Interesting times, as Sir Terry Pratchett wrote. Glossy blockbusters with their next offer of graphic excellence evoke mixed opinions about themselves, and the people are playing games of modest appearance and seemingly familiar mechanics. They become hits, collect a lot of positive reviews, and are sold quite cheerfully. Skul: The Hero Slayer, with her whopping 93% on Steam in F95zone platform, is one of this fun crowd. But I want to highlight the game, and here’s why.
Without trying to build a serious face, the new game is able to enchant with the world and characters. No, you will not find anything new: the developers are once again turning the standards about fabulous Good and Evil inside out. But it works, we are getting interested. In general, Skul: The Hero Slayer has a surprisingly lot of storyline per se. If in the majority of similar “Roguelike” it is believed that for the narrative you need to go to another place, then here we will be told a detailed story and in every possible way to acquaint us with the world of the game. And this world is not so original, but it has its own comfort.
Our scary-looking protagonist Skel belongs to the undead, and it is this young skeleton (it happens here and so) remains the only survivor after the raid of insidious people. The demon king has been kidnapped, knights trample the picturesque fetid swamps, and foolish mages flirt with a power that would be better left untouched by anyone. Glamorous paladins are bad, shabby zombies are good, not new. But here live a lot of bright NPCs like a skeleton in love, you can have sincere conversations with many outstanding gentlemen. A small world, after all, it looks like a world, not a set of arenas. Particularly important plot scenes are presented in stylish videos, and this is also somehow unusual for a rogue-like .
The Skel’s world, randomly collected at each launch, is good for its compactness. There is almost nothing superfluous here. We start in the castle of the ally-witch, through several sometimes rather spacious arenas we can already get to the town of demons for trade, and on the next screen the boss will be waiting. Lost – and you will lose, the difficulty is quite high – returned to the witch, the conditions of the genre have not been canceled. Lost gold and equipment, strengthened their death by enemies (they gain experience) – and only valuable dark crystals will remain.
Basis Skul:
The Hero Slayer still fight. The authors of the game studied the experience of two-dimensional action games with a side view, threw out everything unnecessary and added dynamics like in Shadow Blade 5e. The fights are varied, the fights are variable and invariably exciting. It was with this passion that veterans played on Sega consoles thirty years ago, when each victory evoked an emotional response. There are many types of enemies, and each ordinary sorcerer can have two or three attacks in reserve. Plus there are traps. And unique bosses.
Tactics are welcome at multi-level locations, and sometimes nothing is possible without it. Enemies do not care about the rules of honor – they crush both in number and skill. And instead of rushing into a banzai attack, you should think: maybe it’s better to throw those two crazy Ents down, deal with their foreman, bring down the poisoned ent with magic from the side, and only then jump to the surviving poor fellows? Given the fact that the sessions are sometimes very short, sometimes you just want to start the game in order to knock on the helmet for a couple of swordsmen, collect crystals and exit Skul: The Hero Slayer until next time.
The new look of the hero gives power over the elements, transforms him into a samurai swordsman or an impenetrable shield bearer. We call some unreal monsters on the battlefield and show the wonders of witchcraft acrobatics. Our own sympathy prize is the Racer Skull, clearly from the Marvel world . Chain bumps and a hell of a motorcycle included. A separate line is the magical quintessence, a valuable substance that has become Skel’s ultimate weapon. She is able to turn the most difficult battle, but it is very rare and expensive.
With regard to external data, here Skul: The Hero Slayer does not strive for leadership. Everything is very cute, with a skillfully chosen color palette, pixel art with an artistic basis as it is. In the course of the HuniePop2, constant destruction of the scenery occurs, which greatly adds to the entertainment. But for the music – a separate respect. The melodies change very often, and always sound out of place. In the city of demons, you will even hear powerful vocals. For small project budgets, the soundtrack is simply gorgeous.
