Power always corrupts. Yes, it does, as ‘Bleak Sword DX,’ by more8bit, curses its way onto PC and console. With a finally announced release date of June 8th, we finally get to sink our demonic teeth into this rogue-like hack and slasher.

The Bleak Sword has corrupted King Rhael and the lands in which he rules upon. Your character is the one that must stop the darkness that has gripped the world as the chosen warrior to store order and peace. The Red Age of Dark Magic and abominations of the flesh must be stopped. I love a good Medieval-like fantasy story, and the simplistic narrative told through impactful cutscenes are engrossing while not overly convoluted.

Gameplay opens with the decision to play DX mode or Classic. The gameplay is very simple but hard to master. Through 12 chapters there are 10 unique environmental levels to each world culminating in a boss. In each chapter, your main objective is to slay the monsters that attack you.

These may range from spiders, bats, and zombies, all the way up to werewolves, skeletons, or even demonic foot soldiers. In your set of moves, you have an attack; heavy and light, a dodge roll, and a parry. The boss fights are super challenging, interesting, and equally frustrating in nature. You will come back after rage-quitting several times, I will promise you that.

The default keys are the arrows to move and Z, X, and C – a bizarre combination, but thankfully, it is also gamepad compatible and has key binding capabilities. DX mode just adds more levels, and these vary in style and enemies to keep you on your toes. Even though it was a PC version, I actually preferred to play it on an Xbox controller, as a seasoned console user, and I found no input lag at all.

Most of the controls I found easy enough to use, despite the preset binding, however, the parry seemed very sluggish and actually hard to tell if engaged. This was the real mechanic you needed to master as it was brutal in timing it perfectly and very hard to see due to how small your character’s shield is on the screen. I found it very hard the later I progressed through the game, which is a shame as it is so crucial in this type of game that relies on it so much.

One mechanic that also adds to the challenge is the fact you need to manage your stamina. This is a fabulous way to keep things spicy as spamming moves isn’t possible, leaving you open to a depleted bar. There is also a levelling system with a progression bar that you increase through your experience in each level. At the end of each level, you will also be presented with items that you can use or not.

The art style and audio complement each other perfectly. Everything is very pixelated and minimalist in design. Enhancing this is the fact it uses only black and white with red highlights for important icons like blood and health bars. The small diorama style, as fellow reviewer Ash so eloquently puts it, really frames the dire fight for your life as you dart around the tiny arena. The creepy backing music and environmental sounds really set the bleak mood as your warrior battles through his hordes of devilish creatures of menace.

Overall, more8bit has delivered a beautifully designed game that even rivals ‘Dark Souls’ in terms of challenge and difficulty. The intense gameplay and interesting story make for one quirky ride through the levels of hellish turmoil and dread. Devolver Digital definitely has a knack for backing some of the most interesting games in the industry.

Written by: Stacey