Of Blades & Tails
- November 9, 2023
- Felix Laukel
- 39h median play time
Get on Steam"Of Blades & Tails" is a turn-based RPG inspired by classic Hack & Slays and games like Tales of Maj'Eyal or Stoneshard. As Reik, a fox tribe member, you embark on a quest to save the realm from evil. Gain experience, unlock new abilities, and navigate through different animal tribes while improving your equipment and forming alliances or avoiding enemies. The game features accessible and entertaining action-RPG gameplay with no permadeath, and its lore is inspired by the classic Point & Click Adventure Inherit the Earth.
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Reviews
- The game features a charming art style and engaging world-building, making exploration enjoyable.
- Combat is tactical and allows for various builds, providing players with the freedom to play how they want.
- The game has a good balance of challenge and progression, rewarding players for their strategic decisions.
- The game suffers from balance issues, particularly with enemy encounters that can feel overwhelming and unfair.
- Itemization and loot progression are poorly designed, leading to repetitive gameplay and lack of meaningful upgrades.
- The game has significant interface and control issues, including clunky mechanics and a lack of inventory management features.
- story88 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it generic and repetitive, primarily consisting of fetch quests and linear progression. While the setting—a post-human world inhabited by animal folk—offers potential for exploration and intrigue, many feel that the narrative lacks depth and character development, with NPCs serving mainly as quest dispensers. However, there are positive notes regarding the charm of the characters and the engaging side quests that encourage players to delve deeper into the world.
“The story is explicitly inspired by the classic point-and-click adventure 'Inherit the Earth', set in a post-human world of animal folk.”
“I like the post-human race world setting and hope this game does well enough to someday get a bigger sequel that expands on the lore with more fleshed-out characters and story.”
“I'm invested in the story and loving what I've seen so far, can't wait to see where the game goes from here!”
“Also think that the main story was incredibly lame when it was mainly just go to the next town and do generic quests and repeat.”
“The main quest sends you along this clear, literal road from point A to B to C as various unhelpful people tell you 'go meet the next guys'.”
“The intro and final quest imply you're going to be doing something involving ancient humanity, but the final boss was not well explained or connected to anything.”
- gameplay54 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
Quasimorph features complex turn-based gameplay that emphasizes strategic decision-making, character building, and inventory management, appealing to both newcomers and seasoned players. The game offers a rich exploration experience with challenging combat that feels tactical, rewarding players for mastering mechanics and enemy behaviors. However, some users have criticized the interface for obstructing gameplay and noted limitations in open-world exploration based on difficulty levels.
“The gameplay is truly rogueish: reminiscent of a more approachable Caves of Qud.”
“Game has good exploration, challenging combat (albeit, there are some cheese tactics), engaging gameplay (being a fusion of an ARPG and TRPG) and a nice retro-adjacent art style and soundtrack.”
“Love the turn-based gameplay where you can calmly decide whether to jump into the fray with melee attacks or pelt enemies with arrows and magic.”
“But game and upgrade mechanics aside, my biggest gripe with this game lies in its interface.”
“Another problem is that the open-world gameplay is limited by difficulty level.”
“The ability to open massive side panels that cover over a third of the gameplay screen completely obscures important gameplay if you happen to be standing near the edge of the map.”
- music34 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 32 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, featuring a mix of stock tracks that are pleasant and memorable, enhancing the overall atmosphere with high-quality pixel art. While the battle theme is criticized for being overused and interrupting the background music, players appreciate the dynamic and engaging soundtrack that complements various environments and sets the mood effectively. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's immersive experience, with some tracks standing out as particularly fitting for different scenarios.
“The local locations are incredibly comfortable and beautiful thanks to high-quality pixel art, and all this beauty is complemented by pleasant music that will never get boring.”
“The ambient sounds and music for the game are great and set the mood very nicely, and the side quests and NPC dialog push you to explore the world and make the game feel more alive and active outside the zone you're currently in.”
“Hearing the music and watching the main screen landscape already absorbs you into the game’s atmosphere.”
“The one battle theme is overused and because it so frequently interrupts the background songs and makes them start over, I didn't fully appreciate some of the others until I happened to get some peaceful minutes and finally learned there's a 'battle music' toggle in the options menu.”
“Music is all stock, but it’s fine – some tracks are even memorable.”
“Decent look, music, gameplay, etc.”
- graphics34 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a charming and simplistic 2D pixel art style that effectively conveys its world and characters, enhancing the overall exploration and combat experience. While some players appreciate the cute aesthetic and detailed environments, others note the lack of animation and graphical settings options. Overall, the art style has received positive feedback for its ability to create an engaging atmosphere, despite its retro simplicity.
“I love the art style and the general flow of the game, but it desperately needs more talents, and more interesting ones at that.”
“The charming art style makes for a beautiful environment to explore, with sound design that really helps bring the world to life around you whether you're taking a relaxing stroll through the woods or cautiously checking around every corner of a cave.”
“Graphics are simplistic but cute, easily conveying a variety of bandits, bugs, and botanical baddies to sling arrows and spells at, or to rush up to in order to slash or bash.”
“The graphics are simple in that there's very little animation; the hero bobs like a paper cutout.”
“As of this review, there isn't a way to lower graphical settings like particle effects and colored lighting toggles.”
“Ob&t is a top-down RPG with simple 2D pixel graphics, focused on exploration and combat rather than roleplaying.”
- grinding20 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being bland, repetitive, and frustrating, particularly in the early levels where players feel compelled to engage in tedious experience farming. While some players appreciate the mix of exploration and quests, others find the combat unbalanced and the overall grind excessively tedious, leading to a negative experience. Conversely, a few reviews suggest that in certain contexts, like in "Stoneshard," the grinding can feel more engaging and less burdensome.
“It's bland, boring, and grindy, repetitive in a frustrating way.”
“Combat is severely unbalanced and tedious, and it's the only real thing to do (other than the really simple sokoban level).”
“Everything is way too tedious and gradual, over the 'challenging' threshold and into the 'I'm mad at you for playing this' basement.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive music and visually appealing landscapes, creating a charming and positive RPG setting. Players feel as though they are embarking on a real-life adventure, contrasting sharply with darker themes often found in other games.
“Hearing the music and watching the main screen landscape already absorbs you into the game’s atmosphere.”
“And when you enter the game, you find a unique RPG with a lovely setting and a positive atmosphere.”
“It is so good how the atmosphere is similar to an adventure that you would want to take even in real life rather than a gory mess.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The monetization model is criticized as a cash grab compared to similar games, but it offers a one-time payment that is considered reasonable for the quality of content provided, with no microtransactions, pay-to-win elements, or NFTs.
“There is just a one-time payment with a very decent price compared to the included quality content. No microtransactions, no pay-to-win, no NFTs, and none of the other nonsense.”
“It's just a cash grab when you compare it side by side with any of its peers.”
“There is just a one-time payment with a very decent price compared to the included quality content, no microtransactions, no pay to win, no NFTs and all the other BS.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its playful take on typical RPG quests, such as the amusingly mundane task of fetching basic healing herbs for experience points. This self-aware approach to quest design adds a lighthearted touch to the gameplay experience.
“Funny thing about it - later in the game, you visit a city and grab a quest, for example - 'go and fetch me 4 basic healing herbs for some XP.'”
“So yeah, that's funny.”
- character development2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a strong appreciation for the character design, indicating that it significantly contributes to the overall character development in the game. However, there is no specific mention of narrative depth or growth in the characters themselves.
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized due to frequent visual glitches and issues with item collection, leading to incomplete quests. Additionally, players have reported inconsistencies in damage balance, further detracting from the overall experience.
“After vacuuming both of the dungeons several times, I ended up with only half of the items needed for quest completion. On top of that, there are visual glitches and some strange damage balance issues that others are reporting.”
“The game is plagued with stability issues, including frequent crashes and visual glitches that disrupt gameplay.”
“I encountered numerous bugs and glitches that made it difficult to progress, leading to a frustrating experience overall.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Users have requested various quality of life improvements, including a re-centering camera feature for mouse control and optimizations to the path-finding algorithm, indicating a desire for enhanced gameplay mechanics and overall performance.
“I've submitted some items for quality of life improvements, like re-centering the camera feature on the mouse, optimizations in the pathfinding algorithm, and some suggestions for advanced difficulty mechanics.”
