BLADE CHIMERA by developer Team Ladybug and WSS Playground and publisher PLAYISM and WSS Playground—PC(Steam) review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Are you in the mood for a new Metroidvania title with a cyberpunk setting? Do you want to fight with gun and sword in a post-apocalyptic style future Osaka against demons from myth and fantasy? Well then, look no further than BLADE CHIMERA!
Our story here revolves around Shin, a man who is a demon hunter for the church and a man who has lost his memories. On a mission, he ends up forming a partnership with one of the demons, Lux, who can turn into a sword and has control over the flow of time. Together with Lux, Shin wants to learn more about his past, while striving to protect those he cares about in the present.
BLADE CHIMERA is a very interesting title because it combines a lot of aspects from other metroidvanias together while adding it's own unique twist. For those unfamiliar with the term metroidvania, BLADE CHIMERA is a 2D action adventure type game with a focus on both combat and exploration. First let's talk about the movement and exploration. You have basic movement options to start, a jump, a dodge roll that you are invincible during, and you are able to grapple up ledges if you are close enough to them. Once you have partnered with Lux, you can also affect the terrain around you. Perhaps this means reverting traps to their pre-activated state, maybe it's rebuilding a wall or floor allowing you to take cover, or maybe it's breaking down a wall or floor, allowing you to pass through. Additionally, there are grapple points you can swing from using Lux's power.
More movement and exploration options will become available to you as you continue to play through the game. You can unlock new abilities by spending the points you earn on leveling up. Some of these are combat related, and some are exploration related. Need an extra jump? The ability to slide under small gaps? These can be purchased with those level up points. Another nice ability is the ability to warp to any map tile you've visited, barring certain areas or at specific times, as long as it wasn't the last area you visited. Extremely handy. You can also put markers of various colours on the map in order to denote items you weren't able to get on your first pass through or areas that are blocked off because you don't have something you need to get through it yet.
In terms of combat, BLADE CHIMERA takes a bit of an interesting turn from the usual. You have two weapon equipment slots and a predetermined action button for using Lux as a sword. In terms of your equipable gear, I definitely preferred to have a melee weapon and a ranged weapon. Yup, you get guns, and they're actually incredibly useful. At least more so than in most other metroidvania titles with guns or ranged weapons. The guns have infinite ammo, but a set number of shots per clip that you need to refill by taking a short break from shooting to reload. The reload is pretty fast though, so it isn't debilitating. Each gun, and melee weapon for that matter, has it's own type and will behave differently. For example, a shotgun and assault rifle behave very differently and have different ammo capacities.
As for Lux's sword, it has a number of interesting uses. You can shoot it into walls to use as a foothold, plant it in the ground to spawn a shield to keep bullets and some enemies out, or if you fling Lux at enemies she can actually recover health for you depending on how you use her. All of these come together to make a very unique feeling combat system that can combine different mechanics to make fights more in your favour. It also gives the developers a chance to utilize some of these aspects to play around with some of the options available to make the boss fights feel more unique.
The development team has also done a good job blending a retro type Castlevania style graphics with enough modern updates to the style where it doesn't look outdated. The soundtrack choice also lends itself really well to both the setting and the themes for the areas you visit are very fitting. Combined with the design choices and aesthetic design really work well with the art and soundtrack to make the game really lean well into the setting. There are a myriad of different and interesting areas all with their own themes, both aesthetically and mechanically, and it provides a nice change in pace and scenery each new area transition.
BLADE CHIMERA features a number of mechanics that come together nicely to hold the game together past just the main storyline. There is a surprisingly large amount of gear you can find to equip, both weapons and accessories. The accessories can be used to increase stats or give alternative benefits, such as better movement underwater. There are a lot of sidequests available as well, and they are all easy to accept, and almost always come with an area scope indicated on the map where you need to be in the general area for. A really cool facet of these sidequests is that, upon completion, you are usually given an interesting fact or information pertaining to either the world setting or hidden items or enemies to find. In addition, there are hidden puzzle pieces around the map. Collecting these will allow you to access doors closed that require a certain number of them. Usually you will get some good pieces of equipment behind them. On a final note here, you can unlock memories of the main character when unlocking new abilities, giving you some interesting insight into Shin's and Lux's background.
While I did thoroughly enjoy BLADE CHIMERA, there were a few aspects that were either annoying or somewhat frustrating to deal with. First up is that you can get juggled by bosses a lot. Like, there were a few boss fights I lost because I literally just got tossed around for my entire health bar. While this isn't that bad once you learn the boss's attack patterns, it certainly is super frustrating at the time. Speaking of difficult, the last few bosses? Pretty dang tough. The post game last boss especially was the second time ever I've had to shove healing items down my throat mid battle just to keep in the game. Second time ever. Thematically the fight is pretty solid, combining three major aspects of the game for the fight. But good lord does a slip up cost you more than half your health bar, it's brutal. Not saying I don't like a challenge, just that the difficult curve kinda spikes at the end, so be warned.
Other than combat, there were two exploration based issues I had. The first is that walking down a slope does some iffy things to your jump. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This only ever hit me bad once when trying to access something a little early, but it was a little annoying nonetheless. Lastly, and I don't know if this is intended, but there were a few puzzles and platforming sections I skipped or did didn't do properly simply by abusing the warp function. I have no idea if some of those were supposed to use the warp to your advantage or not, but I know at least one near the end of the game definitely wasn't intended.
Overall, I have to give BLADE CHIMERA a stellar rating. The controls and exploration/combat are pretty tight and fluid, the amount of customization available for your own playstyle is nice, and there are a lot of bonus objectives for you if you're interested in it. BLADE CHIMERA uses an interesting time based mechanic to provide it's own twist to the genre. The storyline, aesthetics, and playstyle all come together to create a very well crafted world. BLADE CHIMERA will be a great addition to any fan of metroidvania or Castlevania style games. Go check out BLADE CHIMERA if you're interested!
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