Boji is a companion that, besides looking uncannily like Mark Hamill, offers magical attacks and defences as Farren and Boji’s skills and camaraderie increases. In one camp, I’d liberated some soldiers from life, and then found that spider-like creatures had set up shop instead, crushing their ramshackle sentry post to splinters.Īs Farren attempts to avail themselves of Acrea, they are guided by Boji. There are also stomach-churningly savage backstabs and finishers, surprising in the cartoony surroundings, and returning to the same area offers opportunities to increase your experience points and improve your skills with your weapon. Perfect dodges and parries restore some of Farren’s stamina. Enemies flash red to signal an unavoidable attack and flash blue for a parryable attack. Visually, combat is a standout, with satisfyingly smooth animations as the characters dodge, charge, slice and execute each other. As a Soulslike (albeit a more approachable one), you’ll be dying a lot before you master the mechanics and settle on your weapon of choice, so it’s placating to be drenched in colours and light, and encourages exploration where you’ll be rewarded with crafting materials, cloth dyes and combat blueprints for Farren. Though stylised, the world is vibrant, revelling in every shade under the sun to tell the story of what happened to the previously peaceful valley. With such a weighty synopsis, you might imagine Acrea to be mired in muted greys, browns and greens. Farren awakens after an accident, finding that the world has spun on without them, and they now are able to absorb the powers of Acrea’s godkings from aeons past. However, this voyage that was intended to be one more chapter in their epic becomes their epilogue. You get the chance to choose between two bodies and two voices for Farren, those options falling into a more masculine or a more feminine frame and tone. Set in an evocative land and pairing the player with a magical companion, Stray Blade proves there is in fact a justification for that pretentiousness.įarren West is the adventurer at the centre of the story, seeking the ancient Valley of Acrea. Many examples in this genre hold excellent, engaging stories – Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Hollow Knight are just some examples – however the commitment that these games require is intimidating and self-perpetuates the gatekeeping of these games. Playing a Soulslike game becomes survival of the fittest in order to gain a foot on a ladder where the person who is revered for their hundreds of hours in the game, crafting their builds on Google Drive like Hephaestus in his forge, can be unseated by someone using a pizza slice as a controller.
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