#BLUD

While the small-town vampire apocalypse of #BLUD will fail to interest those looking for a serious dungeon crawler RPG, it will satisfy those longing for a simpler zany 90s cartoon experience.

76%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

grinding, stability

80% User Score Based on 398 reviews

Critic Score 73%Based on 14 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $24.99

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About

"#BLUD is a single-player Role Playing Game with stellar visuals and mechanics. As Becky Brewster, a vampire-hunting high school student, you save your friends and fight off the vampire apocalypse in this humorous, animated dungeon crawler. Battle mutated animals and possessed townsfolk, and use school supplies to level up your magic skills and take selfies with demonic forces for analysis."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 412 reviews

story76 positive mentions

grinding24 negative mentions

The game features stunning animation and a unique art style reminiscent of 90s and 00s cartoons, which many players find charming and nostalgic.
The writing is witty and engaging, with a fun story that keeps players entertained throughout the game.
The combat system, while simple, can be satisfying to master, and the game includes creative mechanics like taking selfies with NPCs and enemies.

The combat can feel repetitive and clunky, with issues such as awkward hitboxes, lack of invincibility frames during dodges, and frustrating enemy attacks that can lead to cheap damage.
Many players have reported bugs and glitches, including soft locks and issues with quest progression, which can detract from the overall experience.
Some players feel that the game lacks depth in gameplay mechanics and variety, leading to a less engaging experience as they progress.

story
226 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
58%
8%
The game's story is generally described as light-hearted and engaging, featuring a mix of humor and darker moments, though it suffers from pacing issues and a lack of depth. Many players found the main narrative enjoyable, complemented by charming characters and a nostalgic art style, but criticized the abundance of tedious fetch quests that detract from the overall experience. While the story provides a fun framework, it is often overshadowed by gameplay bugs and repetitive mission design, leading to a mixed reception regarding its lasting impact.
- “The story is light-hearted and has some funny moments, but also has some heartfelt and dark moments.”
- “The story and characters feel fun and engaging.”
- “You'll have a wonderful time playing through the game's story and seeing every kooky detail it has to offer.”
- “The story is serviceable, and works as a decent framework for the whole thing, but I probably won't remember anything about it in a few weeks... the combat and enemies quickly turn into a chore you want to avoid as much as possible while you slowly jog around the map.”
- “The game just feels like a total rip-off, animation hiding all the problems it has and the story goes very paint by the numbers.”
- “I've read this was meant to be an animated series before pivoting to a game and that makes a lot of sense with how choppy and rushed the pacing is, with several plot points and character beats extremely rushed.”
graphics
155 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
46%
4%
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their vibrant and nostalgic art style, reminiscent of classic 90s cartoons like Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls. Players praise the outstanding animations and attention to detail, which contribute significantly to the game's overall charm and immersive experience. However, some reviews note that while the visuals are impressive, they are occasionally undermined by clunky gameplay mechanics.
- “I'm so in love with the art style, the animations are outstanding, and the whole vibe of the game is just immaculate.”
- “Probably the most beautiful indie game to come out this year in terms of art style.”
- “The game is a treat to look at, just as everyone says, the art style is carrying the visuals hard, and the bounce, squash-and-stretch and cartoony visuals just leave me happy to watch Becky break vampires over her hockey stick or tumble through gorgeous cutscenes for hours.”
- “Its animations and art style are amazing, but it is extremely boring and frustrating to play.”
- “The only things this game has going for itself are its cartoon homage graphics and the fact that they didn't botch the enemies.”
- “Art style and animation clearly have time, effort, and love put into them; however, I imagine due to this, attention was neglected on the actual game design itself.”
gameplay
145 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many praising its simple mechanics and enjoyable combat feedback, while others criticize it for being repetitive, clunky, and lacking depth. The game's charming art style and story often overshadow its mechanical shortcomings, leading to a consensus that while it can be fun, it ultimately falls short in delivering a polished gameplay experience. Overall, players recommend it for its visuals and narrative rather than for its gameplay alone.
- “The gameplay is simple but a pleasure to master; the feedback in the combat system is really enjoyable.”
- “It’s reminiscent of childhood cartoons: fun, with great mechanics and a good length.”
- “Outstanding art and animation, fun and simple gameplay, clever writing.”
- “The gameplay loop gets stale incredibly fast and I just found myself falling asleep through a lot of it.”
- “The game is really boring due to the bad combat mechanics.”
- “Traversing the map is a slog, the hitboxes on the hazards are bigger than they show, the enemies attack you so fast that the only way to play is defensively at a distance and the gameplay of your weapon combos never evolves.”
humor
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its charm and nostalgia, drawing comparisons to classic cartoons like "Dexter's Laboratory" and "The Powerpuff Girls." Players appreciate the witty dialogue, funny character animations, and a mix of light-hearted and dark humor, although some find the repetitive nature of certain jokes can diminish their impact. Overall, the humor contributes significantly to the game's engaging and fun atmosphere, despite some gameplay criticisms.
- “The art style is so nostalgic and the writing is hilarious.”
- “The animation is fun, the art style adorable, the characters are written well, and the dialogue is smart, believable, surprisingly mature, and consistently funny.”
- “Becky is stupid funny and it carries the vibe of a Saturday morning cartoon perfectly.”
music
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
58%
8%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its atmospheric qualities and catchy synthwave elements, while others find it repetitive and forgettable, particularly during gameplay and boss fights. Some players appreciate the ambient tracks that complement the art style, but note that certain sections feature generic loops that detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's aesthetic, it often falls short in terms of variety and memorability.
- “The synth-y music also really helps the feeling of the environment, even if it can be repetitive at times.”
- “Atmospheric soundtrack that effectively makes use of synthwave to change the mood from day to night.”
- “Awesome soundtrack (some great earworms).”
- “The music also just ends up being 10-second loops of generic beats, akin to Binding of Isaac.”
- “I also think the John Carpenter-style synth soundtrack is a bit at odds with the art style and nonstop Hanna-Barbera sound effects you hear while playing.”
- “I also got a little headache from listening to the same looping songs playing in specified locations like school and so on because they weren't very catchy and were overly irritating to listen to for extended periods of time.”
grinding
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is characterized by tedious quests, excessive backtracking, and frustrating bugs that can lead to soft locks. Players find the combat clunky and time-consuming, particularly during the final boss encounter, which lacks challenge but feels like a chore. Overall, while the game's art style and concept are praised, the repetitive and irritating gameplay detracts significantly from the experience.
- “Then there are the hellishly tedious main quests where you are looking for 8 pieces of quest items and you have to backtrack and re-scan the whole area multiple times... the buggy main quests where sometimes you have to die in order to be able to get back where you need to.”
- “An incredible art style and interesting concept overall brought down by irritating combat, tedious backtracking, and tiresome quest design.”
- “The presentation elevates it somewhat to make it a not-awful experience, but the tedious gameplay, lack of satisfying rewards, and laundry list of glitches make it more frustrating than fun.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
86%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs that can lead to softlocks, invincible enemies, and disappearing items. Players report frustrating glitches during quests, particularly in tedious fetch quests that require excessive backtracking. While the presentation is noted to be decent, the overall experience is marred by these technical problems, making it more frustrating than enjoyable.
- “Good game runs great”
- “It's a bit buggy; I got softlocked in one of the final missions and had to mess with my save file to fix it.”
- “- It's a buggy mess where you can get softlocked, enemies can become invincible but still hurt you, items will just disappear from the world but still be there, sound clips will play even when the action itself isn't happening, characters will be talking about tasks that you've already completed 2 chapters ago because the programmers didn't think you'd ever go back to an old place when you absolutely would because of all of the fetch quests you have to do.”
- “The presentation elevates it somewhat to make it a not-awful experience, but the tedious gameplay, lack of satisfying rewards, and laundry list of glitches make it more frustrating than fun.”
character development
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
13%
13%
Character development in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the visually stunning character designs and superb writing, while others feel that the ending lacks depth and effort in character growth. Overall, the animation and aesthetics are praised, but the narrative resolution leaves some players wanting more.
- “Visually stunning, character designs are neat and the writing is superb.”
- “The character design and animation are great.”
- “I love the gorgeous animation and cute character designs!”
- “The ending might have been less than satisfactory in terms of character development and effort.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
29%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its charm, enhanced by beautiful visuals and a captivating synthwave soundtrack that shifts the mood from day to night. Reviewers highlight the engaging characters and world-building, despite noting that combat mechanics are somewhat clunky. Overall, the atmosphere significantly contributes to the game's appeal.
- “Charming atmosphere, characters, and world in general.”
- “Atmospheric soundtrack that effectively makes use of synthwave to change the mood from day to night.”
- “Beautiful visuals, some great boss battles, nails the atmosphere.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game is highly praised for its optimization, particularly on the Steam Deck, where users report exceptional performance, consistently rating it 10/10.
- “When I played it on the Steam Deck, the performance was amazing.”
- “Performance: 10/10”
- “Performance: 10/10”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the emotional depth of the game, drawing parallels to "Avatar: The Last Airbender" for its effective blend of light-hearted and heartfelt moments. However, some express frustration with gameplay mechanics that detract from the emotional experience, such as the risk of getting hurt while attempting to engage with enemies.
- “I’m reminded of my favorite show Avatar: The Last Airbender, which balanced both light-hearted and heartfelt moments in its story.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's replayability is rated moderately at 7.2/10, suggesting that while it may not stand out compared to more enjoyable, cost-effective options, it could appeal to players whose preferences align closely with its offerings.