Sclash

Sclash is decent. + Good artful visuals; interesting, meaningful, themed; especially environment; brush strokes, at times "minimalistic" + Fully voiced story mode (with mostly good voice-acting) * ~70 min story mode playthrough * Fighting system seems decent, albeit kinda random, not very dynamic or in control against the NPCs - No players for multiplayer, no bots The "single hit kill" premise was a bit confusing when the story mode ends up being 'you fail on being hit once' but 'named enemies have multiple hits you have to succeed through'. In story-mode gameplay you traverse various visual environments, always from left to right, with story subtitles and audio, simple matches against one-hit enemies in groups, and named characters with multiple hits. The fighting style consists of * Stamina blocks that deplete on most activated actions * Attack; with directional dash or without * Short-range "kick"/push (no stamina required) * Block * Dash * Charge-up not for more range but for more enemy stamina depletion; Unlocked 2/3 into the story * Two attacks also deflect each other

Sclash is a 2D hand drawn samurai game with multiple modes to play, including a story mode, the story mode can take about 1-2 hours and it's quite interesting, it plays slightly on Japanese mythology and the art style is captivating. I'd heavily recommend this game even if you just play the story mode, for its cheap price it's certainly worth it.

This feels like someone's student art project or something you would have found on the Xbox Live Arcade store. That is to say, while the hand-drawn style is unique, the visuals and gameplay feel like they would have fit in the late 2000s. I don't know why I put myself through it, but the story mode is bad. It's a jogging simulator with the occasional mob or boss fight. The problem is that the combat doesn't feel fulfilling, so those encounters do little to break up the monotony. What really grinds my gears is that it pulls the whole "you must fail in order to progress" trick twice during its comparatively short runtime. I can't even say much about the story because it's so generic. It feels like someone pulled out a Storytelling 101 textbook and wrote it chapter by chapter. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if the voice acting was serviceable, but that's a whole other story. This also lends credence to my student project conundrum, as I can't remember ever seeing a credits sequence where they just stick Adobe and Discord icons under a "Software and Tools" section. Couldn't quite wrap my head around that one. Suffice it to say, I did not enjoy my time with it and wouldn't recom…

[table] [tr] [th] [b]✔️ The Good [/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] • [u]Stunning Hand-Drawn Art[/u]: The beautiful, painted aesthetic does an incredible job setting the atmosphere and makes every frame look like a piece of traditional art. [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] • [u]Tense One-Hit Kills[/u]: The core mechanic where a single clean strike ends the round keeps every duel intensely focused and high-stakes. [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] • [u]Stamina Management Loop[/u]: Managing your stamina bar creates a solid tactical layer, forcing you to carefully plan your dashes, slashes, and parries. [/td] [/tr] [/table] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3747554361 [table] [tr] [th] [b]❌ The Bad [/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] • [u]Mediocre Story Mode[/u]: The single-player campaign feels uninspired and flat, failing to deliver a compelling narrative to match the game's striking visual style. [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] • [u]Clunky Controls[/u]: Movement and attack inputs can occasionally feel stiff or slightly unresponsive, taking away from the fluidity you want in a precision fighter. [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] • [u]Limited Content Depth[/u]: Once you get used to the…

this game caught me off gaurd. alot. but by the end of it i loved it 10/10

Great game overall. Satisfying combat, visually stunning, and great soundtracks/sfx. I hope more people find this game because it's kinda sad how there's little to no players when matching online. The story mode is really great but short. After the story mode, all that is left to do is basically match online or play with a friend, or vs ai. Unfortunately, the player base is very low. This game is a literal hidden gem for how underrated it is.