Blades of Time

Eccentric people might want to keep their eyes peeled for Gaijin Entertainment and their latest title Blades of Time. It is by some length one of the strangest, messiest titles to ever release and yet it still upholds a flurry of great design ideas and a singular appeal one will not find in many other titles. This is a classic case of a love-hate relationship.

The paper-thin plot along with the incessantly transparent observations of protagonist femme fatale Ayumi are so forgettable, it will be hard to even keep up during the game itself. It’s something with dragons, aliens and extreme gullibility; that’s the only strand of logic one could find in this melting pot of nonsensical drivel. It’s best to stay way clear of this constant annoyance.

More importantly, this sci-fi theme will take Blades of Time through a set of worlds with varying locales like jungles, sky platforms and one of the cleverest desert environments ever. As with almost all aspects of this game, this comes with equally good and bad traits. The good is that the environments are lush and splendorous with details, glimmering plants and the art design in general is fluid in the language of bizarre. More so, each world flows in an organic linear fashion, quite like the God of War series presents its levels. This makes the 10 or so hours of content driving and appealing, when no problems pop up. The bad thing is that through several mechanisms, many environments will become a dreary mess that lacks any contrast, even when different color palettes are applied. Imagine a pizza baked with rainbow sprinkles and then smeared out on the screen. It becomes visually painful, not to mention confusing at several occasions. Blades of Time has trouble differentiating the visual capabilities of lighting and blurring and ends up leaving a smudge of color on the screen.

This is a major inconvenience in many of its gameplay elements, such as the compass prompt that’s supposed to guide progression. Often, the lighting gleam will wash out the needle that directs the way. This is also an issue when its keystone time rewinding element turns the screen red and spawns off alternate realities. Whenever Ayumi turns back time, she’ll create a duplicate of herself that does what she did before the rewind. Through this tool, players can take part in a clever use of time manipulation to kill enemies or overcome level puzzles. It isn’t thoroughly explored, but some instances will be captivating to mull through and overcome. For instance, some enemies require one duplicate to attack them, while another one deals with its weakness in another time sequence. It’s used mostly for pushing switches, but when it does get more attention the time mechanism is a great asset for this game.

More puzzles include an Order sphere that blocks time travels and brings hidden entities to the appropriate reality. Again, this usually ends up making the screen vomit, but the idea is great. As such, Ayumi can manipulate switches, see invisible enemies and even scope out hidden treasures that help upgrade her equipment. If only this game wasn’t so dreadfully obtuse, it would gain awards on its tons of innovative ideas alone.

The action element of the game follows the God of War hack and slash scheme of its level designs. With 2 attack buttons, Ayumi unleashes fast, sweeping combos onto the hordes of enemies that swarm the screen. Unfortunately, the game confuses a lot of instances of challenge with just a cheap avalanche of crap thrown at the player, but once fully developed, combat rises to the occasion. Ayumi can unlock special abilities at altars that enhance her fighting with powerful spells or attacks. Through simple button combinations, she can rend through a horde at dazzling speeds. And with a slide option, she can swoop in and out of combat to prevent excessive damage. This will be a necessary means to an end as the building rage mechanism as well as its connected health system are again thicker than a concrete wall. At no point will it be adamantly clear what really does what in Blades of Time, so it’s best to play it safe.

Additionally, it uses this sliding to create a clever clinging mechanism that allows Ayumi to fling herself at above objects or enemies. When stuck to an airborne foe, she can attack it, but that comes at the risk of falling into one of the many instant death crevices the game holds. It also never picks up after that and that leaves this mechanism underdeveloped, though it is again a unique addition in itself.

Lastly, Ayumi can use a gun that zooms in over her shoulder. Yet, as much as the fluent speed of combat gets directed by her freedom of movement, shooting is clunky and leaves her slow and vulnerable. It is however a great addition when used with the time mechanism and also features some big hitting rocket launchers later in the game.

The grand total of all these additions does create a hearty core of content with enough tactical aspects to build from. In some situations this will create impromptu puzzling fights, though in some cases luck will be a much too large factor. In particular, some annoying respawning spider fights become a hassle once other parties are involved. Since all parties attack Ayumi upon sight, dealing with the main threat of the spiders becomes more about catching a break than it is about thinning out the herd. Not even staying at distance will be an option everywhere, since enemy ranged units have perfect aim, no matter where they are.

There’s even more to Blades of Time with certain platform sequences and timed sections, but again these get hindered by the less than precise controls and physics resulting in some annoying deaths.

Still, for all the convoluted glory that is this singleplayer campaign, the tacked on multiplayer component that also allows solo play is equally as refreshing and freeing to play. The Outbreak mode puts players in charge of one of 3 characters and pits the hordes of monsters in a fight between Order and Chaos. Each map is divided in two similar parts, which hold defense beacons that players need to defend, while naturally crushing the opponent’s pillars. These battles can get quite hectic and also features a leveling system, which replaces the time mechanism with a berserk powerup that enhances abilities. It even features the clever desert level that forces players to find secure locations in the shade, as direct sunlight scorches away their health. It isn’t much and the leveling system can use some work, but it does offer a refreshing addition to the whole game and comes with no strings attached. It’s a simple brawl for all.

Blades of Time certainly is an innovating title, but marred in its own design flaws. There’s no one way about this title. Some players will love it for what it does, because it certainly tries really hard to be one of the most singular and versatile action titles in years. Others will get stuck on the flaws that make this game one of the most needlessly annoying endeavors ever to obscure a good concept. If anything, anyone should at least try it and find out which side the coin falls for them.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)