GLADIUM
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Gladium is the project of Eirik Wiklund a one man developer studio and yes, the game reminded me of Domina , a strategy game where you took charge of a Ludus, training and preparing Gladiators in a management approach, where the fights were simulated. Both games enjoy the pixel art style and that’s where the comparison should end.
– Real player with 14.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Fast-Paced Unforgiving Games.
This is quite a difficult game to review tbh. It is a very unforgiving game, some of the bosses you will fight will kill you many times, the part that some people may dislike the most is it’s grind system to be able to defeat the bosses or even try another go at them (you gain blood points to trade for perks and for another chance at a boss if you fail), meaning that if you lose to a boss you will have to play either normal mode or horde mode to try again, making the game VERY repetitive. You will also earn gold to unlock new equipment, which is necessary to try different strategies as you cannot fight all the bosses in the same manner (at least I advise againts it). Ultimately I’m giving it a thumbs up because I had fun the whole 14 hours I played and I even got a little addicted, the theme helped as I really like gladiator style fighting games, but be warned, if you get frustrated easily this may not be for you.
– Real player with 13.6 hrs in game
For Sparta
PROS:
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A decent variety of enemies. There are about 3-4 different skins for each monster, but they each have varying attacks and behaviours to keep things interesting.
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A large selection of craftable perks to potentially obtain.
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The controls handle well. Dodging and attacking feels responsive and enjoyable.
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Action-packed generally speaking. Enemies spawn in waves throughout a day, but if you take too long, the next wave will spawn in to keep you on your toes.
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Satisfying and appropriate sound effects.
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Fast-Paced Action Roguelike Games.
Great little arcade game. It’s difficult and has a lot of random elements that can make it anywhere from challenging to near impossible, but with games being so fast/short and the ability to restart in a couple of seconds it’s not normally frustrating.
If you like old school keyboard bashing this is for you.
– Real player with 6.5 hrs in game
Shillelagh
Got this game because I love devil daggers. The soundtrack is awesome and the gameplay has a really unique twist.
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Fast-Paced Arena Shooter Games.
Overall, I feel the potential and the charm of this game are buried too deeply beneath absolutely horrible visual clarity and the frustration of, for a lack of better words, total bullshit deaths completely outside of player control.
Shillelagh is held back by issues that are few in number but quite significant in effect. My biggest frustration currently is that it seems everything in the game has collision and can push you around. The trees popping up, the spirits you launch at enemies, the little floating stone fragments that appear when enemies burst through the rock, and probably more. On the handful of runs I’ve tried, an enemy has killed me only once. Every other run I’ve had end did so due to a tree bursting up beneath me unexpectedly and shoving me off the arena with no chance for me to react, or a single, tiny out of place floating stone bumping me into a pit. I don’t feel like I died because I made a mistake - I died because of something stupid I have absolutely no ability to influence and no possible method of reacting to. It feels like shit and it’s rapidly killing my ability to enjoy the game even this early on.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game