Nintendo Switch – Slain: Back from Hell #87

A game reborn but still tough as nails!

Slain Back from Hell – Nintendo Switch – Released: 12/7/17 – $19.99

Short Review (Review copy provided by Developer)

This game went through a lot of changes for the better. The game was critically panned at first for how hard it was and they decided to rework the entire game to give it more spit and polish. This was an excellent move by the developers! I never played the original but I did know about it and didn’t buy it back then because of the issues. When I saw the reworked version was coming to Switch I had to look into it. The game is still tough as nails so have that in mind when reading this review. It still isn’t for the faint of heart but more in tune with the difficulty that I can handle, a person who has beaten all the Ghost n’ Goblin games. Bathoryn is a doomed hero that has been summoned once more to rid the world of evil. The game plays much like a MetroidVania style game but if you took the original Castlevania game’s linear style. So you will need to gain new abilities, go back to different areas but it is more straight forward and less of a big open environment. The game can be unforgiving at times though. The game’s sub bosses and main bosses will rely on your ability to counter. If you are unable to counter which is a bit hard to master then you will die, die, die, and die a lot before you get any further. The game demands a lot from you but if you like the old style of MetroidVania with the Ghost n’ Goblins difficulty, you will be right at home. I would say the game can be recommended but you have to remember as a veteran of tough as nails platformers, this is right up there.

Really like this icon but wish it had the main character standing next to the coffin:

Story

As stated in the short review it is about Bathoryn, a doomed hero, is summoned again by spirits to fight demons. That is about it really. The spirits originally tell him it is to protect his children but Bathoryn claims to not have any children. So the spirits force him out of his slumber to fight for them.

Gameplay

It is a pretty standard MetroidVania style type of game but more linear. You will spend most of the time just going left to right but you will be returning to stages with new abilities. This game is hard even though it was reworked from the original as far as I know it isn’t much easier. I found it pretty solid expect for the countering which is hard to pull off as you can see from my gameplay. The counter is something you must learn how to master since everything will kill you easily. If you don’t master this concept you will repeatedly die until you can’t stand the game anymore. It took me several hours to master it but once I did and replaying it meant it was a walk in the park. So if you give it time it is worth it plus the game was updated with 60 FPS so it feels even better than when I first tried it out.

Personal Experience

I personally had a great time with this game! It isn’t easy by any means but the soundtrack is amazing and the game does feel solid once you get timings right. While I wait patiently for Battle Princess Madelyn to come out this was able to scratch my tough as nails platformer itch. The game did have me dying a lot to stupid things that I felt as though was out of my control but I did enjoy every minute with it.

Final Thoughts

This is a bit of a toss up since I like tough games but most I feel wouldn’t enjoy this type of gameplay. I would say it is in the middle for a recommend or not to recommend! You would need to really like the older titles of MetroidVania style and like tough as nails games. It is a mix that doesn’t come around often and will easily turn some people down. I did play this game after the patch came out which fixed many, many problems I had with it originally. Before writing this review I would have gave it a hard pass due to the problems the Switch version had at launch. Now though it is in the middle since it is still hard but the game is solid fun to me. I would definitely look at gameplay and see how people have trouble with the counter since that is something you must master.

UPDATE: 5/31/18

I would give this game a 7 out of 10!

My Gameplay Footage:

 

Trailer:

 

 

End Credits

Hmmm this was a tough game but man it felt rewarding to finally finish it! Another week full of games and like I said in the last review I have an entire week full so I will keep them coming.

 

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Please look out for the other games and check out yesterday’s review: Nintendo Switch – Dimension Drive #86

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