UNTIL YOU FALL
Live by the blade, die by the blade. Repeatedly
Melee combat is one of the most obvious and appealing ideas to implement in a PS VR action game. The problem is, there’s rarely anything to stop you flailing your arms around as though you’re in an EastEnders catfight. What we have here is a first-person roguelike with a smart solution to that issue, with plenty of other ideas that make it stand out in all the right ways.
As with most roguelikes, there’s not too much of a story. All you need to know is that you’re the hero with the ability to start over from the beginning each time you die, and half the enemies look a bit like they’re made of bogeys. While there’s not a huge amount of visual variety – there’s only a handful of different enemy types (including more powerful variations) and not many room templates – the action is good enough for us to swiftly forgive this.
From the beginning you’re dual-wielding melee weapons, with more and more to choose from the further you progress. While getting close to an enemy and getting a few wild strikes in can be helpful, if you consistently try to lash out randomly you’ll very quickly get your digital backside handed to you. Enemy health sits behind a guard meter. You can chip away at this with strikes, but blocking – which is essential – also wears it down. With the guard meter depleted, the enemy is stunned, and you can get a few critical strikes in before it refills.
VR THE CHAMPIONS
Blocking is, essentially, a QTE. You need to align a weapon with an on-screen symbol before the strike, and more powerful enemies can make you block half a dozen blows in quick succession. This, combined with the fact that more enthusiastic swings of the arm deal more damage and some attacks require you to duck and dodge, means that it’s a very physical game. There’s no shame in taking a break after just one or two runs; in fact, we recommend it.
The differences between the weapons you unlock have been very well judged, and allow for a wide choice of builds. In addition to differences in guard and health damage, each carries bonuses such as extra health or an increase in the damage dealt when you dash into an enemy. They all carry a special charge through combat, too
(our favourite being a projectile which ignores armour). Choose your favourites, then upgrade them by spending the aether you earn during your runs.
With three difficulties (to begin with), it caters to most skill levels. Even on the lowest difficulty, however, things quickly become intense after the first boss. Trying to fend off three enemies at once while also keeping an eye out for incoming projectiles to deflect is difficult and, truth be told, a bit awkward. But darn, we feel like true combat gods when we manage to pull it off.
VERDICT
“THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE WEAPONS ALLOW FOR A WIDE CHOICE OF BUILDS.”
Successfully encourages and rewards both patience and quick reactions, and punishes laziness. It’s a VR gameplay loop that you’ll gladly run through again and again. Luke Kemp