AeternoBlade

 Switch
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 2 out of 3
  1. Nintendo Life
    Feb 7, 2018
    50
    AeternoBlade is one of those games that’s frustrating, not because anything in it is broken, but because brief glimpses of excellence show what could’ve been. It's a decent game, but mediocrity rears its ugly head in nearly every aspect. You could do much worse with Metroidvania games than this, but there’s very little here that you haven’t seen done before, probably better. If you are chomping at the bit for every Metroidvania you can find for Switch, then perhaps AeternoBlade is worth the punt. If that’s not you, we’d suggest a better release in the genre - such as like Axiom Verge or Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - and to sit this one out.

User Reviews

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User Score
4.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 11
  3. Negative: 6 out of 11
  1. TheFlannelFox
    Feb 2, 2018
    6
    The only survivor of the village Ridgerode, Freya will seek revenge upon its destroyer, Beladim. An immortal-ish demon, whose power is drawnThe only survivor of the village Ridgerode, Freya will seek revenge upon its destroyer, Beladim. An immortal-ish demon, whose power is drawn from a magical rod he uses to rewind time when hurt. Freya will hack and slash her way through multiple 2 and half a D dimensions in her journey to annihilate him.

    AeternoBlade is an action side-scrolling metroidvania-lite where you’ll be fighting numerous demons, maneuvering through some deadly environmental hazards, and solving some very dull environmental puzzles with your time-bending mechanics.

    Moving left and right you also have a jump button and an attack button, mashing the attack button will grant you combos to unleash power attacks on your enemies. As you play through you can spend points to unlock new combos, which while it’s a fun idea, you can achieve the same thing with if you just repeatedly mash the attack button. It’s fun to try the new combos, but the AI is so mindless that they don’t really pose any sort of a challenge.

    In my opinion the strongest part of AeternoBlade is the boss fights. In certain boss fights built to make you utilize some of the time bending and rewinding mechanics, you can just button mash the attack button and slash your way to victory. But some boss fights that you’ll encounter on your journey are genuinely fantastic, learning their goofy attack patterns and double jumping out of the way at just the right time was a blast.

    In AeternoBlade you have different special mechanics the ability to rewind time regaining your health and giving you the option to replay a difficult area, however it only gives you a very small amount of health. Which at that point you mine as well restart from on of the many closest check points.

    Another time mechanic gives you the ability to rewind time but allowing you to be unaffected by the time shift, think very low-budget braid. Later in the game they did introduce some clever twists, in a certain level demons attack you while you used you time shifting mechanic making you much more conservative with its use.

    AeternoBlade feels like it’s trying to find its own identity, utilizing too many different game mechanics at once and not mastering any of them. At times I feel the game would have been stronger if it was just a hack n slash metroidvania, minus all the time bending behavior.

    When I first jumped into AeternoBlade I didn’t like it at all, with janky time bending mechanics, dull ai, and uncreative environmental puzzles there certainly leaves a lot to be desired. However, over time this messy hack n slash sort of grows on you, even the art style is nostalgic to earlier 3d titles. Eventually learning my double jump, which made the boss fights even more fun, it made playing AeternoBlade a little more like comfort food. While it is not a great game and is certainly not for everyone. Some gamers will certainly appreciate this sort of slasher…

    Be sure to watch my video review at YouTube channel TheFlannelFox    … Full Review »
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