Blade & Sorcery (2019)

First Impressions / VR Setup: I rented a VR headset mostly to play VRChat with a friend for memes and funny games. Then I tried GORN and loved smashing enemies around, which led to constant recommendations for Blade and Sorcery: Nomad on the Meta Quest 3. I jumped in without expecting much and was immediately overwhelmed – choosing whether to start with or without magic. I went without, thinking I'd climb my way to a top-tier magician… but of course, collecting crystals in Crystal Hunt unlocked new spells, and suddenly the game’s combat system just clicked.

Combat / Gameplay: The combat is insanely satisfying. Every strike feels responsive, and I loved chaining combos or going full sword-smash mode, whether with a short sword or a longsword. Early on, I thought I could just destroy every enemy with every weapon, but the game has weapon stats, which makes sense – piercing, blunt, and slashing damage all work differently depending on enemy armor. I genuinely love gore in games, and this was a great energy outlet (don’t worry, friends, it’s healthy haha).

I also love the slow-mo ability – in my opinion, it’s the best ability in the game. The stronger version lets you literally punch someone into oblivion with a fire or gravity fist, and that never gets old. It makes every combo feel epic and over-the-top, and paired with the weapon and magic upgrades, it really makes you feel unstoppable.

The basic gameplay loop is simple: enter a dungeon, fight through enemies, collect crystals or the map, upgrade magic, and repeat, buy stuff at the baron. Facing a stone golem boss was cool, but after that, I realized the loop repeats a lot – same maps, same bosses, same routine; only thing different is the order of the rooms. Still, unlocking new magic types after each boss (fire, electric, gravity – gravity being my favorite) kept it fun. Body upgrades paired with gravity powers were especially wild, letting me literally throw enemies around like crazy.

I’ve played everything this game offers 100%, having literally every ability, sword of naa, and let me tell you – you feel insanely strong after having every upgrade. The full combo and magic potential in VR is ridiculous, and it really makes you feel like an unstoppable force in the dungeon.

Difficulty: The game is okay at the beginning, not too easy, but the AI is clunky. Most enemies attack at set times and can be easily overpowered if you want. Magic and arrow users are annoying and occasionally frustrating, but honestly, the game is still easy once you get the hang of the mechanics. For an experienced gamer, it’s very underwhelming difficulty-wise, but still fun because combat is so satisfying.

Atmosphere / Immersion: The game nails a dark, sometimes creepy atmosphere. Certain human areas had ambient sounds that gave me a weird, unsettling vibe, but that’s part of the charm. It really makes you feel like you’re in a medieval sandbox world, ready to brawl.

Story / Replayability: Story-wise, there’s barely anything. Manuscripts exist, but I quickly lost interest in reading them. The ending is cryptic: after grabbing the secret sword, the citadel is destroyed and some mysterious text appears – no real conclusion. For me, the game is more of a sandbox to fight in than a narrative experience, kind of like Dishonored in VR with medieval combat.

Conclusion / Personal Take: I keep playing this game just to fight and mess around in VR. It became a routine almost, purely for the combat fun. While it doesn’t have much story or variety, it’s extremely satisfying in terms of physics, combos, and brutal melee action. For VR enthusiasts who love melee combat and sandbox play, it’s a must-try – just don’t expect a deep story.

Played a bit of the new campaign thing. It's as bad as I was expecting. Just the same randomly-generated dungeons with no cohesion or any sense of level design with a progression system slapped on top.

You're supposed to be looking for map pieces so at first I though I would need to look around the level looking for some library-looking room, or rummage around bookcases. Nope. The levels have just random rooms with random junk that is not even good for loot because their value is zero. Instead, you just need to go around the linear maze, kill everyone, and in the end get to the treasure room (which looks exactly the same in the two levels I played) to get your reward.

The fact that this game in this state gets Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam says a lot about the state of VR gaming and VR players in general. Have their standards become so low after years of neglect by the industry that they are willing to throw praise to this slop, or do they actively want these shallow and repetitive experiences?