When your mentor, the Hermit, betrays the Secreta order and runs away, it falls to you to defeat them. Journey through various realms and fight your way through several enemies to accomplish objectives. If you fall along the way, you can get back up but at the cost of growing corruption. The journey is easier with friends but you aren’t likely to succeed the first time. It’s a constant struggle but a learning process as you adapt.
Daimon Blades uses roguelike gameplay to keep gameplay fresh as you dive into realms for combat. You always have missions to complete to stay focused. Combat is rough and it is built for multiplayer, making it difficult if you don’t have an ally. Several systems could use improvement like helping you identify what an objective looks like. The game could be fun but it needs lots of work to get there.
Daimon Blades is available in Early Access on PC for USD 31.49.
The battle to fight the Hermit requires a large base.
Story – Hunting Your Mentor
Your main objective is to hunt your former mentor known only as the Hermit. They have escaped deep into the realms of Chaos and it is your job to hunt them down. The path to the Hermit is randomised and you aren’t expected to succeed the first time. But every experience makes you stronger and prepares you for your showdown against the Hermit. You don’t have to fight alone as friends can accompany you through the realms.
The story is an excuse plot even though there are side characters who give you some details. It’s mostly there to give you a reason to go into the realms and fight in the first place, similar to Devil Jam. Your main focus is combat, upgrades, and going through the different realms. It’s hard to remember there is a story until you stop a run and return to the base. Some details reveal themselves as time passes but it’s not substantial enough for a plot.
As you go deeper into the levels, you cast spells against the Hermit.
Gameplay – First-Person Slashing
You start at a hub where you choose your weapon and Daimon, a demon spirit that gives you some power. Go through a door and choose a realm from the available selection. Fight your way through several enemies while completing an objective given to you. Succeed and you get to choose some upgrades before transitioning to the next level. After a few levels, you fight a boss who gives you a weapon upon their defeat.
It’s fast-paced action with roguelike elements though the tutorial isn’t detailed. It gives you the basics and throws you into the deep end, forcing you to figure out the rest. Mastering combat isn’t difficult but you often don’t know anything about aspects like Daimons or upgrades. That makes the early-game difficult because you have no idea what some aspects do. It feels unnecessarily difficult and frustrating as a result.
Defeat hordes of enemies as you fight your way to an objective.
There are also bugs that impede your progress. Some are minor like environmental areas not loading for a few seconds, but others require a full restart. Those often remove your upgrades from the run, throwing you into tough situations. The combat is decent but there are more areas for improvement that drag the game down if they aren’t addressed.
Audio & Visual – Dark Horror Environment
Most areas in Daimon Blades are dark with some lighting, but the environment is ripe for ambushes. It’s a similar atmosphere to Massacre at the Mirage, designed to keep you attentive at all times. Enemies range from normal humans to giant insects and you don’t have great lighting. However, the performance on some environments can be poor and they won’t load well. This makes it hard to navigate and directional assistance is limited.
There isn’t much music in the game and you are mostly hearing the sounds of combat. It’s easy to hear when your attacks are landing or when an enemy is hitting your blind spot. Whenever bosses are preparing an attack, you can tell from the sound what kind of attack it will be. Sound quality is mostly good with few issues.
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- Getting the element of surprise on your enemies is helpful.
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- Completing objectives is hard since you don’t know what to look for.
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- Some fights are difficult but you learn how to win eventually.
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- Bosses have tricks that you must figure out if you want to defeat them.
Daimon Blades was previewed on Steam with a code provided by Tinsley PR.
