Eastern Exorcist Review Summary

Striking ink-wash art and fluid controls join polished combat highs, but a cliched story, weak combat feel, and strict parry timing drag it down.

Rich and Polished Combat: The combat system is frequently described as deep, satisfying, and well-executed, with strong feedback and variety. It is often considered the core strength of the game.

Strong Ink-Wash Art Style: Reviewers consistently praise the Chinese ink painting aesthetic, noting its beauty and unique identity. This visual direction is a major highlight across several clusters.

Overall Positive Game Experience: Many reviewers describe the game as good, enjoyable, and fun overall, with a well-made feel. It is frequently recommended as a solid experience.

Fluid and Responsive Controls: Combat and movement are often described as smooth, tight, and responsive. This contributes to an overall satisfying game feel.

Excellent Music and Voice Acting: The soundtrack and voice performances are widely praised as high-quality and emotionally engaging. Music and sound effects are highlighted as standout elements.

Mediocre Cliched Story: Players consistently describe the story as dull, formulaic, and predictable, lacking novelty or curiosity. The narrative is often compared to a short story rather than an epic.

Weak Combat Feel: The combat system is frequently criticized for lacking impact and satisfaction. Feedback notes mediocre hit feel, poor action responsiveness, and repetitive gameplay.

Strict Parry Timing: The parry timing is counterintuitive, requiring players to parry at the enemy's falling point. It feels unreliable against certain enemies and has a very strict window.

No Hit Feedback: Combat lacks hit feedback, hitstun, and impact, making attacks feel weightless. Normal attacks are perceived as dealing almost no damage.

Unbalanced Skill Design: Skill design is underwhelming, with most skills being useless and only a few practical. The skill tree is poorly balanced and many abilities feel flashy but ineffective.

Parry and dodge combat core: Multiple clusters emphasize combat built on parry, dodge, and counter timing. Defense and offense are closely tied through perfect dodges, break-parries, and slash combos.

Two protagonist routes: There are separate male and female protagonist routes with independent storylines and playthroughs. Two playable characters offer distinct stories, skills, and subtle gameplay differences.

Skill tree and progression: A robust skill system includes multiple skill trees, 12 skill types, sub-branches, and passive/active skills. Players allocate skill points to customize combat abilities such as charge attacks.

2D side-scrolling action RPG: The game is consistently described as a 2D side-scrolling action RPG or action game with light RPG elements. Combat execution is central, with some platforming and Souls-like inspirations.

Challenging boss fights: Boss fights are numerous and require focus, pattern memorization, and patience. Bosses have variable attack patterns and grant items that can amplify playstyles.

Generally Positive Performance: Many players report excellent performance, no problems experienced, no bugs or crashes, and excellent optimization. The game is generally stable for a 2D title.

Steam Deck Cutscene Playback Failures: Cutscene videos fail to play on Steam Deck, and switching to backup video playback also fails. This issue can halt cutscene playback and may require a settings change to the video mode to resolve.

Frequent Loading Screens Disrupt Play: Players report frequent loading screens that break up gameplay, with some occurring every 20 seconds. This constant interruption negatively impacts the overall experience.

Steam Deck Frame Rate Issues: The frame rate is locked to 45 FPS by default on Steam Deck, but setting the frame limit to 60 fixes playback. This suggests a configuration or optimization issue specific to the device.

Non-functional Resolution Options: The game starts in the wrong resolution, and the video option arrows for changing resolution do not function. This prevents players from adjusting display settings properly.

Mixed overall reception: Opinions are divided, with some strongly recommending the game and others advising against it entirely. Several reviewers give moderate scores between 6.5 and 8.5 out of 10.

Wait for sale or improvements: Reviewers suggest waiting for a sale or future patches and DLC before buying. Some advise considering other games at the same price point.

Recommended for action game fans: Fans of action games, hack and slash, and hardcore side-scrolling combat enjoy the game. It is particularly recommended for those who like challenging boss fights and rhythmic combat.

Worth the price for some: Some reviewers find the game worth buying at full price, while others consider it worthwhile at a key price or 10 yuan. It is often described as a solid title overall.

Buy only on deep discount: A common sentiment is that the game is worth trying only at a low price or during a sale. Several reviewers specifically advise buying on discount to get a change of pace.

Community fair range: $2.99 - $4.99.

Game completion: 17.5h.

Story completion: 6.0h.

Endgame: 1.8h.

Players describe a slow, tutorial-heavy and janky opening that eventually pays off once the combat clicks and they become proficient. A minority never reach that point because bugged mandatory tutorials block progress entirely.

Friction: Excessive, repeated and unskippable tutorial sequences across both campaigns and the challenge missions; Buggy tutorial sequences that block progress; Janky and slow first hour dominated by tutorial stages; Steep action difficulty that demands dodge, parry and active skill use; Repetitive level design requiring every enemy in a room to be cleared; Slow progression and limited equipment slots gated by chapter unlocks.

Unlock drivers: Combat clicking once the parry/dodge action style is mastered; Gaining proficiency so fights start to feel smooth and addictive; Getting past the tutorial to reach the core experience; Running Enhanced Boss challenges to earn XP and resources for upgrades.

Hardcore Souls-like Action Veteran: Deliberate timing, parry and dodge counters, stamina management, no-leveling challenge runs, and multiple playthroughs. Motivation: Mastering high-risk parry and stamina-based combat, seeking souls-like challenge and rewarding precision. Stance: buy.

Casual Story and Art Explorer: Plays on casual or lowest difficulty, button-mashes through fights, avoids parry and dodge mastery, and focuses on story and visuals. Motivation: Experiencing hand-drawn art, Asian tales, and narrative without the stress of demanding combat. Stance: sale.

Chinese Culture and National Style Enthusiast: Engages with the story, dual narrative, and aesthetic presentation; may play through both characters and value cultural authenticity. Motivation: Appreciating Chinese national style art, traditional culture like Peking opera, and supporting domestic indie games. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The audit found few Steam Deck-specific reports. The main technical issue is a cutscene playback failure when the Deck is locked to 45 FPS; changing the frame limit to 60 resolves it. A Linux user reported flawless out-of-box compatibility aside from one movie codec swap, and another user noted no obvious frame drops. Remaining feedback concerns gameplay controls, tutorials, and combat repetition rather than Deck compatibility. Because the game is playable but requires a manual frame-limit workaround, friction falls in the tinkering range.

Short Playtime 5-8 Hours: A single playthrough typically takes about 5 to 8 hours without full completion. Some players finish in as little as 3-5 hours on easier difficulties or up to 14 hours on higher difficulty.

Dual Protagonist Campaigns: The game features separate male and female protagonist routes with distinct skills and overlapping events. Completing both campaigns adds about 10 hours, bringing total playtime to 15-20 hours.

Chinese Indie Game Identity: This is a domestic Chinese side-scrolling action title with a low price point. Reviewers often describe it as a Chinese-developed single-player game.

Cheap Price and Bundles: The game is frequently sold at a low price and has been included in bundles. Its biggest advantage is that it is quite cheap, with moderate pricing relative to content volume.

Chinese Folklore and Aesthetics: The game is based on Chinese mythology and features ancient Chinese elements. Its graphics combine a Chinese aesthetic and national style.