izigame.me

Neutral but closer to Do Not Recommend.
Bleak Sword DX is a game that is trying to be more than it should be. It's a basic top-down 2D minimalist game that has been extruded into a pointless 3D presentation, and has an array of poor and baffling design decisions.
You have Dodge, Parry, Attack and Strong Attack. The basic gist of the game is to bait/wait for an opponent to attack, then you parry or dodge and counterattack until it is dead. It is largely about being patient and timing your inputs, then watching your stamina bar regen for your next series of moves.
You slowly build XP and can level up either your Attack, Defense or HP stats. The major problem is apparent IMMEDIATELY with these tacked-on RPG elements: There is literally no reason EVER to upgrade your Defense or HP - is it your PLAN to tank blows and hit back with the power of a frozen wet string??? If you don't upgrade Attack, enemies can take up to several more hits before they die, and this extra timing gap gives other foes time to spawn and overwhelm. If you can't finish-off a foe with your full Stamina bar and you'll have to Dodge away and regenerate, it gives time for new enemies to spawn leading to impossible situations. Pointless upgrade mechanic.
I beat the game on Normal difficulty and wanted to start again on the Doom difficulty (Hard) and the above complaint completely solidified. In my Doom run my first 5 Level-Ups only gave me the Defense/Health options and it made it unplayable, requiring me to either restart or grind the earlier levels again. It's literally a punishment to Level Up if you aren't given the AT upgrade option. Yes you can grind for more XP but now it's not fun!!! Let's face it, once you beat a map (level arrangement) doing it over and again isn't fun, it's just ROTE REPETITION.
There's another major design flaw with the Inventory system. RNG gives you a chance for an item after each fight which could be a consumable or gear with stat boosts. Seems innocent enough but it can quickly lead to unpleasant feedback loops. If you do well you'll keep your items which give you a good advantage; if you aren't performing well your punishment is losing the items that gave you a chance and now you're back to grinding. This mechanic is so fundamentally broken I actually can't believe it's still a thing in 2024. This game doesn't even need the Inventory Mechanics, much like the Stats mechanic it's just tacked-on and detracts from the game.
Bottom line: It's a 2D top-down parry/counter game that has layers of BS presentation and pointless game mechanics heaped on top. It would have been a much more sound design decision to leave out the Stats and Inventory systems and just have a series of carefully designed level-arrangements. The game lets you grind for gear and XP if you'd like, but it's a pointless activity that only serves to force the player into tedium.
My final grievance has to do with the Parry mechanic. The game slowly phases it out as you advance, and the gameplay devolves into a dodge/mash/dodge/mash affair.
I did enjoy the game to a reasonable degree. The dodge/parry was fun enough but grows wearisome. This product is nearly all window-dressing and distractions, and very little core game. If you need to know what its like, wait this one out for an 80% sale but don't feel a sense of loss if you never play it - there's not much here.
Positives are music, sound and animations.