Blades of Time for the Nintendo Switch was released on the 14th Of May 2019, made by Gaijin Entertainment and published by Konami and Iceberg Interactive.
Straight out of the gate I had the feeling that I was playing a sort of knock off version of Tomb Raider, which is a classic in its own right. In Blades of Time, you play a duel sword wielding, gun slinging, minimal clothed female named Ayumi, who is on the hunt for her partner, Zero. Trapped on Dragon Island and surrounded by Chaos Monsters, you must fight your way through to find loot, complete puzzles using the “Time Rewind” ability and Order spell to slash up as many different monsters as you can.
Each of these monsters give their “soul” which can then be used at the Altar to unlock new abilities or spells. As you would expect, the spells and abilities have different levels of damage and effects on your enemies. Using your Order ability, you are able to see hidden chests which give you new items or weapons to help you along your quest to defeat the Chaos and find your lost partner.
While playing through I got a bit frustrated with some of the tasks or monsters that I had to face in order to complete the chapter. I ended up having to put the switch down for a bit and do something else to prevent me from a “rage uninstall” so-to-speak. Blades of Time can most definitely be difficult at times but it can be also rewarding when you finally make it through.
Graphically Blades of Time is similar to that of the PlayStation 1 or PlayStation 2 graphics era. While this might be expected on a handheld device to some extent, the Nintendo Switch has proven itself worthy graphically, even in handheld mode, with some of the newest games… Here’s looking at you MK11. Blades of Time on the other hand, could use just a little improvement in this area.
Whilst Blades of Time could be difficult and sometimes frustrating, it does become quite easy to get used to after some play time. This does make it easier as you progress through. through.
Overall not a big fan of it as it wasn’t really a game that I’d go out of my way to play.
The Good
- Challenging
- Tomb Raider-esq
The Bad
- Graphically Lacking
- Sometimes A Little Too Challenging