Blacken Slash

Hands down one of the best Roguelite Puzzle games. Well, it looks simple; it has complex and fun gameplay. It is a tactical ARPG and makes you think a lot about what upgrades to use and what to keep at the end. As someone with a background in IT who tried to take computer science (programming) in college, the computer-related puns are hilarious. The pager NPC got me because I forget that those are things sometimes. This game is also having updates and bug fixes regularly. On the Steam Deck, it runs and looks great. Yet, the controller kept snapping back to the character, which I do not like but playing this with the touch screen, I had no problem. Find more reviews from me on my Steam curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42800057-TreeofEmber/ Here is the YouTube video of my first impressions of the game: https://youtu.be/RFb0wJfBkUM

[code]For other game reviews, please [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40640212/]follow us at What The Game?[/url][/code] Blacken Slash is a Rogue-like turn-based strategy game set in a retro computer environment. The levels are randomly generated, starting off very simple and quickly ramping up to lots-of-luck needed to get out alive. Some levels there is an exit to get to, some are “survive for X number of turns”, while others require clearing all enemies. There are potential rewards, both in the level as picked up objects and/or completing the level. Sometimes there is no reward at all, other than having made it to the next level. The Rogue-like aspects of the game are periodic reward choices and the random level generation. There is also a starting choice that can affect rewards or perhaps give the player some starting ability. There are not many settings or options for Blacken Slash. The music is the first setting that must immediately be turned down, it is set to maximum by default with the sound effects turned down to 50%. There is an option for selecting a language and a few passive options, like skipping confirmation buttons or level clearing animations. There is a built-in tutorial starting the first game, however it isn't terribly effective in understanding the mechanics. Clicking on an enemy will give a breakdown of its stats and capabilities. Until the player has played a few runs, the mechanics are likely to be confusing. The player is a prismatic looking tetrahedron with three 'cycles' per turn (starting). The player's health is carried over between levels, occasionally it will be possible to regenerate some health through an option selection. Each movement uses a cycle, as does a normal attack. However, some abilities that are acquired may use several cycles. In fact, it is possible to gain abilities that aren't possible to use early on because more than three cycles are required. The abilities come in the form of scripts and circuits. Scripts are activatable skills, while circuits are passive. There are slots for 3 scripts and 6 circuits, which start out as empty. It's entirely random what will be gained during a play though, and sometimes the reward will be worse that what the player already has, so those can be scrapped for credits, the in-game currency. Blacken Slash is a pretty cutthroat experience. Sometimes the player will early on pick up very useful scripts that will make some levels easy to get through, other times the lack of useful scripts combined with an overwhelming random level will create a quick demise. There does appear to be some progression that can carry over between games in the form of an 'archive', there are keys that reference the archive; however, it seems to be a rarity to get anything into the archive. It isn't clear if there is an end-game or if the levels progress infinitely. It's unlikely that an average run will last more than 10 or so levels in any case. [b]Blacken Slash is a competently designed turn-based strategy game with Rogue-like game play; for the price it is worth a play through, but it may be a tad too frustrating to hold the average player's interest for long.[/b]

A very entertaining mix between Roguelite RPG and Puzzle genres, aesthetically pleasing, and really fun! A steal for the price it is, and will excite any gamer at any age! A must have on the Steam Deck!

Fun little [b]puzzle[/b] game! Yes, [b]PUZZLE[/b]. Sure it has some roguelike elements, but I wouldn't call it a rogulite. The base game is pretty unchallenging and once you learn how to play you'll win 100% of your runs so not much of replayability here. The fun part comes from challenges (tied to achievements), where you need to think of a specific build, find required items and adapt your play style. And 1 little mistake can ruin your challenge run and you might even loose items you looted for so long...