, but the game throws in small hints of red to make the game pop. The hints of red are most apparent when you take damage or when you inflict damage on an enemy. Seeing red squirts of blood trickle into the game's world was extremely satisfying, and it never got old for one second of my playthrough.
The game has a dark aesthetic, and the music gives the atmosphere an extra level of immersion. The soundtrack is stripped back and simplistic; there are no epic, operatic crescendos. The soundtrack is quiet when there are just a couple of enemies on the screen, but the music gets tenser when your health is nearly gone and a horde of enemies outnumbers you. I need to give a special mention to the music played when you complete a level. The simple victory jingle and the main character raising his sword at the same time to celebrate a win were fantastic, and it got even more rewarding the further I got in the game. The deep, heavy drums of the victory jingle made me feel like I had made a difference in the world, and the feeling never went away during my playthrough. Bleak Sword's victory jingle is on equal grounds with the insane victory music of Cuphead or the satisfying split-second jingle of Professor Layton.
Bleak Sword's character models also complement its visuals. The protagonist's design is very simple, resembling an 8-bit stick man with a sword. The enemies, on the other hand, are where the game truly shines in its visuals. There are dozens of different creatures and monsters throughout the game, and each one is distinctive from the other. There are small and agile enemies like bats, rats and slime, and then there are huge brutes like centaurs, knights and guardians. Each enemy has a unique attack ability and a unique sprite when they take damage or inflict damage. Bleak Sword offers much variety in its simple art style, and it takes risks and delivers massively in making a game with such an oppressive and immersive atmosphere.
TAKING SOULS
Bleak Sword's graphics are not the only evidence of the game paying homage to gaming's past; the game's structure is another key component. It may seem cliche in today's gaming climate to have a video game where the levels have Super Mario Bros. titles like 1-1 or 8-2. Bleak Sword's levels are just like this, and I really liked it. Giving the levels no title allows the level to speak for itself. Sadly, it does mean that some levels blend into each other without any difference, but the charm is what makes it memorable.
The game's hub world and structure may be similar to older games, but the gameplay is anything but old-fashioned. The levels are square, diorama-like spaces, and you attack enemies with your sword, block attacks with your shield and dodge enemies by dashing. Take the tense and methodical gameplay of Dark Souls, simplify it, and then make it functional with only two thumbs on a touch screen, and you have Bleak Sword.
I played the game in portrait mode on my iPhone (the way I recommend you play the game), and this is how the gameplay worked. Your left thumb holds down on the left side of the screen to charge up your sword attack. If you hold down for a split second and then attack by swiping your right thumb in the direction of an enemy, you will perform a light attack. If you hold down for a bit longer and then attack, you perform a heavy attack. Holding down and charging an attack uses more stamina, and once your stamina depletes, you can not attack and need to wait for it to refill. Your right thumb controls the dash. Make sure your left thumb is not on the screen, and you can dash in whatever direction you like with the right thumb. You will need to get comfortable with dashing because enemies will attack you from all directions in Bleak Sword. Happily, the controls are responsive and never feel delayed. It made the precise second-by-second gameplay feel fast-paced and made each challenging victory all the more euphoric. Bleak Sword is a hard game. The game is not rage-inducing or brutal, but it is certainly difficult. Luckily, the gameplay and controls complement the game, and it never feels unfair.
If you get confident enough with standard movement, you can always try to parry an enemy's attack. To parry, you need to press your left thumb on the left side of the screen for a split second before an enemy hits you with their attack. Smaller enemies like rats and skulls are easy to parry because their attacks are at a similar speed, and these enemies show up on nearly every level. However, the parry is very difficult to get right with any other enemy. Each enemy has a unique attack speed and a unique number of attacks, and it is hard to keep track. Granted, you can keep track of one type of enemy's attack, but when there are four different enemy types on screen, and all of them are going for you from various angles, it makes the parry feel redundant. I did not use the parry a great deal, and it is not an essential mechanic to master to get through the game. However, it made me question whether the parry was necessary to add to the game. I used it only a few times during my four-hour playthrough, but I died about 85% of the time I tried to activate it due to its awkward timing.
Completing a level in Bleak Sword rewards you with XP. XP is used to level up your character when you earn a certain number of them. Whenever you level up, you have a choice to upgrade one possible stat for your character. Your character has three upgradeable areas: health, attack power and defence. Any stat is upgraded by five whenever you level up. You choose between two possible areas to level up, and this is whichever two stats appear as a button prompt during the level-up screen. I went with a balanced approach, levelling up each area evenly for 75% of my playthrough. During the last hour of the game, I prioritised attack power to give me the upper hand during bosses and tougher enemy encounters. Alternatively, you can get equipped items at the end of a level that adds points to your attack and defence stats. You only have two slots throughout the game, so you need to be careful when dropping an item because you will not be able to get it back.
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
Bleak Sword may offer one of the most rewarding experiences on Apple Arcade, but there are a few areas where the game falters. Firstly, the bosses are too easy, especially in comparison to the levels. The bosses themselves are fine, and they are fun to play through and battle, but they do not offer a huge amount of difficulty compared to the standard levels. Bleak Sword's difficulty is most apparent when you have multiple different enemies on screen with various attack patterns, and you dodge and attack them until they are all gone. 90% of the bosses only have one enemy to attack, and they are much slower than any other enemy. All this means that the bosses are much easier to attack, their attacks are very easy to dodge, and they do not take long to beat; you can beat some bosses in 15-20 seconds. The final boss of the game is the only one that feels like a true test of everything you have learnt.
My final critique is that sometimes, the space in certain levels can be too small, making some enemy attacks nearly impossible to avoid. The diorama style of each level is brilliant, and I really like the concept, but it becomes problematic in the later stages of the game. The second-to-last world is in a castle, which is fine in theory, but the issue is that there are pillars and obstacles scattered throughout the stage, making movement very restrictive. When you have multiple enemies targeting you in a cramped space, it can be extremely frustrating. The cramped level design is where my issue with the parry comes into focus. You can only parry one attack at a time, so when two different enemies come at you within a split second of each other, you may parry one attack but take damage from the other. Considering the restricted space you have at later levels, these levels are less enjoyable than the previous ones.
BLEAK SWORD REVIEW: VERDICT
Bleak Sword takes the core gameplay and levelling up from Dark Souls and combines it with a nostalgic visual style to make a truly unique mobile experience. The gameplay is fun and challenging, and the visuals are depressing but beautiful. The levelling-up system is simple, but players will need to think about how they want to play the game and prioritise stats they feel are most beneficial to them. Bleak Sword sadly struggles in some areas, notably its disappointing bosses, its awkward parry and its claustrophobic design on some levels. However, it is still a great game and one that I highly recommend to anyone with an Apple Arcade subscription.
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