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Katanaut

Katanaut Game Cover
88%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics
Most mentioned negative aspects:optimization, monetization
94% User Score Based on 276 reviews
Critic Score 60%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

PCSteam DeckWindows
Buy Nowfrom $17.99
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Katanaut Game Cover

About Katanaut

Katanaut is a single player hack and slash game with horror, fantasy and mystery themes. It was developed by Voidmaw and was released on September 10, 2025. It received neutral reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Descend into cosmic madness aboard a collapsing space station in Katanaut, a fast-paced action-roguelite. Unleash powerful abilities, master fluid combat, and confront eldritch horrors as reality unravels around you. Survive relentless battles and fight for your very existence.

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Katanaut screenshot
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Reviews

94%Audience ScoreBased on 276 reviews
gameplay36 positive mentions
monetization1 negative mentions
  • Fast-paced, fluid, and satisfying combat that rewards skill and timing, reminiscent of Dead Cells and Katana Zero.
  • Immersive cosmic horror atmosphere with excellent pixel art, sound design, and a unique sci-fi setting that enhances the mood.
  • Strong roguelite progression with diverse weapons, abilities, and builds providing high replayability and rewarding mastery.
  • Some balance issues with boss fights feeling either too easy or frustratingly difficult; occasional unpredictability in enemy attacks and health scaling.
  • Visual clutter and hitbox issues during combat can reduce clarity and responsiveness, leading to occasional unfair damage and frustration.
  • Limited skill slots and sometimes repetitive or underwhelming abilities reduce build variety; map design and exploration can feel lacking in depth.

  • gameplay

    87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    41% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions

    The gameplay of this roguelite metroidvania is widely praised for its fast-paced, fluid, and addictive combat, featuring a satisfying hack-and-slash loop with responsive controls and diverse weapons and abilities. It blends influences from games like Dead Cells and Dead Space, delivering a strong exploration element and engaging progression, though some note occasional repetitiveness, similar boss mechanics, and a desire for deeper strategy or better mechanic explanations. Overall, it offers a rewarding and enjoyable experience, especially for fans of cosmic horror and retro-futuristic aesthetics.

    • “As someone who enjoys roguelites, I think this game has a really satisfying gameplay loop.”
    • “The mechanics feel very fluid, the enemy variety is solid, and the motivation to jump back in after death never fades.”
    • “The gameplay is fast-paced and fun and customizable so you can really play how you want to play.”
    • “The gameplay is frustrating, slow, bullet sponge, repetitive, and overly linear, with elements borrowed from games like Smash Bros.”
    • “The gameplay doesn’t flow well, whether you’re using a controller or mouse and keyboard.”
    • “Sword swings with the default weapon are terrible; it’s not a mechanic, it’s a death sentence.”

  • graphics

    46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    59% positive mentions, 34% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions

    The game's pixel art graphics are widely praised for their stylish blend of dark sci-fi, cosmic horror, and cyberpunk aesthetics, creating a memorable and immersive atmosphere. Visuals are described as smooth, fast, and detailed, with effective use of gore and flashy effects that enhance combat and exploration. Overall, the art style significantly contributes to the game's unique identity and appeal within the roguelike genre.

    • “The contrast between sleek technological structures and horrific biological corruption creates a memorable aesthetic identity.”
    • “The pixel art graphics fit perfectly with the dark sci-fi atmosphere, creating a cohesive experience that consistently reinforces the game's themes of survival, isolation, and discovery.”
    • “The awesome artstyle and visuals were the main draw for me: the mix of pixel graphics, cosmic horror, and nice gore is a pretty cool mix all around.”
    • “The aesthetic is that of watching a drunk man eat half-digested spaghetti out of vomit.”
    • “Let games be games and not darn movies with graphics ready to blow up your computer!”
    • “Pixel graphics and a cyberpunk setting bring me right back to the good old days when games were games and not movies with ray tracing and frames generated by AI.”

  • music

    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    44% positive mentions, 48% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its synthwave and electronic soundtrack, which effectively enhances the eerie sci-fi horror atmosphere and intensifies combat sequences. Players appreciate the haunting melodies, ambient sounds, and pulse-pounding tracks that create a strong identity and drive adrenaline during fast-paced gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is regarded as a key element that complements the visuals and immersive space-horror setting.

    • “Ambient sounds create a constant sense of unease while exploring abandoned sections of the station, and the energetic soundtrack intensifies the action whenever combat erupts.”
    • “The pixel-art design is rich and moody, the environment evokes a dilapidated space station in collapse, and the sound / synthwave soundtrack give the whole experience a strong identity.”
    • “High replayability, an enchanting soundtrack (especially the pianist’s haunting melodies that create a unique atmosphere), and relentless action make katanaut a must-play for fans of the genre.”
    • “Movement is a bit stiff and music (at least in first couple of levels) does not complement the fast and bloody gameplay (I hope this will change in latter levels).”
    • “Overall artistic design and music are solid, if a bit generic.”
    • “The only thing it's missing for that sweet Sega Genesis nostalgia is more FM synth on the soundtrack.”

  • atmosphere

    28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game excels in creating a dark, eerie atmosphere that masterfully blends cosmic horror, sci-fi, and synthwave elements, enhanced by stellar pixel art and a haunting soundtrack. This intense, immersive mood significantly elevates the fast-paced, challenging combat and exploration, making the experience memorable and unique among roguelites. While some wish the horror depth was explored further, the overall atmosphere consistently stands out as a key strength and major draw.

    • “The game's premise immediately establishes a dark and mysterious atmosphere that serves as a strong foundation for the adventure that follows.”
    • “Its atmosphere really captures the cosmic horror theme well, and I felt compelled to find out what happened at this space station.”
    • “Not only is the game just oozing atmosphere from every pore, it is also very fun to play and get immersed in.”

  • story

    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    26% positive mentions, 63% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions

    The game's story is intriguing and effectively woven into its roguelite progression, offering subtle, atmospheric storytelling enriched by lore and character moments, though some players find it sparse and wish for more narrative scenes. Its blend of cosmic horror and sci-fi elements complements the tight gameplay, creating a memorable experience that rewards attention and replayability across multiple difficulty levels. Overall, the story enhances the game's appeal without overshadowing the action.

    • “One of the game's most interesting features is the way it incorporates storytelling into progression.”
    • “Its blend of roguelite progression, challenging action combat, atmospheric exploration, and cosmic horror storytelling results in a game that feels both rewarding and memorable.”
    • “It’s subtle but effective, the kind of storytelling that rewards paying attention.”
    • “Only thing I would have liked to see more of were the story scenes, since the stuff that's there seems really interesting.”
    • “The story/maps in itself is short, but there’s a lot of replayability since there are 4 difficulty levels and unique interactions and battles in each run.”
    • “It also has a lore, but as soon as the story starts being introduced, the game gives you the option to continue in a non-narrative mode.”

  • replayability

    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    57% positive mentions, 22% neutral mentions, 21% negative mentions

    The game offers high replayability through multiple difficulty levels, randomized levels, unique interactions, and a wide range of character customization options. Unlockables, achievements, and meaningful changes in higher difficulties further enhance the incentive for repeated playthroughs. Despite a relatively short main story, the varied gameplay and meta-progression maintain player engagement and a strong sense of discovery.

    • “The story/maps are short, but there's a lot of replayability with 4 difficulty levels and unique interactions and battles in each run.”
    • “Replay value is enhanced by the constantly regenerated levels and countless variations in how you can equip your character, keeping the game from getting boring.”
    • “Replay value is strong, with meta-progression offering new options rather than power creep, unlocking new difficulty levels that add meaningful changes like new enemies and random enemy modifiers.”
    • “I wish the replayability was a bit better.”
    • “The story/maps in itself is short, but there's a lot of replayability since there are 4 difficulty levels, and unique interactions and battles can happen in each run.”
    • “A fun horror rogue-like, quite short, but has only a fair bit of replayability.”

  • optimization

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    Optimization reviews are mixed: some users report smooth performance even on modest hardware, highlighting efficient gameplay, while others criticize poor optimization, noting stuttering animations and rapid, frame-skipping character actions.

    • “The game has no issues and the performance was great.”
    • “Despite its depth, Katanaut runs smoothly even on modest hardware, proving that great gameplay doesn’t need high-end specs.”
    • “It feels like every character animation is missing frames -- attacks and abilities activate and resolve in a matter of milliseconds, which gives the game a strange, stuttering pace.”
    • “Remarkably poorly optimized.”

  • humor

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by a blend of dark, cosmic horror elements with clever, lighthearted touches, such as exaggerated and amusing weapon effects like the shotgun's knockback. This mix creates a unique and entertaining atmosphere.

    • “Amazing aesthetic blends sci-fi, cosmic horror, and a touch of dark humor.”
    • “I love the hilarious amount of knockback the shotgun has!”

  • monetization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Users express frustration with the game's monetization, criticizing it as a repetitive and disappointing pay-to-win or cash-grab model similar to many other titles, leading to a sense of fatigue and disillusionment.

    • “These tired old eyes have glazed over after seeing so many lackluster pay-to-win, season pass, cash-grabby gacha titles I gaslight myself into buying saying 'not this one, it'll be different.' It's just... I'm tired, boss.”

  • stability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game demonstrates strong stability, with no reported glitches or technical issues, ensuring a smooth and reliable gameplay experience.

    • “The game has no issues, its graphics are good and I encountered no glitches.”

  • grinding

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Grinding is noted to occur occasionally, with some players finding it slightly repetitive but generally manageable.

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Critic Reviews

60%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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Play Times

40h Median play time
48h Average play time
3-100h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs
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Game News

Katanaut review - ChristCenteredGamer

December 27 on azurewebsites.net

Katanaut Review Gamerhub UK

November 13 on n4g.com
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Frequently Asked Questions

Katanaut is a hack and slash game with horror, fantasy and mystery themes. Common tags for Katanaut include indie, roguelite, pixel graphics, cyberpunk, metroidvania and others.

Katanaut is available on PC, Steam Deck and Windows.

On average players spend around 48 hours playing Katanaut.

Katanaut was released on September 10, 2025.

Katanaut was developed by Voidmaw.

Katanaut has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked Katanaut for its gameplay but disliked it for its optimization.

Katanaut is a single player game.

Similar games include ScourgeBringer, Windblown, Astral Ascent, Mortal Sin, Trinity Fusion and others.