Blade Assault from South Korean developer TeamSuneat has been released on Switch following its initial Steam release early last year. It’s a roguelike action platformer and aims to provide a punk sci-fi story alongside beautiful pixel-art and fast-paced action.
The story revolves around a corrupt military organisation and you play as several characters fighting against this tyranny. As with all the modern roguelike titles out there, Blade Assault requires you to keep on playing to grind away at upgrades so you get a little further with each run.
Each new game starts back at your base where upgrades to your moves and secondary weapons can be bought. As you progress further, other characters become playable and they all have a distinct move set that helps the game feel fresh. But ultimately the continuous grinding is still required to make any meaningful progress.
The controls feel clunky in places, especially with the more advanced moves where they either don’t execute or you have to hold the button down. This is not something that you would expect from a fast-paced action game and does spoil the otherwise fun combat. The bosses are also incredibly tough and it takes a long time to chip away at their health bars.
The graphics are decent in places and there is a real dystopian future atmosphere throughout Blade Assault. That being said, there isn’t much variety in the level design and each small room requires a loading screen which softens the overall immersion. Some of the weapons and effects look great though and there is variety in the enemies with different tactics required to beat them.
Hardcore roguelike fans will find enough here to make this a worthwhile purchase, especially if you enjoy a sci-fi setting. For everyone else, there are better games like this that control better and have more interesting mechanics. Blade Assault does all the basics well but doesn’t have enough to help it stand out in a crowded genre.
