Into the Fray

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In "Into the Fray" , play as Hito, a Knight of the Empire, in an alternate 1899 Portland. Investigate a missing royal and the Sons of Washington rebels, who've made dark cosmic pacts. Experience oblique top-down action, fast combat, and a Lovecraftian story as you explore the island through a series of missions. No previous game knowledge needed.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

Reviews

93%

Audience ScoreBased on 114 reviews

story22 positive mentions

music3 negative mentions

Fast-paced and engaging top-down shooter gameplay reminiscent of classic titles like Doom, providing a satisfying combat experience.
The story is compelling and well-integrated with the gameplay, featuring interesting characters and a unique setting that expands the Skautfold universe.
The game offers a variety of weapons and mechanics, including a health/ammo decision system that adds depth to combat strategy.

Gameplay can feel unpolished at times, with issues such as off-screen enemy attacks and hitbox inconsistencies leading to frustrating experiences.
Boss fights are often criticized for being unbalanced or lacking engagement, with some players finding them tedious or poorly designed.
The lack of checkpoints and the linear level design can lead to repetitive gameplay, making it difficult to progress without significant backtracking.

story
58 mentions
38 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The story is a standout feature, offering a refreshing twist on the classic good vs. evil narrative, enriched by the context of previous games in the Skautfold series. Players appreciate the compelling and evenly paced storytelling, which delves into eldritch themes and character development, making it a must-play for fans. While some mechanics may not fully align with the narrative, the overall world-building and unique ideas keep players engaged and eager for future installments.
- “The story is a refreshing twist on the classic good vs. evil.”
- “The story is good enough without having played those games, but it becomes incredible with all the context you get from those games.”
- “What I enjoy even more is the story, which continues the extremely unique Skautfold series in a major way, and very adeptly sets up the events of Moonless Knight, which I'll be getting as soon as it comes out.”
- “The mechanics do not match what is being told in the story.”
- “For what it is at the moment, it delivers more in gameplay than it does in story.”
- “The story is deliciously weird (there's a head in a jar that wants me to wear his cape and the cape requires the blood of my enemies).”
gameplay
42 mentions
43 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Into the Fray" is a notable evolution for the Skautfold series, featuring engaging top-down shooting mechanics and unique boss fights that offer rewarding challenges. While the game is fun and addictive, some players find it frustratingly difficult at times, and certain mechanics feel underdeveloped. Overall, it provides a solid gameplay experience, though it may not fully align with the narrative elements.
- “No but really, 'Into the Fray' is probably the most interesting evolution and experimentation of gameplay that Pugware has come up with in the Skautfold series.”
- “Each boss fight has a unique mechanic and feels very rewarding to figure it out.”
- “The gameplay is quite solid and while it is hard, it is by no means unfair in difficulty.”
- “However, the gameplay overall leaves much to be desired.”
- “Most areas certainly have different assets, all of them feel about the same to play through, and it's not because of the gameplay loop.”
- “The mechanics do not match what is being told in the story.”
graphics
12 mentions
25 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The game's graphics feature a pixel art style that is accessible and easy to render, making it suitable for fast-paced action gameplay. While some players appreciate the aesthetic influences from Bloodborne, Lovecraft, and anime, others criticize the clunky movement and slow pacing, which detracts from the overall experience. The game also includes varied graphics and new enemies introduced through missions, enhancing visual engagement.
- “Aesthetically, it obviously draws from Bloodborne, Lovecraft, and anime.”
- “I love the map art style though.”
- “There are secret collectibles and cosmetics to find, and most of the missions introduce new graphics or enemies, and main missions often start with you finding a new weapon to play with.”
- “Cause the game was so slow, both me and the enemies moved at like.... half the speed in the videos, and it has nothing to do with PC specs as these games are not demanding at all and I can run a game like Elden Ring at max graphics with ray tracing mods without issue.”
- “It's clunky to move and the random battles while traveling don't really add much; I love the map art style though.”
- “Into the Fray is the third game in the Skautfold series, and follows the trend of making each game in a new genre and style while carrying over characters, settings, and some graphics and sound effects.”
music
10 mentions
20 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
The music in "Into the Fray" features a shift to electric guitar and hard rock for battle themes, which some players find fitting for the combat style but criticize for its abrupt transitions that can be jarring. While the battle music is generally praised for its energy, the sudden volume changes when enemies are detected are noted as unpleasant. Overall, the soundtrack contrasts with the moody atmosphere of previous installments, leading to mixed feelings among players.
- “- After a lot of moody and atmospheric music in the previous installments, Into the Fray's battle BGM favors the electric guitar and hard rock.”
- “Great battle music, unique weapon, good atmosphere, rich story, active and responsive developer.”
- “The music volume jumping up whenever a new enemy noticed you and the battle theme started was certainly unpleasant for my ears.”
- “After a lot of moody and atmospheric music in the previous installments, Into the Fray's battle BGM favors the electric guitar and hard rock.”
- “The music is suitably raucous for the style of combat, but cuts in abruptly at the start of each fight and stops just as abruptly at the end.”
atmosphere
8 mentions
50 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players feeling it falls short compared to previous installments. While the new battle music featuring electric guitar and hard rock is seen as jarring and inconsistent with the established moody ambiance, others appreciate the overall atmosphere and the game's rich story.
- “Great battle music, unique weapon, good atmosphere, rich story, active and responsive developer.”
- “After a lot of moody and atmospheric music in the previous installments, Into the Fray's battle BGM favors the electric guitar and hard rock.”
- “Taken in a vacuum, it's pretty jarring compared to the atmosphere set up in Shrouded in Sanity and Usurper.”
- “The atmosphere leaves much to be desired.”
- “Taken in a vacuum, it's pretty jarring compared to the atmosphere set up in 'Shrouded in Sanity' and 'Usurper'.”
grinding
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while clearing rooms can feel tedious and punishing due to the risk of starting over from the beginning, the challenging boss battles provide a rewarding sense of accomplishment. Most enemies are not overly tedious to fight, and the ability to regain spent resources upon restarting boss encounters mitigates some frustration. Overall, the grinding can be boring at times, but it is balanced by moments of satisfaction.
- “How boring and tedious clearing room after room felt when just one mistake could send you back to the beginning.”
- “Few enemies have enough health to be tedious to fight, and although a few of the bosses put you at risk of running out of ammo completely, you get what you spent back if you restart the fight.”
- “There were a few teeth-grindingly difficult boss battles, but I always felt that sense of accomplishment from beating them, as opposed to the 'thank god it's over' I get with the really terribly programmed stuff you find out there.”
replayability
4 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game offers a solid replayability factor through its difficulty system and two game modes, providing various challenges without overwhelming obstacles. However, the lack of replayable levels significantly hinders the ability to collect items, diminishing the overall replay value despite the appealing world map.
- “Everything works, had no bugs, there are some good challenges with nothing being absurd to act as a major wall, and has a difficulty system with 2 game modes for lots of replayability.”
- “The biggest issue is the lack of replayable levels. This is a major pain when it comes to collecting items, which is only exacerbated by a beautifully drawn world map that seems to have no purpose at all, since you can't redo or revisit older levels.”
humor
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game features a humorous touch, particularly with its unique design choice of turning blood into flowers on the easiest difficulty, which players found amusing. While the humor is noted as being well-executed, it exists alongside a confusing gameplay structure that detracts from the overall experience.
- “The easiest difficulty changes blood into flowers, which is a very funny and quite cool detail, I gotta admit.”
- “What humor is there is spot-on.”
- “The humor in the game adds a unique charm that enhances the overall experience.”
stability
4 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized for being less reliable than its predecessors, with frequent bugs causing players to spawn in incorrect locations on the world map. Additionally, visual glitches occur when transitioning between screens or after accessing the menu, often requiring a return to the main map to resolve.
- “One little issue I had was sometimes there were visual glitches when going into different screens, or after opening the menu that only went away after going to the main map.”