Iron Reckoning

Imperfect but interesting game. This might seem a bit negative, but I really did enjoy the game. The standout is instantly the blade-dash element. I'd hesitate to say the movement is great, as the on-foot speed feels absolutely glacial compared to the blade-dash, and the air-jumps don't seem to continue momentum, meaning the only real way to build speed is via the blade. However, that blade dash is really cool for movement and it's really enjoyable. I feel it'd really benefit from the different movement styles all feeding together instead of standing apart. The combat breaks down a little, especially when ranged enemies come into the equation. The intro cinematic sets up a sleek and cool character who slices through enemies, unfortunately most of the combat feels a little more like beating a neon car-door with a sledgehammer. It's not bad when there are a few of them around, but the noise starts to get to you. The ranged enemies are also problematic, sending near constant fire towards the player. While there is a shield to avoid the damage, I can't help but imagine enemies that picked their shots and hit harder would feel much more exciting to fight than enemies that constantly…

You navigate through large sprawling areas, and can travel at great speed, and to great heights. Which is incredibly fun.

I'll preface by saying that I assisted as a Beta Tester, but I'm sincere when I say that this game and its developer show a lot of promise. Iron Reckoning is very ambitious in its world, action, and story, and what it lacks in production and polish as an indie game it makes up for in a very strong foundation for something bigger. ...This is one way of saying that the movement is sick and Iron Reckoning is honestly worth playing just for how fun it is to traverse the world and invent your own ways to fight in combat. It can hiccup and hit strides at different times which is to be expected, but unlike similar games I've played that balance on this wire, I can definitely say I enjoyed my time overall with this one. If you're looking to get lost for a good amount of hours in a more open-ended hack and slash experience with the built-in indie allure of being something strange and new, consider giving this one a shot.

Of Vagabonds and Wards. Iron Reckoning is a game about traversing large, mostly empty levels, until you get to the giant, towering bosses, and then you need to break their glowing power sources until they explode. Both these elements are built around the game's core unique mechanic, that is, the traversal. The protagonist, Jaenna, can do the regular 3rd person action game sprint. Sprinting depletes stamina (the transparent blue bar behind the HP bar), and it doesn't last very long. Which is why you will probably spend most of the game not doing that. Instead, Jaenna will use her unique “bladestrike” ability-- which allows her to spawn and throw infinite daggers, and launch herself in the air after them. This isn't quite the “teleport to a thrown projectile” mechanic you may have seen in a bunch of recent 2d games- the system here is a bit more complex, especially since once you've launched yourself, hitting the jump button gives you multiple air dashes- but each one takes a portion of your mana/energy bar=- as does launching yourself after a new blade (spawning blades is free). Essentially, until you run out of energy,you can stay airborne. And the game's level design is bult arou…