Dark Raider
- June 5, 2020
- UNREAL DARK STUD
Get on Steam"Dark Raider" is a retro Action game with randomly generated dungeons for a new experience each playthrough. Choose from three distinct heroes - Warrior, Mage, and Barbarian - each with their own unique playstyles and abilities. Fight through hordes of enemies and powerful bosses in this new take on the Hack & Slash action genre.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The combat mechanics are satisfying and require different skills and strategies, making it engaging and challenging.
- The game features a nice pixel art style and offers a variety of enemies and bosses, enhancing the overall experience.
- It's considered a hidden gem with captivating gameplay, especially for fans of hack and slash RPGs.
- The game suffers from significant bugs, including freezing when accessing settings and issues with full-screen mode.
- Controls are clunky and unintuitive, with awkward key bindings that are not customizable, making gameplay frustrating.
- The game feels unoptimized and abandoned, with reports of crashes and limited functionality affecting the overall enjoyment.
- gameplay7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews are mixed, with some players praising the satisfying combat mechanics and hack-and-slash elements reminiscent of souls-like games. However, many criticize the clunky and unintuitive controls, particularly on PC, where the game feels poorly optimized for keyboard use. Overall, while the combat is highlighted as a strong point, the game's control issues detract significantly from the overall experience.
“The gameplay mechanics are so satisfying, and it also feels like a Souls-like game.”
“I have to say I really like this game a lot. The combat mechanics impressed me the most, and that's what made me buy this game. There's nothing I enjoy more than a hack and slash RPG with excellent combat mechanics. This game has it perfected, from the hacking and slashing to the perfect blocking and counter-attacking. It's true what they say: it's not about graphics, it's about the gameplay, and this game has some awesome gameplay.”
“I am really looking forward to seeing how this game develops. I will further support it if any future DLC becomes available because I find myself getting into this game and want to see a lot more added to it. I am so glad I came across this game because I have been looking for a real good hack and slash RPG for a while now, and this game is perfect.”
“Clunky controls, very boring gameplay, anti-intuitive controls. If you can't get past the start game screen, it's because the button that would usually be enter, Z, or space on the keyboard is bound to the J key. The game does nothing to inform you of this; if it weren't for the Steam community hub, I'd never have gotten out of the start screen. The settings screen is still broken after 2 years, so if your game pops up windowed, you can't put it full screen or rebind the terrible controls. I would refund this if I hadn't bought it like a year ago.”
“The gameplay was clearly made for a phone screen and controls in mind, without a second thought put into the port to PC, so the gameplay and controls feel quite limited on PC.”
“The gameplay was clearly made for a phone screen and controls in mind, without a second thought put into the port to PC, so the gameplay and controls feel quite limited on PC.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game currently suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent freezes during gameplay, particularly on the fourth boss, and a non-functional settings menu. While players acknowledge that these bugs are common in early access titles and express understanding towards indie developers, the persistent glitches hinder overall enjoyment and progress.
“The game can be sometimes buggy; at the time of this review, the settings menu doesn't work.”
“There is a bug that freezes your game for doing the most basic interactions with the product, as well as the fact that the game insists you can skip things you can't, which just destroys this offering.”
“Sadly, the game currently freezes on the 4th boss for me.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The graphics feature a distinctive pixel art style that some players found took time to adjust to, but ultimately contributed to the game's unique charm. While the visuals may not have been the primary draw for many, they appreciate how the graphics complement the impressive combat mechanics, emphasizing that gameplay takes precedence over aesthetics. Overall, the graphics are seen as a fitting backdrop to an engaging hack-and-slash RPG experience.
“Nice pixel art style.”
“I really like this game a lot, and the graphics at first took a bit to get used to, but I like how it makes the game unique overall.”
“The graphics are unique and add to the overall charm of the game.”
“The graphics took a bit to get used to, but I like how it makes the game unique overall. However, it was not the graphics that got me interested in this game; it was the combat mechanics.”
“I have to say, the graphics at first took a bit to get used to, but I like how it makes the game unique overall. It's true what they say: it's not about graphics, it's about the gameplay.”
“While the graphics were not what drew me to the game, I appreciate the unique style. Ultimately, the gameplay and combat mechanics are what make this game enjoyable.”
- story2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The story is generally considered weak, though many players did not anticipate a strong narrative given the game's genre.
“The story isn't too strong, but I didn't expect a strong story from this type of game anyway.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is criticized for being poorly optimized, feeling cheap and short, and giving the impression of being abandoned by its developers.
“Cheap, short, unoptimized, and seems to be abandoned.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game somewhat tedious, particularly due to the lack of additional active skills that could enhance combat variety and engagement.
“The combat can get a bit tedious without having any additional active skills.”
“Grinding feels like a never-ending chore rather than an engaging part of the game.”
“The repetitive nature of grinding makes it hard to stay motivated to progress.”
