This game is absolutely gorgeous. The art and character designs are all fantastic, the animation is a delight, and the music does such great service to it! Even the humor, when succinct, hits so well!
My problem was that actually playing this game oscillated between mediocre and downright frustrating. The combat is serviceable, save for when it comes to the interesting features that feel underbaked and hazardous. (For example, the very first rune upgrade, while visually fun, made the combat flow worse than before.) The puzzles are fine, when very objective is not unclear. The maps are cute and vibey, but they're so big that it makes your character feel even slower than she is.
And again, the humor is funny when it is succinct, but as the game goes on, too many jokes fail to land, and too many others go on for too long. The game is full of these little jokey moments to be found, and in the first half hour or so, they work really well! But the very first time I had to run to school, they shifted from charming to mere padding that encouraged me to play in a way that did not serve the experience.
I wish I enjoyed this game more than I did. I'll leave it "shelved" for now in hopes that it ends up getting patches that address some of the pain points, but for now, at about half way into the game, I am simply uninterested in going any further.
My problem was that actually playing this game oscillated between mediocre and downright frustrating. The combat is serviceable, save for when it comes to the interesting features that feel underbaked and hazardous. (For example, the very first rune upgrade, while visually fun, made the combat flow worse than before.) The puzzles are fine, when very objective is not unclear. The maps are cute and vibey, but they're so big that it makes your character feel even slower than she is.
And again, the humor is funny when it is succinct, but as the game goes on, too many jokes fail to land, and too many others go on for too long. The game is full of these little jokey moments to be found, and in the first half hour or so, they work really well! But the very first time I had to run to school, they shifted from charming to mere padding that encouraged me to play in a way that did not serve the experience.
I wish I enjoyed this game more than I did. I'll leave it "shelved" for now in hopes that it ends up getting patches that address some of the pain points, but for now, at about half way into the game, I am simply uninterested in going any further.
#BLUD is the ultimate throwback to me. Both in the aspect of the visuals and writing, feeling straight out of a 2000s Cartoon Cartoon settled in-between Dexter's Lab and Time Squad. And that it feels like a janky 2000s tie-in game on the PS2.
I found #BLUD through a cartoon reviewer's video on upcoming games 5 years ago, forgot about it, then found out it was coming out this year just a couple months ago. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely.
#BLUD is definitely cartoon first, game second. It's very obvious that the studio had no prior experience in games before, which isn't inherently bad as every studio has to have a first game, but it shows.
The writing and story, could use a little work, but I still found some chuckles here and there. The plot's (and by extent the game's) pacing is FAR too fast in the beginning, dropping bombshell after bombshell on you before abruptly forcing a slow period at the Mall, where it would seem it would be a good spot to digest it all, but you don't really get time too as you're stuck doing multiple fetch quests in one area. A lot of the characters are very trope-y, which I would yawn and roll my eyes at in any other game. But due to the nature, and inspirations of this game, I find it endearing.
The combat could use some work, it's your typical eight-way top down dungeon crawler, ala Pre-64 Zelda. Sometimes hitboxes don't work, sometimes hurtboxes are larger than they seem, sometimes you get stuck inside an enemy and are beat up by 4 other enemies the boss spawned ganging up on you. It really isn't fun at points, especially when it feels like these bosses are such a wild difficulty spike compared to the rest of the game, part of this due to the bosses having almost NO telegraphing almost forcing you to get hurt before you know exactly how to counter him, and the game is not generous on health.
There are various spots where I found myself really frustrated at the game. I'm a baby gamer, I don't like frustration as long as I could handle it. These may boil down to skill issue, or simply just nitpicking, but I had some moments I really did not like. Being forced to push an ice block with 6 fire enemies that constantly respawn after triggers, being sent to the beginning of a dungeon after dying due to no health drops, unskippable dialogue after dying and having to read it every time, being softlocked, Twice. It really hindered my experience, but I kept going as i felt obligated to from already being so far into it.
I will say though, the studio, Exit 73 is wonderful. Directly contacting me to help me fix a softlock before a patch was deployed is something I feel more devs should do, and actually bother to make their customer's experiences better.
Despite all my gripes with #BLUD, I loved my time with it. The art and cutscenes were gorgeous, the puzzles, especially in the volcanic area were VERY fun to solve, the dungeon design flows beautifully and never really has you waltzing around like a lost baby, and short games are always welcome, especially in today's space where companies either wanna force repeatability with a "roguelike" mode, or a 60 hour story.
If you're not afraid of some jank, and are able to appreciate #BLUD in the same way you'd appreciate cartoon tie-in games from the 2000s, I highly recommend #BLUD.
I found #BLUD through a cartoon reviewer's video on upcoming games 5 years ago, forgot about it, then found out it was coming out this year just a couple months ago. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely.
#BLUD is definitely cartoon first, game second. It's very obvious that the studio had no prior experience in games before, which isn't inherently bad as every studio has to have a first game, but it shows.
The writing and story, could use a little work, but I still found some chuckles here and there. The plot's (and by extent the game's) pacing is FAR too fast in the beginning, dropping bombshell after bombshell on you before abruptly forcing a slow period at the Mall, where it would seem it would be a good spot to digest it all, but you don't really get time too as you're stuck doing multiple fetch quests in one area. A lot of the characters are very trope-y, which I would yawn and roll my eyes at in any other game. But due to the nature, and inspirations of this game, I find it endearing.
The combat could use some work, it's your typical eight-way top down dungeon crawler, ala Pre-64 Zelda. Sometimes hitboxes don't work, sometimes hurtboxes are larger than they seem, sometimes you get stuck inside an enemy and are beat up by 4 other enemies the boss spawned ganging up on you. It really isn't fun at points, especially when it feels like these bosses are such a wild difficulty spike compared to the rest of the game, part of this due to the bosses having almost NO telegraphing almost forcing you to get hurt before you know exactly how to counter him, and the game is not generous on health.
There are various spots where I found myself really frustrated at the game. I'm a baby gamer, I don't like frustration as long as I could handle it. These may boil down to skill issue, or simply just nitpicking, but I had some moments I really did not like. Being forced to push an ice block with 6 fire enemies that constantly respawn after triggers, being sent to the beginning of a dungeon after dying due to no health drops, unskippable dialogue after dying and having to read it every time, being softlocked, Twice. It really hindered my experience, but I kept going as i felt obligated to from already being so far into it.
I will say though, the studio, Exit 73 is wonderful. Directly contacting me to help me fix a softlock before a patch was deployed is something I feel more devs should do, and actually bother to make their customer's experiences better.
Despite all my gripes with #BLUD, I loved my time with it. The art and cutscenes were gorgeous, the puzzles, especially in the volcanic area were VERY fun to solve, the dungeon design flows beautifully and never really has you waltzing around like a lost baby, and short games are always welcome, especially in today's space where companies either wanna force repeatability with a "roguelike" mode, or a 60 hour story.
If you're not afraid of some jank, and are able to appreciate #BLUD in the same way you'd appreciate cartoon tie-in games from the 2000s, I highly recommend #BLUD.
#BLUD has a lot of potential but also several drawbacks. The visuals and world design are fantastic, reminiscent of a 90s Cartoon Network show. However, the combat is mediocre at best and frustratingly bad at worst. I hope the developers continue to support the game and address these issues. If they don't, I hope they make another game and learn from these mistakes. The game is charming enough but expect combat to be annoying. I got the game half off and I would recommend the game at $10 or less.
Currently, I would rate it 3/5, but if they fix the combat, it could easily be a 4/5.
Currently, I would rate it 3/5, but if they fix the combat, it could easily be a 4/5.
I don't recommend it, in its current state
I like the RPG aspects. It's like playing through a 2000s cartoon network show, from the art-style animations to the surprisingly funny dialogue. BUT OMFG THE COMBAT IS SO DOGSHIT. The animations are amazing but slow and lock you in place. The hitboxes are so weird and unfair, being near an enemy damages you and there are no immunity frames on your dash or after you get hit. so if something spawns on top of you or you get hit by a boss, u take like 4 ticks of damage all at once...
really fun and charming RPG with good animations and monster design, right on theme while being pretty bloody and gory. Sadly the actual combat was a 2nd thought, it's not flushed out at all. I liked everything else about the game, I hope they fix the combat. Cause rn some boss fights are unplayable and I am soft-locked cause I can't leave the fight and buy health packs.. or anything.
I like the RPG aspects. It's like playing through a 2000s cartoon network show, from the art-style animations to the surprisingly funny dialogue. BUT OMFG THE COMBAT IS SO DOGSHIT. The animations are amazing but slow and lock you in place. The hitboxes are so weird and unfair, being near an enemy damages you and there are no immunity frames on your dash or after you get hit. so if something spawns on top of you or you get hit by a boss, u take like 4 ticks of damage all at once...
really fun and charming RPG with good animations and monster design, right on theme while being pretty bloody and gory. Sadly the actual combat was a 2nd thought, it's not flushed out at all. I liked everything else about the game, I hope they fix the combat. Cause rn some boss fights are unplayable and I am soft-locked cause I can't leave the fight and buy health packs.. or anything.