Very goofy (good way).
Two of the three games the dev team cites as major inspirations are Devil May Cry and Guilty Gear. Know that they specifically mean the first Devil May Cry. As for the Guilty Gear comparison, I understood it at the surface level (Roman Cancel + movement is similar). Then I reached the penultimate boss-fight of the game and had the feeling of "this game is now for people that place top 8 for Guilty at EVO".
Slave Zero X is the game that has kicked my ass the most since playing the original release of DMC 3 when I was a child. This is the first game in 20 years that I am putting on the "I'll finish someday" backburner solely because of difficulty. Game is pretty neat for that.
I will say there are still criticisms. For one the game often feels like it leaves the "DMC" inspiration in favour of a traditional Beat 'em Up or Musou. These moments can work briefly, but the later levels really lean into this, I think to the game detriment. As these are the moments where the game most heavily devolves into popping DT to spam EX moves as much as possible, then popping Burst to get full meter to repeat the cycle.
Also for a game that cares enough about player skill expression to put in a training room, it's weird there is not only no movelist, but the only time you can view the controls/see what the mechanics are is if you replay and skip the intro cutscene level.
Even with those gripes, I think the game mostly succeeds in what it's trying to do. If all of that sounds like something you need in your veins right now, I would definitely recommend. Visualy gorgeous with an OST that goes off, if you are looking for a challenge, Slave Zero X is a great option.
If you do pickup the game, I'll give two recommendations:
1. Go to volume settings and max out the Music track. Otherwise it will get completely washed out.
2. EX moves aren't L+H like it says, its a piano roll. So in very quick succession L>H (For the people coming here as a character action fan, like how you would pull off an Afterburner Kick in Bayonetta)
[Edit, literally the day after writing this: Beat the game, penultimate fight was the hardest fight for sure. The final boss right after was pretty weak imo.]
Two of the three games the dev team cites as major inspirations are Devil May Cry and Guilty Gear. Know that they specifically mean the first Devil May Cry. As for the Guilty Gear comparison, I understood it at the surface level (Roman Cancel + movement is similar). Then I reached the penultimate boss-fight of the game and had the feeling of "this game is now for people that place top 8 for Guilty at EVO".
Slave Zero X is the game that has kicked my ass the most since playing the original release of DMC 3 when I was a child. This is the first game in 20 years that I am putting on the "I'll finish someday" backburner solely because of difficulty. Game is pretty neat for that.
I will say there are still criticisms. For one the game often feels like it leaves the "DMC" inspiration in favour of a traditional Beat 'em Up or Musou. These moments can work briefly, but the later levels really lean into this, I think to the game detriment. As these are the moments where the game most heavily devolves into popping DT to spam EX moves as much as possible, then popping Burst to get full meter to repeat the cycle.
Also for a game that cares enough about player skill expression to put in a training room, it's weird there is not only no movelist, but the only time you can view the controls/see what the mechanics are is if you replay and skip the intro cutscene level.
Even with those gripes, I think the game mostly succeeds in what it's trying to do. If all of that sounds like something you need in your veins right now, I would definitely recommend. Visualy gorgeous with an OST that goes off, if you are looking for a challenge, Slave Zero X is a great option.
If you do pickup the game, I'll give two recommendations:
1. Go to volume settings and max out the Music track. Otherwise it will get completely washed out.
2. EX moves aren't L+H like it says, its a piano roll. So in very quick succession L>H (For the people coming here as a character action fan, like how you would pull off an Afterburner Kick in Bayonetta)
[Edit, literally the day after writing this: Beat the game, penultimate fight was the hardest fight for sure. The final boss right after was pretty weak imo.]