Reaper - Tale of a Pale Swordsman

Review

Don't fear the reaper

February 19th, 2014 by Quinn Levandoski

reviewed on PC

Hack, Slash, and Wait

Obviously one of the most important things in a side-scrolling slasher RPG is the combat. I read a little bit about Reaper on iOS back when it was released for mobile, and a consistent praise was how intuitive and effective the simplistic combat mechanics were. After playing the game on PC I can tell that it probably worked great on a phone or tablet, but the system comes off as rather shallow and occasionally boring on a platform that doesn�t have to worry nearly as much about a lack of buttons or screen space as its mobile brethren. The combat boils down to, largely, two buttons. Up and down. Up does an upward slash, and down a downward slam. Hitting up or down while jumping does a unique attack as well. That�s fine and dandy, but these manual attacks are only strong enough to do any quantifiable damage by using up �rage,� a meter that gets filled by auto attacking. Whenever the swordsman is standing close enough to an enemy (and this sweet spot can actually be fairly difficult to find in the heat of combat) he will engage in auto attacks. You don�t hit anything, save for moving him out of the way when need be. This makes sense on a mobile phone where there isn�t room for 7 different buttons, but it�s really not fun or logical on PC. Why do I have to just stand there in order to build up Rage to actually use my attacks? When I�m actually using my jumping attacks or slams or whatever else, the flow of combat is actually pretty fun, but it�s pacing is slaughtered by the need to very frequently set up auto attacks.

Pretty Darkness

The audio and visuals in Reaper are definitely a high point. Fans of games like the recent Rayman titles will recognize a similar hand-drawn-like aesthetic that, while not nearly as detailed or vibrant as the aforementioned, are still nice to look at. Many of the monster designs are also fun and unique, unfortunately their combat doesn�t match the differentiation of their design. Almost all of the monsters act in similar, scripted ways that don�t require any special strategy or planning to take out relative to any of their kin. There is difficulty in their numbers, but not in any individual complexity or ingenuity.

It�s worth noting that there are a few other extra modes included in the game, but none of them add anything particularly different. The best of the bunch is Dark Harvest mode which lets you level up a separate character and is great for trying out some different builds and strategies. That aside, the arena mode throws you in with a bunch of my least-favorite enemies to fight, and there are a few extra missions and gear sets to have, but it�s all really just more of the same (which is fine, but not a game changer).

Move on to Greener Pastures

I understand that there is a difference between a full-priced AAA game and a small mobile port costing a fraction of the price, but in the end a good game is a good game, and a bad game is a bad game regardless of how much it costs to play them. Reaper - Tale of a Pale Swordsman is by no means the worst game I�ve played. It�s not even the worst game I have played this year. It is, however, not a game I�m going to be recommending my friends pick up on their PCs (though I do think it�s probably much more satisfying on mobile devices). There�s an interesting skeleton buried in there somewhere, but it is obscured by a myriad of things that are simply �okay�. The combat system is okay, the RPG elements are okay, and the story and dialogue are okay at best. Luckily some pretty visuals and interesting gear progression hold the game from being a complete waste. This dark swordsman is one mysterious figure that needs to stride off back into the night.

4.0

fun score

Pros

Nice visuals, good music, and a variety of gear.

Cons

Humor that misses more than hits, short repetitive quests, boring combat.