Heart&Slash

Heart&Slash for PS4, PC and etc. is a third-person action game that originally combines a classical brawler with roguelike and draws inspiration from such productions as Bayonetta, Mega Man, and ADOM. Initially, the project was being developed by Juan Raigada alone in his spare time. With time, the development team grew and, thanks to the funds raised on Kickstarter, the game was commercially published.

Plot

The action takes place in a distant future where robots are the only thing that remain after humanity died out. Not all of them match the stereotypical image, though. As a result of a faulty installation or pieces of humanity hidden somewhere within, there are units that can find their own identity and even—just like the protagonist—be loved. In the game, we assume the role of such a sentient robot called Heart. He tries to break free from the tyranny of an all-seeing leader known as QuAsSy (short for Quality Assurance System).

Mechanics

The gameplay mechanics of Heart&Slash can be described as a mix of a classical slasher such as Devil May Cry and contemporary indie roguelike games (e.g. The Binding of Isaac). While playing, we traverse randomly generated locations set in three different worlds, all of which have dissimilar style and enemies. Our task is to effectively eliminate hostile robots and fight fierce battles against powerful bosses. Combat itself resembles hack ‘n’ slash productions. We have a large weapon arsenal (melee and firearms) at our disposal. This isn’t everything, though—as we progress, we can replace parts of our robot, giving him a number of new abilities such as teleportation, stopping time, ability to walk on walls, or a system for detecting weak spots of our enemies.

As befits a roguelike game, death is permanent and forces us to start over. Each subsequent attempt not only changes the appearance of the map but also the enemies’ and secret rooms’ (that contain valuable collectibles) setup. Things are not overly difficult, though, because the progression system is permanent which means that the protagonist retains the previously acquired skills.

Game modes

Heart&Slash offers a single player mode only and is devoid of any kind of multiplayer competition.

Technical aspects

Heart&Slash for PS4, PC and etc. by aheartfulofgames features a rather cartoonish graphics that utilize cel-shading, which is unusual for the genre. The game’s visuals reference the contemporary indie productions (and their minimalistic, old-school graphic style) on one hand but on the other pays a tribute to the past century’s titles, putting playability and fun before realistic graphics.

Last updated on 17 May 2016