Sword of the Black Stone

About

"Sword of the Black Stone" is an action-adventure game with 3D third-person fantasy-style gameplay, where you play as Sanie the barbarian on a mission to achieve godhood. Battle enemies with your sword, shield, and various items/weapons, and complete side quests to build a team and access new areas. Solve puzzles, earn rewards, and use your gold wisely to progress in your journey. 'SotoBS' offers a nostalgic feel, reminiscent of 3D classics, with a riveting storyline and engaging combat system.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 28 reviews

stability8 negative mentions

The game is a unique blend of charm and entertainment, making it a memorable experience.
It has a certain cult appeal, with many players enjoying its flaws and finding joy in its quirks.
The game is highly recommended for those looking for a 'so bad it's good' experience, especially for speedrunning.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and design issues, making it frustrating to play casually.
Controls are awkward and non-remappable, leading to a poor gameplay experience.
The story is generic and lacks closure, leaving players unsatisfied with the narrative.

stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized due to numerous bugs and glitches that significantly hinder gameplay, making it difficult or even impossible to play casually. Players have reported issues such as no-clipping out of bounds and various object spawning problems, leading to a frustrating experience that often requires exploiting these glitches to progress. Overall, the game is perceived as unpolished and not worth the price due to its instability.
- “Glitches that have become prominent for speedrunning (such as letting go of forward when a text box appears on-screen) can lead to the player's character frustratingly no-clipping out of bounds and plunging to her death.”
- “A bucket-load of bugs and glitches (including the aforementioned object spawning and cutscene noclipping issues) which make the game harder - if not impossible - to play casually.”
- “If the developer of this game is reading this, I'm sorry to be harsh, I'm sure you put a lot of time and personal effort into this game (no sarcasm intended), but if you're going to charge people money for a game (especially a buggy, almost unpolished game like Sword of the Black Stone), people deserve to know what they'll be getting into if they buy it, and thus whether it's worth their money or not in the first place.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The graphics have been criticized for their amateur quality, particularly the low-resolution HUD even on high settings, which detracts from the overall experience. While the anime-inspired art style is noted, it is perceived as generic and uninspired, lacking originality and depth.
- “It's trope-y and, when coupled with the art style, the influence anime has on it is very apparent (which in itself isn't a bad thing, but it comes off as somewhat generic and uninspired).”
- “- amateur graphics (why is the HUD so low quality, even on fantastic graphical settings?)”
- “- amateur graphics (why is the HUD so low quality, even on fantastic graphical settings?)”
story
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The story is generally considered lackluster and not particularly memorable, appealing mainly to those who enjoy clunky, "so-bad-it's-good" experiences. Players may need to rely on speedrun strategies for a smoother casual playthrough.
- “The story is not something to write home about.”
- “If you're looking for a clunky, so-bad-it's-good game and don't care too much about a story, I'd go for it, but keep in mind you may need to know some speedrun strategies to complete a casual playthrough.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game has been criticized for being a horrible and repetitive MIDI soundtrack, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “Horrible repetitive MIDI soundtrack”
- “Horrible repetitive MIDI soundtrack”