Berlin-based developers Point Blank Games have released the latest in action-adventure games to keep you immersed for hours. They have built this visually stunning, story-rich game known as Stray Blade. This is one title you aren’t going to want to miss.

You begin your adventure with the main character – a male or female by the name of Farren West. Having already explored the rest of the world, you have one thing left in your sights to explore. The ancient ruins of Acrea. You finally step foot on the lands the ruins call home, but died during your travels, only to be brought back to life with a heavy price to pay – you are now bound to land and need to work hard to free it from the war and death brought to the valley by the Golden Army.

The storyline is incredible, making it a huge attraction for the title. Controlling the main character, Farren West, and being guided through your quests by your companion, Boji, you encounter all sorts of cool things along the way, and cutting off the Golden Army’s arms and legs was so satisfying that I found myself hunting for more fights whilst exploring. There were some insane boss fights, and I might have died more than once fighting them, and the Skill Tree took a little to get used to, but being able to boost the stats a little on Farren and Boji helped in the long run.

Graphically this game was absolutely stunning and I loved every minute of looking at it, with that cartoonish feel that came with the environment, to the rays of sun coming through the trees with bright and vibrant colors. This game just popped off and was beautiful to play. The environmental aspects all had that cartoonish feel you would see from games like Fortnite where it does not look necessarily realistic but it still looks stunning, and you always get the idea of what something is.

The blood even had that cartoony feel to it. It wasn’t enough to make you squeamish, but it was enough to be like, “Wow. That was cool!” and seeing the blood cover the character after you just cut someone’s arm off was very fulfilling.

The developers did a fantastic job when it comes to audio, especially when it comes to the dialogue. There was some much and it was so well done, and the expressions of Farren’s voice actor dragged you so much deeper into the game. The backing tune had a strong mixture of guitar and other wind instruments, and depending on the scene and location, they would change, so if you were in a fight, the music would become darker and quicker, so you knew you were in combat, and at some points, it would make you fight better just to keep up with the tune.

The game’s weapons even sounded fantastic, especially when you hit someone; it was that wet flesh-cutting sound you would expect when hitting someone with a sharp weapon, and once you had made that fatal last blow, you could hear them taking their last breath, which again, was satisfying.

The tutorial section when you first begin your adventure explains the controls really well, teaching you everything you need to know so that you can embark on the journey of a lifetime. Like your typical adventure-bound games, you get to use the normal controls like W, A, S, and D to move your character, it utilizes the spacebar to jump, and spamming the hell out of your mouse will slay whatever is in your way. The controls flowed made a lot of sense, and they were nice and responsive with things like attack moves.

If you love a rich adventure game where there is no shortage of combat and beautifully crafted environments, then Stray Blade is designed for you. The game runs really well and plays absolutely beautifully on my PC, and the dialogue is immersive, clutching at you and dragging you into the game even further.

Written by: Hayden Nelson