A fun yet simplistic rougelite.
About The Game.
“Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade” is a Japanese style rougelite set within a mystic version of edo japan, the game features a fantasy world, a combo fighting system and a parry system.
Japan has been overrun by demons, players will battle fearsome foes such as the storm-summoning kraken, cunning spirits hidden in shadowy forests, and the mighty nine-tailed fox who watches from above.
The game features three distinct protagonists, each journeying through their own intertwined worlds. Like reading a series of captivating short stories, each character offers a unique gameplay experience. This flexible narrative structure also allows for seamless expansion with future characters.
With every cycle of death and rebirth, players inch closer to uncovering the secrets buried deep within this haunting world.
About The Narrative
Once upon a time, a delicate equilibrium existed between humans and demons. Despite occasional discord, both factions labored to uphold their dearly attained peace. This equilibrium shattered when the sovereign of all demons, the “Nine-tailed Fox” arose, rallying demonkind to sow chaos across the mortal realm.
YouTube Trailer:
How It All Starts
Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade starts out by introducing the player to an epic cutscene with some amazing visuals and animations, however shortly after the cutscenes ends you are met with some corny dialog (now it’s worth noting I’m not the best person to be pleasing with none voiced dialog) you hear a women scream and a mad approaching her saying no one will hear you out here, which in itself is creepy to open a game with, the girl turn out to be the character you chose. After some less than a satisfactory dialog we get to the tutorial part of the game where it teaches you the combat, how to dodge, use your special ability and how to parry. Once this whole fiasco is over, we are met with more story however this time the dialog lasts about 10 mins.
The Base Camp
The base camp consists of a few characters that will aid you along with your run. The blacksmith allows you to use items found within a run to forge better weapons or upgrade existing weapons you just need to bring him the right materials to do so. We also the ability to talk to a few character within the camp that will give us some random dialog I am not sure that this dialog changes through out the playthrough although I did not notice a difference with each run. The next major thing within camp is the training dummy that allows you to test out your weapons and damage output this is handy when you have just got your hands on them shiny new blades, there is also a chest in the training dummy section of the base camp which allows you to change your weapon.
The Gameplay Loop
When starting the gameplay loop you find yourself in a zone, enemies will spawn in, kill these enemies and more will spawn once you have killed them and completed the zone you will get loot and a upgrade every zone you complete you will get an upgrade these can range from weapon ability upgrades to cooldown reductions, once these have applied you move to the next zone. Upon complete a few zones you will encounter a boss area, the bosses within Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade are actually pretty challenging and require concentration to beat. Bosses will attack solo or in pairs or lay down moves that require you to stop attacking them and hide to avoid damage. Once a boss has been defeated you will get some more story dialog this will only happen once if you die and kill this boss again you wont get the dialog.
Back At Camp
If you die you will spawn back at the point you once did when the tutorial ended. using the purple flame will allow you to spend points earned during your run to upgrade you character or you can upgrade a set of abilities that are shared across all three characters. heading to the blacksmith will allow more weapons to be crafted as well.
Our Overall Thoughts
We actually liked Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade, the combat is fast paced and coupled with the parry system works really well. Bosses are challenging and the phases within the boss fights are fun. However enemies spawn in groups that feel very small and seem to be dispatched rather quickly compared to the bosses. Story falls a bit short at time however overall it has a pretty decent story. Art direction is beautiful and it something we can really get behind.
