izigame.me

First of all this is not a game for everybody. And after over 30 hours and multiple playthroughs, there are some problems with it. But I still can recommend the game for what it is.
Bleak Sword DX has a beautiful and astonishingly design. A simple combat system and quick and short combat arenas which give the feeling of "just one more stage and I'm done". It is addicting even though it can be monotonous at some times.
The first playthrough will take about 3-5 hours, and any subsequent about 2-3 hours (depending on difficulty and skill level). There are 3 difficulties and 2 campaign modes, DX and Classic. DX is ne new campaign which changes the arena fights a bit, mostly more enemies but overall feels a bit more polished, while the Classic campaign is straight from the original game on mobile, and a bit shorter.
The combat is simple. Attack, Parryblock and Riposte, Dodge, Charge Attack, Heavy Attack and Stamina Management. Every enemy attack that doesn't have a red exclamation mark over the enemy, can be parried. Parries give you all your stamina back, which can make for great an quick chain kills.
There is also simple Level Up system, and Item/Equipment system. And if you die, you lose all your currently aquired EXP and Items, but can get them back, by winning the Stage you previously died, but if you die a second time, the EXP and Items are gone. So don't get too attached to your Items. But this is in no way a problem, since you can always go back to earlier stages, play them again and reaquire new Items, or farm levels.
So what are the problems then?
The hitboxes can be a bit iffy sometimes, your hit doesn't register, or you get clipped where you probably shouldn't have. These are more minor nitpicks thought, since they are rare. Also turn down the lightning effect in the settings, all the way down, it can easily get you killed, if the screen suddenly FLASHES extremely in some stages, and you can't see what the enemies are doing. The same can be said about some stages, where trees or pillars can block your view, and enemies are invisible behind them. So always stay in an open field if possible.
The biggest nitpick is more from an achievement collectors perspective.
First, the "Collector" achievement: Please make an ingame list like the beastiary for items, and where to find them. So players can repeat the correct areas for the missing items they might have. Just playing the first area on Randomizer over and over for hours to just hope to find the missing items is currently the most effective method, and this shouldn't be.
The Arena and the Randomizer.
The Randomizer in itself is very fun to play. up until about 2/3 where suddenly you can get, and will get, bumrushed by multiple Bosses in almost every wave. Especially the Mine where normally the rats come in big groups of 5-8 rats, and suddenly you got yourself ~5 Bosses + the rest of the wave. It's very hard even on normal, and while it's still possible by farming Perma upgrades, playing very patiently and using recovery items, it's still way too annoying to be fun.
A possible solution could be, by limiting the Boss spawn rate, to 1 Boss per wave, or maybe let the enemies hurt the other enemies, so a friendly fire for the enemies. This could also be a new fun way to play the game, since you could play defensively and experience with a different approach to this different Playmode.
The Arena and the achievement is the absolut worst I have every experienced. If you are a collector, have fun. In the Arena you get put against Waves of enemies, you can't level up and you can't go back to earlier waves, and once you die, you start from the VERY BEGINNING. No problem, if at the midpoint, about wave 30, you wouldn't get multiple bosses, and you have basically Level 1 stats. and it keeps getting worse and worse, and you are not even halfway to the 64 wave achievement. I couldn't do it, after multiple hours, I just couldn't do it, best was about 40. But I got intrigued, so I gave myself (shamelessy) infinite health, and checked out the rest of the waves. Which brings me to say. I find this impossible. if anyone can post me a run, please show me, I have no idea how you are supposed to win this.
A possible fix for this would be enemy friendly fire, like mentioned in the Randomizer. Or not having to start from the very beginning, this can take up to 30+min just to have another attempt at the wave you died at. Or just removing the 64 wave achievement. 32 is definitely doable.
The Bossrush mode was hard but I enjoyed it, if you got the no hit achievements for the bosses before, you should be able to win this mode. It's the same as Arena, no level ups and if you die you start at the beginning. But since it's only 12 stages, and only 1 Boss per Stage, you can do it.
So even with these harsh things, I do recommend the game, it has a couple flaws, but overall the replayability is high for me, it's quick and fun. A game you can always come back to and play through again, while enjoying the simple and awesome visuals.
So for some input on what could be improved for a game like this? Maybe give more options for environmental damage, like hitting a tree it falls and can damage enemies, or smashing a wall of a building makes it fall over and damage enemies. This would be cool and definitely a point for a more tactical approach.
Thanks for making the game, I had fun with it.