Bleak Sword box art

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Bleak Sword

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Bleak Sword

Sep 19, 2019

Main game

3.38 average rating based on 21 ratings

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Bleak Sword is a dark fantasy action game tasking players to struggle across compact, cursed diorama battlefields. Through nine tense chapters, heroes must lift the curse of the legendary Bleak Sword by striking down all manner of creatures in every forest, swamp, castle, and dungeon on their journey. Invoke powerful magic, uncover helpful items, and level up your character to upgrade your stats before facing down menacing guardians. Once the curse has been lifted the challenging Arena Mode and thirty unlockable achievements await even the most accomplished warrior. Bleak Sword is designed to be able to play it easily with … More
Bleak Sword is a dark fantasy action game tasking players to struggle across compact, cursed diorama battlefields. Through nine tense chapters, heroes must lift the curse of the legendary Bleak Sword by striking down all manner of creatures in every forest, swamp, castle, and dungeon on their journey. Invoke powerful magic, uncover helpful items, and level up your character to upgrade your stats before facing down menacing guardians. Once the curse has been lifted the challenging Arena Mode and thirty unlockable achievements await even the most accomplished warrior. Bleak Sword is designed to be able to play it easily with elegant controls allowing heroes to roll, parry, attack and counter-attack using basic movements on gamepads and touch controls. Scored by award-winning composer Jim Guthrie with sound by famed designer Joonas Turner. Less
Developers
more8bit
Publishers
Devolver Digital
Platforms
Mac, iOS
Genres
Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Indie
Themes
Action, Fantasy, Horror
Steam
View on Steam
Release Dates
Sep 19, 2019 (Worldwide)
iOS
Oct 08, 2019 (Worldwide)
Mac
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User Stats
85
In Collection
16
Wish Listed
1
Playing
31
Backlogged
How Long Is Bleak Sword?
No playthrough data yet
Related Content
Trost
Trost gave May 18, 2022
Trost gave May 18, 2022
Distilled soulslike combat experience

Parry, roll, charge a heavy hit. Mind the timings.
It's a fairly simple arcade game, but it gets straight to the point and the combat feels nice and tight. I played on IPad + gamepad and enjoyed learning the timings.
And I love the sound design. The sounds of heavy hit landing and when you win the stage and raise your sword are pleasant to hear over and over again.
The music gives soulslike vibes.
Aesthetically, the art style reminds me of Crawl. It's a matter of taste ofc.

I'd rate this 4.5
It's a very simple, but a well polished game that manages to make my picky gamer brain feel entertainmed.

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BMO
BMO updated their status Feb 6, 2023
BMO updated their status Feb 6, 2023

Three years ago I said:

Bleak Sword is certainly well made, and does provide touch controls that are better than some other action games I've played via touch interface, but I still think the game is hampered by its control UX and would be vastly superior if played with a controller. I like Bleak Sword, but I am not loving it, and that's all down to touch controls.

Although I did follow that comment up with confirmation that the iOS version was playable with a controller (and confirmed it was a much better experience), I still take the following as spectacular news:

P.S. this is going to look phenomenal on the OLED Switch!

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2
BMO
BMO updated their status Sep 26, 2019
BMO updated their status Sep 26, 2019

Kotaku said that Bleak Sword Does Action Better Than A Mobile Game Should and that

When it comes to games, touchscreen controls are a thing that we just kind of deal with in the hopes that someone comes up with an ingenious use for them, like with The Room series of games. Barring that, most just settle for fine—rare is the truly bad touchscreen control scheme these days, but few are exceptional. This is doubly true for precise, intense action games—touchscreens are just not the best input medium.
At least that’s what I used to think before Bleak Sword (emphasis mine)

I don't know if I can agree. Bleak Sword is certainly well made, and does provide touch controls that are better than some other action games I've played via touch interface, but I still think the game is hampered by its control UX and would be vastly superior if played with a controller. I like Bleak Sword, but I am not loving it, and that's all down to touch controls.

2 Show Likes
1