Bleak Sword DX Reviews
Bleak Sword DX is a hauntingly beautiful game, with a fantastically executed Dark Fantasy world and great combat hidden behind a deceptively simple art style. Fans of Dark Souls or Dark Fantasy as a genre would be missing out if they don’t give Bleak Sword DX a try.
Bleak Sword DX is the rare instance where it does overstay its welcome, but if played in small bursts, is brilliant. While it doesn’t run out of new ideas, it does drain the player through its numerous arenas and modes, it’s an exhaustive amount of content that it never runs dry on. Playing something so challenging that originated on Apple Arcade, but now expanded and reworked for PC and Switch shows that it has a home on these new platforms. The dioramas that encapsulate the arenas to fight on are some of the more unique elements, to include its visual and enemy design, makes Bleak Sword DX easy to recommend.
Bleak Sword DX is an excellent game with its easy-to-learn but hard-to-master gameplay. While things may look bleak, it is never hopeless.
Whether you were a fan of the original game or a newcomer to this twisted world of dioramas, Bleak Sword DX provides a perfectly action-packed experience that's sure not to disappoint.
Bleak Sword DX is an absolute treat that takes the core pillars of the soulslike genre and distills them into a wonderfully moreish, action-packed adventure. The narrow focus, coupled with the unforgiving nature of the gameplay and progression loops, may put some off, but not every game has to be for everyone, and I commend the developers for sticking with the vision they clearly had. If, like me, you love soulslikes, but have found yourself feeling slightly alienated due to the scope that some of the genre’s heavy hitters bring, then I urge you to check out Bleak Sword DX and let it get its pixelated hooks into you.
Bleak Sword DX is all about sword fighting, dodging, suffering and advancing. It is perfect for your Switch or your Steam Deck.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Bleak Sword DX is a simple action game, but its combat is simply sublime and it had a whole lot of enemy and level variety to keep things interesting.
Bleak Sword XD is a tense and unusual journey of action. The focus is on complicated combats through compact arenas full of dangers and enemies in which any mistake is fatal. The clashes are intense and difficult, requiring precision and observation to survive, and the fun is precisely in mastering all the nuances to overcome adversity. The intention is clear in offering a campaign of heightened difficulty, but some choices leave things frustrating, such as lack of visual clarity, unbalanced challenge and limited variety of situations. At the very least, there's plenty of content to explore and the striking setting has its charm. Those who like to overcome tribulations will enjoy the brutal world of Bleak Sword XD, just be prepared to face its rough edges and frustrations as well.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A surprisingly solid Soulslike, Bleak Sword DX does exactly what it sets out to do and nothing else, which makes it hard to fault. Once you get the timing down on the limited actions at your disposal, you’ll find the monsters full of character even as they try to beat you to death. You’ll die often but the game does a great job of making each death feel like a learning experience rather than a punishment. Short and sweet.
Bleak Sword DX is a gorgeous, nostalgic, and clever game for something built in a simplified structural way. More8Bit did a superb job of creating a fast gameplay environment while also maintaining creativity with its enemies and maps. While it may not seem like much, it has some moxie to it. Be forewarned, though, it also contains a heavy amount of frustration.
Bleak Sword DX falls short of greatness due to its questionable adherence to minimalism. It comes close to being interesting, but the lack of variety keeps it boring. Bleak Sword DX‘s strengths are its low barrier to entry and how it pushes the player forward with its casual design.
Certainly not for those lacking in skill and patience, Bleak Sword DX distills the likes of Dark Souls into a lo-fi and brutal arcade-like action game
Bleak Sword DX provides an enchanting experience that will keep you engaged throughout your journey. It may not be for everyone, but if you're up for a challenge and appreciate artistic pixel graphics, this indie title is well worth your time.
That’s not to say there’s nothing good here, however. It’s a solid foundation, but where other games would strive to build something on that foundation, Bleak Sword DX unfortunately just leaves it as a slab of concrete.
Bleak Sword DX might keep things simple with its combat and visual style, but it makes for an engrossing experience that’s a ton of fun to play. I loved the gameplay loop of progressing between levels, levelling up, and dealing with every new threat the game sent my way, whilst the more challenging moments (and many deaths) never feel like a massive deterrent thanks to the game’s bite-size level setup. And sure, it can be rough losing your items and experience points, but with players getting a shot at redemption, it never feels unfair.
Bleak Sword DX is dedicated to anyone who wants a Dark Souls-like experience in 2D, delivered in small chunks, with good mechanics, hard difficulty, and a grimdark setting and presentation. Fights are very quick, which means it’s easy to play a few in a session just to decompress, without the pressure to make progress or explore some complicated narrative thread.
So, what do we take away from Bleak Sword DX? We're not going to lie, this game probably won't make the end-of-year lists as the best game of the year. With titles like Resident Evil 4 Remake, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and even Spider-Man 2 due out at the end of the year, how could it be otherwise? Despite this, I can tell you that Bleak Sword DX will probably be the game I mention the most. And why is that? Because, first and foremost, it's original in its presentation, offers a very good challenge and excellent value for money, despite its length. Unless you don't like games that require perseverance to complete, I strongly advise everyone to give it a try. They'll be pleasantly surprised, I'm sure.
Review in French | Read full review
Fun minimalist bite-sized Soulslike journey on Nintendo’s console
Bleak Sword DX thrives on its bosses, its laser-focused design for the classic campaign and its moody atmosphere. Sadly, the DX version adds three new chapters that overstay their welcome and some of the “visual improvements” end up cluttering and creating unnecessary visual noise. Still a solid game overall.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Bleak Sword DX is a good challenge with a wonderfully designed retro 3D aesthetic, a steadily paced, increasing difficulty of enemies to keep the content feeling fresh, and some nice gameplay changes to ensure you’ll stick with it through the fun times and the rough. Odd disconnection issues, combat and control repetition and responsiveness do add to the frustrations a bit, but not enough to deter you from this satisfyingly savage slasher.