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 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 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.
There are things to love here, and there is visible potential within reach. A lot of the major problems with this game could be fixed. That said, with combat as poor and as prevalent as this, Stray Blade is very difficult to recommend to anyone.
Looking a little different than your usual Souls-like isn't enough to make Stray Blade worth checking out. Unless you've always been keen to explore the genre but aren't skilled enough to actually play the games -- in which case, I guess, here's your chance to try one with a much lower difficulty level -- it's hard to see who'd really enjoy it.