3000th Duel (2019)
Developer: NEOPOPCORN Corp.
Platforms: Personal Computer (Reviewed), Nintendo Switch
Induction Date: 02/21/2020
The title, 3000th Duel, may mislead one into counting the number of enemies that can be found along the journey to find its significance but perhaps it's an allusion to the number of attempts it will take for one to beat some of the game's tough bosses? What is certain is that this little 2D action role playing game borrows heavy inspirations from the ever popular "Souls" series - which means that it's a game that rewards persistence - and those who are looking for such diversions will not be disappointed despite some of the game's glaring flaws.
You play as a unknown warrior who materializes suddenly in a strange land, guided by a disembodied voice that beckons him to discover his mysterious surroundings. The game does offer an interesting lore as tidbits of the story are given to the player at a consistent pace but there are plenty of weird descriptions that seemingly derived from poor translation than anything else. One look at the game over screen, which is bound to happen not sooner but later since the game is effortlessly easy in the beginning, I thought perhaps the game was meant to be humorous. "You Burnt" the text read on screen. Was that suppose to be a burn? The rest of the game maintained a serious, somber tone so perhaps something got lost in the translation. Overall, the story is never fully developed though there are a couple of unexpected narrative details.
The meat of 3000th Duel is of course, the action and here, the game truly excels. Combat is meaty where your weapon impact feels good as they hit the enemies. You are provided with three weapon types and enemies drop new weapons that you can equip. They bring with them visual variety on top of stat improvements. The only problem with this setup is that you can only switch between two weapon types at a time and the way the skill tree is implemented in this game made the situation much worse. The game offers a robust skill tree but to get to the passives or abilities that you want, you have to spend your points on the weapon types that you probably do not prefer. Forcing the player to put points on all three weapon types like this would have worked a lot better if the player is able to just switch between all the weapon types on the fly. The game also offers a magic system where enemies can drop different "occults" or spells and you can equip two of them at one time. I focused the development of my character on survivability and strength and only used the occults sparingly.
Visually, the game looks like a high resolution PlayStation ONE game with blocky looking characters on top of bland textures. This is especially true with the game's massive bosses. Out of focus structures litter background - they were probably trying to mimic the depth of field aesthetics found in Dark Souls used to represent distant areas. They look alright for the most part. Every now and then, you can see something striking in the background but these memorable scenes are very few and far between. The player character looks cool though and I like the designs of the weapons found in the game. 3000th Duel is definitely pleasant to look at, it's just not very impressive.
3000th Duel is a fun game but be prepared for moments of pure frustration. Like the games that inspire it, there are a number of annoying enemies that are designed solely to get on your nerves. Some of the later bosses can be very cruel - as well as fun to decipher - but remember that a game like this feeds on your anger and carelessness. Stick to it and you will be rewarded justly. It took me roughly 21 hours to complete it and I feel that a New Game+ option would have made this game a lot better. In the end, I was still missing weapons and occults, judging from the achievement list, and I couldn't maximize my skill tree potential. Sure, I am still able to load the last save but it would have been fun to reset the whole game but carry my progression with or without an added difficulty level so that I could revisit past boss fights and continue developing my character. Nevertheless, 3000th Duel does feel like a complete game and at that generous price of $14.99, you could do a whole lot worse. The game is available on Steam and the Nintendo Switch.
The purple light means there is a nasty boss fight waiting on the other side.
The meat of 3000th Duel is of course, the action and here, the game truly excels. Combat is meaty where your weapon impact feels good as they hit the enemies. You are provided with three weapon types and enemies drop new weapons that you can equip. They bring with them visual variety on top of stat improvements. The only problem with this setup is that you can only switch between two weapon types at a time and the way the skill tree is implemented in this game made the situation much worse. The game offers a robust skill tree but to get to the passives or abilities that you want, you have to spend your points on the weapon types that you probably do not prefer. Forcing the player to put points on all three weapon types like this would have worked a lot better if the player is able to just switch between all the weapon types on the fly. The game also offers a magic system where enemies can drop different "occults" or spells and you can equip two of them at one time. I focused the development of my character on survivability and strength and only used the occults sparingly.
The skill tree seems awesome at first... until you start spending your points.
Visually, the game looks like a high resolution PlayStation ONE game with blocky looking characters on top of bland textures. This is especially true with the game's massive bosses. Out of focus structures litter background - they were probably trying to mimic the depth of field aesthetics found in Dark Souls used to represent distant areas. They look alright for the most part. Every now and then, you can see something striking in the background but these memorable scenes are very few and far between. The player character looks cool though and I like the designs of the weapons found in the game. 3000th Duel is definitely pleasant to look at, it's just not very impressive.
Screen filling bosses are always a welcome sight.
3000th Duel is a fun game but be prepared for moments of pure frustration. Like the games that inspire it, there are a number of annoying enemies that are designed solely to get on your nerves. Some of the later bosses can be very cruel - as well as fun to decipher - but remember that a game like this feeds on your anger and carelessness. Stick to it and you will be rewarded justly. It took me roughly 21 hours to complete it and I feel that a New Game+ option would have made this game a lot better. In the end, I was still missing weapons and occults, judging from the achievement list, and I couldn't maximize my skill tree potential. Sure, I am still able to load the last save but it would have been fun to reset the whole game but carry my progression with or without an added difficulty level so that I could revisit past boss fights and continue developing my character. Nevertheless, 3000th Duel does feel like a complete game and at that generous price of $14.99, you could do a whole lot worse. The game is available on Steam and the Nintendo Switch.
RATING: 3 out of 5
Steam key provided by developer.
Steam key provided by developer.
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