While good
“hack and slash” titles are hard to come by these days, occasionally a
developer will come by and try to put a new twist on a classic genre. X-Blades makes no apologies for itself, from the
mindless hordes of enemies right down to the nearly-naked female protagonist. The player takes on the role of Ayumi, a violent
young lady bent on – you guessed it – destroying monsters in search of
treasure. The game features two different endings, but the minimalist
storyline is not likely to propel players any further into smashing their way
through demons. Drawn up in a cutesy-anime style, her character design is the
main standout in the game. The quality of her animation is something of a
mixed-bag, with her full-speed run looking like many of the hovering and
skating animations that plagued characters seen before in games of this style.
At the heart
of the X-Blades combat system is three primary attack types, which
consists of magic, melee, and ranged attacks. Her
“gun-blades” combine the melee and ranged components into a single weapon (or,
more accurately, dual weapons since she wields both of them). Carving
through groups of baddies loses its appeal rather quickly, as very little
tactical ability is required and the foes tend to be extraordinarily dumb,
anyway. The magical attacks are your classic, elemental-based sorcery, ranging
from powerful earthquakes to sizzling blasts of flame. Some of the
animalistic beasties you’ll face are more vulnerable to certain “classes” of
magic than others, not unlike the magical “houses” from
Otogi of yesteryear. The magic itself is accumulated through combat,
as are the various upgrades that will improve Ayumi’s
combat abilities. Battles force Ayumi to remain
ensconced in a designated zone until the enemies have all been destroyed,
lending combat a forced intensity that feels a bit artificial at times. The
ability to collect objects and navigate environmental hazards helps to break
up the pace of the combat, but falls just short of what most players would
likely consider “a good time.”
Much of the fighting, particularly
where magic selection is concerned, feels rather unnatural in the heat of
battle. Even players willing to tolerate the cumbersome controls will likely
find fault with the gameplay itself where both
the enemies and the environments become repetitive early on. The music and
sound effects are all in working order, adequate but nothing terribly
memorable. The game’s thespian performances are almost laughable at times, as
Ayumi’s valley-girlish whining loses its charm
almost as quickly as the combat itself. The biggest highpoint of X-Blades is
probably its visual style, with the distinctive-looking heroine and almost
blinding color palette lending a near comic book-like quality to the game. On
the whole, however, there’s very little here that hasn’t already been done
elsewhere, and with greater success. Since the game is already planned to be
extended into a trilogy, one can only hope that the controls are streamlined
and the gameplay given a hefty overhaul before
Ayumi’s second outing.
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Gameplay: 6.0
Clumsy,
repetitive, and frequently dull combat leeches most of the fun out of an
essentially simple game.
Graphics: 8.0
Not
mind blowing, but some striking effects here and the character design is
rather unique.
Sound: 7.0
Decent
effects and music, but the voice acting is fair, at best.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Players will find
the game ranges from mind-numbingly easy to inexplicably frustrating.
Concept: 7.0
Interesting
character design and varied combat mechanics, but there’s very little truly
inspired about it.
Overall: 6.5
X-Blades may
prove a pleasant enough distraction for hack-and-slash gamers thirsty for
something new. Repetitive gameplay and bland
design keep it from becoming anything outstandingly great.
