Blades & Battles: a tribute to Golden Axe that lacks sharpness

The heart of the game works pretty well.

Arthur relies more on raw power while Lancelot favours a faster approach, with special attacks, combos and capabilities capable of quickly cleaning the screen.

The clashes are nervous, the enemies can be thrown into the air and the magic attacks bring enough show to make the fighting enjoyable.

The problem lies mainly in the lack of depth.

There is no real system of progress, no new weapons to unlock and very little evolution in the movement. What we know how to do at the beginning remains what we will do to the end.

In local co-op, however, the game gains a lot in fun.

Visually, Blades & Battles mixes 3D environments and pixel filter to recreate a retro aesthetic.

The idea sometimes works very well, especially in fantasy environments, but the filter can also damage readability when the screen becomes loaded.

Fortunately, it is possible to reduce this effect to obtain a clearer picture.

The scenery varies enough between forests, castles, caves and snow-covered areas, but the whole set sometimes lacks personality to truly mark the spirits.

The sound atmosphere fits perfectly with the arcade tone.

Swordstrokes have enough impact, special attacks are well highlighted and dark fantasy music correctly accompanies the clashes.

Nothing really bad here, but nothing particularly memorable either.

Some noises become quite repetitive after several fights.

The scenario mainly serves as a pretext for action.

Morgana threatens Camelot, Merlin is in danger, and Arthur and Lancelot go face a series of creatures through different environments.

The arthurian universe brings a little personality, but the game never really develops its characters or its history.

That's clearly not what we're looking for here, but the adventure would have gained from exploiting its framework further.

This is where Blades & Battles suffers the most.

A first part can be completed in about thirty minutes, and even by exploring alternative paths and both ends, the content remains extremely limited.

The different levels of difficulty and the connections bring a bit of replayability, but this does not completely compensate for the lack of characters, additional modes and progress.

The game is generally clean and functional, but its price seems difficult to justify in the face of such a short life.