Bound By Blades

its okay-ish, definitely grab it now at -90% progression is very basic, sadly you are very limited in upgrading stuff, so if you like a set from the beginning, after some upgrades its at max, so you are forced to grab the equip from the later bosses, which is kinda meh, but generally a cool game

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Bound by Blades is a boss-rush action RPG in which three young warriors trained by the hero Eldras hunt the Ilion, monsters created by a curse. The short campaign spans a prologue in the destroyed village of Tumbra and a journey to the haven of Fangsfair Castle. The combat is the core of the experience, with quick attacks, charge attacks, blocking and reflecting projectiles against each Ilion boss. The fights stay quick and easy to redo, and the combat becomes properly satisfying once the gear is upgraded. The soundtrack is a genuine highlight, with the music repeatedly called "pretty good" and "cool" across several fights. The stun system and the big damage numbers from charged attacks make each victory feel earned. The story punches above its weight, with a mystery around its mentor figure and a charming cast, especially Timber. The ending ties the campaign's themes of legacy and growth together. The rank system is the biggest frustration, since the best ranks demand hitless fights and the chase can become obsessive. Some hitboxes are janky, with dodged attacks still landing, and the level-up stat gains are tiny. Crafting, enchanting and the Mythos pet system add w…

Super adorable Monster Hunter spinoff! You constantly fight bosses back to back in an arena that restricts your movement so that you can only stand on the corners and walk on the edges, emphasis is more about dodging (this also acts as a parry) and dealing Click Click damage (or holding but I found this very ineffective end-game despite it looking more interesting). With your loot you craft sets of the monsters you slay, or just feed them to your pet(s) which also help you during the combat as well as venturing to loot themselves while you are on your own business. I've played it from beginning to end with a friend and sure it was goofy and modest but we had fun all the 9 hours we've spent in the game (we played until we %100'd the achievements) I'm unsure if it could keep being fun after a while for solo players because there are just 20 bosses in total (10 being the alternate enchanted versions of the previous 10) and the game kind of repeats itself giving you the same bosses with higher health and damage overall so it helps having a company grinding the same encounters over and over, and well we've grabbed it on discount so it was a steal for the amount of enjoyment we had in…

I'm divided. Gameplay is fun, art is super pretty, world is interesting, and crafting/gathering materials looks compelling, but the lack of visual feedback in EVERYTHING is killing me. Buttons, crafting, equipping, quests, leveling up; the game is super bad at telling me when something happened/what will happen if I press a button, or where I'm supposed to go and what I'm supposed to do. It's confusing at first, and frustrating after a while.

Couldn't get invested in it.