Sadame

A fun action RPG with an infernal/feudal Japanese aesthetic and some great ideas, Sadame is a welcome eShop surprise. The core combat can get repetitive, and it lacks the fluid finesse of the best beat-'em-ups, but there's a lot here to love, including a particularly thoughtful implementation of its four-character hook. If you're in the mood for a hack-and-slash alt-history lesson, Sadame can definitely cut it.

Sadame is an interesting and well-built action game with RPG elements that offers a long and very replayable experience to those willing to dwell deep into it. It's not the most self-explanatory work in this regard, though, as many details will be lost on a Western audience and often the player is left with little explanation of the game's mechanics.

If you get a big kick of out having pages of stats to micro-manage, or finding a lot of loot, then you may gleam some enjoyment out of of playing Sadame, but for me, I appreciate its art and its classes, and that’s unfortunately all I can commend.

Sadame will bring the best memories to the more nostalgic ones, and fighting against bosses is what shines the brightest in the game. Although some outdated mechanical contribution and the unattractiveness of its aesthetic are some weak points that may bother fans of the saga.

While Sadame isn't a bad game at all, it feels like a particularly hollow one. The game has promise, but it all gets squandered on combat that's too simple and dull for its own good. For $15, the quantity of content is impressive, but despite the good ideas present, Sadame doesn't have nearly enough variety or challenge to ultimately make it feel worthwhile.