Bladestorm: Nightmare Reviews
A mix of Musou, strategy, and pure insanity, Bladestorm ends up missing the mark with all three.
Rampaging through the French countryside is entertaining enough for a quick rental. Otherwise, it doesn't have much else going for it and squanders its fantastical setup with a lackluster plot, limited online options, restricted strategic choices, and neutered dragons.
As a remaster for new consoles, there was only so much Omega Force could do in trying to make Bladestorm relevant once more without having to rebuild the game from scratch. What new feature Nightmare has to offer are intuitive and gel perfectly with Bladestorm's existing mechanics. The demonic campaign is admittedly underwhelming in parts yet gives Bladestorm fans another series of unique battles to play through. If undecided, try the demo – it even extends the option to carry your progress into the main game.
A mediocre eight-year-old game judged by modern standards.
How do you make a game with unbalanced combat, repetitive missions, and a too-long campaign more fun? The answer is easy: add dragons. Lots and lots of dragons.
While you will enjoy playing Bladestorm, it ultimately ends up being an previously released game that's getting a new-gen "fresh coat of paint" release with a limited update that, while not being a nightmare, is definitely not a dream.
Bladestorm: Nightmare's vast battlefields only become truly welcoming once you're embedded deep within its progression system, but those who are on the lookout for a bit of tactical action will definitely want to test their mettle as a mercenary all the same. While combat's never spectacular, and the game isn't quite as strategic as it perhaps promises to be at first glance, it's still easy to get lost in this historical hack-'em-up's rewarding gameplay loop.
A strategic hack 'n slash with an impressive upgrade system and welcome Nightmare mode, but it looks bland and combat often feels shallow.
I walked away from Bladestorm surprised and also eager to jump back into. If the gameplay doesn't dig its hooks into you after a few hours, you might find little reason to keep going. Players that get sucked in though will already be thinking of their next plan of attack.
Bladestorm Nightmare is neither interesting to play nor good looking in any way, shape, or form. There are books that offer more visceral medieval combat than this. Seek those out and do anything else with your PS4.
That is the problem with Bladestorm: Nightmare – it loses its appeal too quickly. Between the monotonous battles, boring story, and ugly visuals, there isn't much there to hold someone's attention. If you want to have some fun with it, rent it for a day or so. After that, Nightmare is pretty much worthless.
The game doesn't even fulfill the bare minimum requirements to be considered a decent port. If you want to spend on your money a game with large scale combat during some obscure historical warring era then stick with Dynasty Warriors instead.
While at its core there is a great idea, Bladestorm: Nightmare has too much going on both during battle and off the field. The game tries so hard to juggle story, character levelling up, massive battles, and strategy that in the end, it doesn't do anything particularly well.
Even had Bladestorm: Nightmare came out several years ago on PS3 I don't think I would have enjoyed it much. But, for those who like Dynasty Warrior-esque games and want more unit control and strategy, Bladestorm is worth checking out.
While sometimes stale, there's plenty of fun to be had here for strategy game fans.
One that only hardcore fans will enjoy
Bladestorm: Nightmare can appeal to both Warriors fans and those who don't even get into Tecmo Koei's flagship series. Its brilliance exists in those moments of storming enormous strongholds with an army of 100-strong at your back, ready to slice and dice through wave after wave of enemies.
More than anything else, from a technical standpoint Bladestorm: Nightmare is a disappointingly subpar port of what is effectively a last-gen console game. With the tremendous amount of grunt available to them, the developer should have produced the definitive version of the game, instead of the poorest which really, is a position that no PC gamer should ever find themselves in.
Bladestorm: Nightmare is almost impossible to recommend to anyone but the most die-hard fans of musou games. While the game's story and setting does have some potential, it takes a backseat to the action and is left to a few throwaway cutscenes before battles. Gameplay becomes tedious far too early, and when combined with a combat system that requires little thought, it makes for a boring experience. When you throw all these monotonous elements into a game that also isn't very easy on the eye, then you get an example of a bad videogame. If you are a huge fan of these types of videogames then maybe you'll find something to enjoy, but anyone else should stay very far away.
Bladestorm: Nightmare is a game that suffers from its fundamentals. The act of moving your troops around the battlefield, and engaging in combat, is too far removed from the player's input – leading to frustration rather than gratification. Adding dragons to the mix doesn't shake up the formula, and highlights that not all games can act as frameworks for other concepts.