Stray Blade Reviews
Stray Blade tries and fails to free the Soulslike from gloomy settings and opaque storytelling, falling short of both its own ambitions and the genre’s standards.
Stray Blade attempts to revamp the soulslike formula by focusing on a polished narrative, a close-knit pair of protagonists, a colourful and light game world and a potentially excellent combat-system. Not everything, however, worked as planned.
Review in Italian | Read full review
It’s a shame when a game is built around a mechanic, only to have that element not live up to its potential. Stray Blade is all about dodges, parries and rolls, but they’re sluggish and imprecise and just don’t work very well. Aside from that frustration, Stray Blade has attractive art and level design, familiar action RPG mechanics, and maybe even some potential, if the combat can be patched into better shape.
With its colorful fantasy setting, and decent lore, characters, and story, Stray Blade could have been an enjoyable action role-playing game, but having plenty of heart is not enough to make a game one that is universally worthy of playing. The clunkiness of combat, the bad level design, and the general lack of polish make the journey to the Valley of Acrea a frustrating one that only die-hard action role-playing game fans will have the stomach to complete.
While Stray Blade occasionally shows glimpses of the care and effort Point Blank obviously put into it, the end result winds up not too convincing, mostly due to a general lack of polish and balance.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Stray Blade is an enjoyable entry-level Souls-like RPG with a beautifully built world to explore. Its intriguing narrative and comical companion, Boji, will keep you entertained for its full 20-plus hour duration. Although bugs and frame rate issues are present, we would recommend Stray Blade to those looking to get a foot in the door of the Souls-like genre.
I’m sorry, I am just so frustrated by this game’s decisions. On the one hand I am all for a gaming studio taking a big swing at trying to shake up a formula; it just sucks when it turns out poorly because it just means that other developers will stick with the status quo to find success. The combat in Stray Blade for instance is trying something new but due to the overall clunkiness of the controls and the timing of the enemies’ attacks it makes it all but impossible to find success with the system in place. Stray Blade has its ups with the colorful graphics and likeable protagonist but it’s a combat heavy game where the combat just isn’t fun which makes this one hard to recommend.
Stray Blade finds its ideal size among the soulslike for novices.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Stray Blade has promise and could be improved with more polish and balance changes. However, the flawed combat, story-telling, progression and lead character often bring down the experience.
Stray Blade is a project that tries to amalgamate different mechanics in a mix that tries to adapt to any gamer, throwing it into an adventure that on balance is only partially enjoyable.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, I honestly believe that Stray Blade could've been something a lot greater than what it ended up being. Having said that there is room for the developers to fix these little niggling issues and make this into a game worthy of your money. At the moment this title is a souls like for beginners, but even then would not prepare you to put on your big boy pants and play a game that is harder. There are too many technical issues regarding input delay and general timing to ever make you better than what this game will allow you to be right here and now.
Although my journey throughout the world of Acrea has been enjoyable, I think that some of the design choices drag the gameplay experience down rather than enriching it. The basic crafting system feels like it’s been added to gate the loot (armors and weapons), while the character progression for both protagonists is quite linear and uninteresting.
Stray Blade is not a new standard for action-RPGs for sure, though it is a good one. Plus, it is a nice example of how to make a game world alive and dynamic.
Review in Russian | Read full review
There is no doubt that Stray Blade manages to appropriate well the mechanics that have become popular in recent years and it does so in a game that is concerned with its narrative and its fantasy look. But some flaws in the combat and exploration design end up undermining some of its best ideas, which doesn't take away its merits, but unfortunately overshadows the experience as a whole.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Will Farren find a way to break the bond with Acrea?
Stray Blade delivers a lot of content in its fantasy journey. While most of the game comes together well, key elements greatly hurt the core gameplay. But, if you are willing to weather these added struggles, this game has some rewarding exploration and combat to deliver to gamers.
In conclusion, Stray Blade offers a certainly interesting setting and a noteworthy plot, strong in good lore and skillful handling of the two main protagonists. What is not convincing, however, is a gameplay that is sometimes far too cumbersome due to some technical stumbling blocks. These criticisms aside, the work is nonetheless good and succeeds in being a well-assembled genre mix. Farren West and Boji's story convinced me.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Stray Blade brings in everything to be a great game: I can see a title scoring within the high 80s range here. But it all gets broken with the horrible combat in the game and missing technical polish.
Review in German | Read full review
Stray Blade has some redeeming qualities, though these will largely be subjective. It is easy to tell that Point Blank Games set out to create a title with passion in an attempt to offer something more unique. The visuals and art design are gorgeous, the world is interesting if a bit generic, and the general gameplay loop can be addicting if you can put up with the clunky combat. Though with that said, Stray Blade does little to warrant your attention in the landscape of today's video game offerings. If you want a souls-like RPG that you can turn on, take in the vibrant scenery, and play through whilst turning your mind off, you could do far worse. For those looking for a refined combat experience, tight controls, and rewarding gameplay, you would do best to look elsewhere.
Stray Blade has so much potential to be amazing, but sadly, it falls quite far behind and might follow in the same footsteps as Shock Tactics. The story in Stray Blade might be its saving grace, but without optimization and possibly some work on the combat system, it might not be enough to help the game rise to the top. However, if you can look past the issues or possibly fix/reduce them, this game is an absolute joy to play, and the story of Acrea, along with the stories between Farren and Boji, will keep you coming back for more on their wild adventure.