Blades of Time Review Summary

Innovative rewind and fast-paced combat are fun, but a weak story, frustrating puzzles, clunky controls, and poor voice acting hold it back.

Time rewind is innovative: The time-rewind mechanic, which allows summoning clones of past actions, is consistently praised as unique, creative, and well-implemented. It adds strategic depth to combat and puzzle-solving, making it a standout feature that elevates the gameplay.

Gameplay is fun overall: Players generally find the game fun, action-packed, and engaging, with solid gameplay dynamics. The game offers a lot to do and never becomes boring, making it a worthwhile experience for many.

Combat is fast and satisfying: Combat is described as fast-paced, dynamic, and satisfying, with smooth melee animations and a variety of skills and combos. The system is simple to learn but offers enough depth to remain entertaining, including flashy effects with fire or ice.

Graphics decent for era: While graphics are dated, they are considered decent and colorful, with pleasant environments. The game's visual presentation holds up reasonably well for its age, contributing to a positive overall impression.

Character designs are strong: Character designs, especially for the main character and villains, are well-received. The protagonist's appearance and personality are noted as interesting, contributing to player engagement.

Story is weak and unengaging: The story is widely criticized as mediocre, weak, nonsensical, confusing, predictable, or forgettable. Many players feel the narrative fails to engage and often leaves them behind, with poor endings and clunky dialogue.

Voice acting is poor: Many reviewers criticize the voice acting as inconsistent, bland, or even 'legendarily bad,' especially in English and German. The protagonist's voice is often singled out as lifeless or irritating.

Puzzles are frustrating and unclear: Puzzles are often nonsensical, frustrating, and repetitive, with unclear solutions that force guessing. They rarely become more complex and do not provide satisfying challenges.

Controls feel clunky: Controls are widely considered clunky, unresponsive, and difficult to use, leading to frustration and a generally inconvenient gameplay feel.

Protagonist talks excessively: Players find the main character extremely annoying due to constant, mostly nonsensical talking and a cocky, self-righteous attitude. This excessive chatter significantly harms the experience.

Time rewind clone mechanic: The core mechanic of the game involves rewinding time to create clones of the player that repeat previous actions. This is used extensively for both combat, allowing players to create armies of clones, and puzzle-solving, requiring coordination with past selves.

Puzzles focus on time rewinding: The game features a variety of puzzles, ranging from simple to complex and difficult. Many puzzles specifically require the time rewind ability, such as activating multiple pressure plates simultaneously or standing in multiple places at once.

Hack and slash fast combat: The game is consistently described as a hack-and-slash action game with fast-paced combat. Combat typically involves two attack buttons, spells, and a light combo system, fitting the genre convention.

Time control abilities: Beyond rewinding, the game features broader time manipulation mechanics, including time control spells and time-reset abilities. These are used in combat and puzzles.

Simple combo system: Combat involves simple combos and button mashing to execute abilities. The combo system is easy to learn but might be basic.

Runs on low-end hardware: Multiple players report the game runs satisfactorily on weak or very old hardware without a dedicated graphics card, sometimes achieving good frame rates on 2017 budget laptops and dual-core systems.

High performance on moderate PCs: The game performs very well on mid-range systems, maintaining stable high frame rates like 120 FPS and 60+ FPS on dual-core processors with HD 6770 or similar GPUs.

Modern systems face minor issues: The game has minor compatibility issues on modern hardware, including potential launch problems on Windows 11 and other modern systems, requiring fiddling to start.

Occasional glitches but fixable: The game has occasional glitches and technical problems, but they are not frequent and can often be fixed by reloading a checkpoint.

Core count causes startup failure: On high-core-count CPUs (16 cores/32 threads), the game fails to start unless a batch file forces fewer cores; CPU affinity settings are required for proper operation.

Highly recommended for hack-and-slash fans: Several clusters explicitly recommend the game to hack-and-slash enthusiasts and action game fans, with strong positive endorsements like 'definitely recommend' and 'highly recommended'. These clusters indicate broad approval, especially for the genre's core audience.

Worth buying only on sale: Multiple clusters agree the game is worth purchasing only when discounted or bundled, citing the price as a significant factor. This suggests the game's value is acceptable at a lower cost, but not at full price.

Game is worth the purchase: Several clusters state the game is worth playing and a good value for the money, with some even advising to buy without hesitation. This indicates that, despite flaws, the game provides a satisfying experience at its price point.

Recommended as light action game: Clusters recommend the game to players seeking a fast, light, and easy-to-learn action game, describing it as a short and sweet no-brainer slasher. This highlights its appeal as a casual, accessible entry in the genre.

Short and lacks replay value: Clusters note that the game is short, lacks replay value, and may be too easy for hardcore players, leading to little incentive to continue. This may disappoint those expecting a deep or lengthy experience.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 14.0h.

Story completion: 9.0h.

Endgame: 1.5h.

Blades of Time becomes enjoyable after a few hours once players unlock sufficient spells and abilities, though early combat feels repetitive and boring.

Reported time to anchor: 3h.

Friction: limited spell/ability variety early on; repetitive combat; generic first impression.

Hack and Slash Veteran: Completes everything, seeks challenge, analyzes combat mechanics and compares to genre benchmarks. Motivation: To experience every hack and slash game, appreciating niche innovations like the time rewind mechanic. Stance: deep sale.

Casual Action Fun Seeker: Plays through once or twice, enjoys spectacle and straightforward combat, does not mind simplicity. Motivation: To have a fun, low-commitment action game with a cool protagonist and some puzzles. Stance: sale.

Disappointed Critic: Quits early, finds no redeeming qualities beyond basic gameplay. Motivation: Expects a polished modern experience; leaves when fundamentals fail. Stance: no buy.

Steam Deck: The game is functional on Steam Deck when using a specific Proton version, but suffers from a small HUD that hampers readability on the small screen, and a critical controller bug prevents full use of triggers. Tinkering is required to achieve playability.

Linux and Proton: The game is playable on Linux via Proton with minimal adjustments. User feedback indicates no major compatibility barriers.

Short linear campaign: The campaign length is consistently reported as 8-15 hours, with linear progression. This makes it a short, focused experience that many find appropriate for a budget title.

Sequel to X-Blades: Reviewers identify it as a spiritual sequel or reboot of X-Blades, made by the same developers. It is often compared to X-Blades itself, with most noting it improves on that title.

Great value on sale: The game is frequently available at a low price, especially on sale or in bundles with DLC. Reviewers recommend purchasing at a discount rather than full price, viewing it as a budget-friendly experience.

Russian development and voice acting: The game is from Russian developer Gaijin Entertainment and includes full Russian voice acting and localization, which is well-received. This is a notable positive for Russian-speaking players.

Dated but decent visuals: The game is an older title from the PS3/Xbox 360 era, so graphics and technical aspects show their age. However, the visual style is considered decent for its time.