Bleak Sword DX is a well done retro souls like that is a bit more punishing than it should be. You lose all your current XP progress towards the next level up AND all your items if you die twice in a row. You can reclaim your XP and items if you beat the level the second try, but for that second try, your items are already not active, so you are weaker than in the first try. Leveling up is rather quick in the beginning, but takes multiple levels (4-10) later in the game. Losing the xp shortly before you would have leveled up is really frustrating. Fighting feels good in this game. It is mandatory to learn how to handle each type of enemy. There are a lot of different enemies and I disliked only one or two because they annoyed me. I finished the game in basically one session and would recommend playing it that way.

Bleak Sword DX is carried by its art direction. The game itself is pretty good, but suffers from some weird difficulty pacing. Altogether a very solid experience though.

Very Dark Souls in its use of meter and parry requirements. Some hitboxes and invincibility windows make very little sense, but overall I had a really nice time playing this.

Once you beat the game, you can unlock a Randomizer Mode, which I appreciate given that the entire game is about learning how to properly dispose of enemies in a specific way. Makes for an interesting experience.

Also, it's incredibly silly how often the camera zooms in on the pixel-art guy for dramatic effect. Gave me a good chuckle, and I'm pretty sure they re-use this bit like twelve times or something.

Damm this game is gorgeous!
I’m absolutely in love with the art style and VFX that Bleak Sword DX offers. Some of the levels offer particularly superb visual design such as the lightning effects, fires and moving sceneries while on horseback.
Unfortunately I can’t say the same for gameplay which is a little bland and overstayed it’s welcome. I found combat was particularly shallow and doesn’t offer any variety except for some consumables that give you a pro & con for the single combat encounter.
Bleak Sword DX is definitely worth checking out for the visual achievements alone but I would suggest waiting for a steam sale as gameplay leaves a lot to be desired.