Blood Within

[h1]We would like to thank the dev for providing us with a copy of this game for review[/h1] When I first saw [b]Blood Within[/b], I was amazed by the art style and the setting that the game had going for it. From the gameplay I have seen, I was honestly impressed and looking forward to what I was about to play. With all that said, there are some issues with this game that I do need to address, and I’ll talk about them all here. One thing I should mention about this game is that it was made by a single person so I wanted to see what one person could make for a game like this. I love 2D platformers, so I really wanted to see what this game had to offer. [h1]Pros and Cons[/h1] [b]Pros[/b] [list] [*]Good story that sets the theme of the game [*]Nice pixel art style [*]The soundtrack is decent [/list] [b]Cons[/b] [list] [*]Gameplay is very rough, jumping is very clunky [*]Combat is sluggish, enemies give you no indication on when they will attack [*]Some enemies can shoot you through walls [*]Boss fights aren’t very special [*]The game does not give you a reason to explore its world [*]There are a few bugs [/list] [h1]Story[/h1] The story starts out with [b]Captain Thorne[/b], who…

Blood Within takes you to a dystopian world ruled by darkness, where you're trying to save the realm from demons. As Thorne, the main character, you're not just defending the world from these sudden demon attacks but also trying to figure out where they came from. If you love souls-like games, you'll quickly get into Blood Within, especially with its challenging boss battles. Along the way, you meet different enemies and interesting characters who add depth to the story. As you uncover the mystery of Bloodstar, you explore new worlds and learn their unique stories. Even though it's a 2D game, Blood Within brings character mechanics to life. Thorne might only wield a sword, but the attack animations, various skills, and parry feature keep things exciting. What breaks up the monotony is the Deck of Fate, allowing you to customize Thorne's approach and gameplay style. This adds a new layer to the game and gives you plenty of options to experiment with. The creatures in the game are also full of life, each with its attack style and strategy against Thorne. The variety of bosses and their unique attack patterns are really impressive since the quantity of the bosses is taken into consid…

Update 2: after sever hours and reaching the second half, I'm changing the review back to not recommended. Progress and combat balance is bad - it's just boss battle after boss battle, sometimes two at the same time without any saving. Parrying and dodge is pointless and impossible because of attacks that "teleport" to your location and the number of attacks the boss performs before standing still. There is no strategy involved and all fights play out the same way. Some skills are broken - the last and most expensive apparently increases your power, but it doesn't become "active" when you buy it and the price is still there as if you never bought it in the first place. You can waste all your currency on them without any change. This bug occurs for several upgrades. Others are pointless. Fireball deals pitiful damage, and the unique power of turning into a demon is locked behind rage bar you will never fill up. Stages don't render properly - some are just blocky mess without any texture. Update: Changing my review to "recommended" because the two major problems (not being able to continue at a certain point and lost blood) have been fixed. Game is cobbled together from variou…

naaah bruh, this game system req was low but when i played it at first cutscene was true 60 fps but at first gameplay bruh its dropped to 11 fps lmao nah i know my device also trash like i3-4170 with AMD R5 340X, i thought even at worst i thought it be at least 30 fps for me based on "system req" but naahh bro 11 fps was unplayabe 💀💀

The developer has made updates to the game since my initial review and has addressed, really, all of my criticisms. The game now has: controller support, animation cancelling, and improved the jump feeling (somewhat). I'm updating this to a tentative "Recommends" but I haven't beaten the game still. Combat does feel much better now though and I'm curious to see where the story goes. So, if you're itchin' for a 2D soulslike, give this one a look. ------- OLD REVIEW --------- Maybe there is something here. But with how combat works currently, it just isn't very engaging. With no animation cancelling basically it's just waiting for bosses to attack while you slowly get in one or two hits. So a lot of you and the boss staring at each other. The jump is weird and slow, but being able to dodge roll in the air and wall jump from the beginning are pretty fun. Also, wild that there is no controller support (can be solved with Steam Inputs) and also no remapping, and also it doesn't show what the controls are anywhere. I'll probably keep an eye on it for a little while to see if any changes are made but in its current state I can't recommend this game.

It has its flaws but the story is intriguing and art style is decent. Worth a shot if you like the genre.