This blog will be interesting to read to anyone who would like to find something interesting and unusual in the subscription, but is lost in the huge number of games presented. Here I will tell you about the finds that interested me and share my opinion about them. I’ll make a reservation right away that games can be of any genre and category. Both indie and Firebolt 5esingles, but no online projects. I like single holistic games with a complete story. Live Gold games will also count as part of Game Pass Ultimate. I know that it is customary to dislike selections from gold, but in fact, from time to time, good projects slip through there.
I decided not to deviate far from the topic and today we have Unto the end – another unique platformer, this time with a focus on hardcore battles. The game was not completely deprived of attention when it was released, since there are many text reviews, plus it appeared in the refund from Stopgame, but I did not find a single review from major YouTube publications. If you take it apart, you can see the familiar elements of other games with the naked eye, but when everything comes together, we see a rather curious picture. Let’s go in order.
2 Ton Studios released its first and so far only project on December 9, 2020. Since the release, Unto the end got into the game pass and immediately ended up in my hands, since I was waiting for the game. It is worth saying a few words about the developers. This is a married couple. They are big fans of old games and that’s why they decided to create a hardcore and old school adventure. I must say what they did.
The narrative is narrative, as in Planet Alpha and Inside. We understand what is happening through events. No narrator or subtitles at the bottom. There is no main menu in the game. Launching it, we immediately see how the wife gives the main character a sword and he says goodbye to her and his son in order to go on a journey that almost immediately does not go according to plan and the hero will make his way through difficulties back to his family.
Unlike the same Planet Alpha, where the hero jumped to a height of several meters and robots were shooting lasers in the background, the theme of realism is actively traced in this game. We play as a man of Nordic appearance in the middle of a detached Scandinavian snowy landscape. He is moving on a difficult path in the hope of returning to his family. He jumps low. Climbs hard onto ledges. Dies in one or two blows. In battle, he can drop a sword or, while making a roll, he can crash into the enemy. If the battle nevertheless ended in our favor, but the hero is injured, then he will bleed to death until we find herbs for treatment or reach the fire, and the game will not autosave all this time. We will also cover a considerable part of the way through underground caves, where the main source of light is a torch.
Not a simulator
You will have to fight often. In fact, this is almost the only mechanic of the game and, in combination, its main feature. Very hardcore, but at the same time interesting battles. When we first launch the game, we are even given a warning that the adventure will not be easy to survive. And for good reason! The developers wanted to convey the feeling of hand-to-hand combat as closely as possible without turning the game into a sword fighting simulator. You have to adapt and learn in every fight in Shadow Blade 5e. Each enemy needs to be felt and tactics chosen. This game does not work according to the principle – defeat a bunch of simple opponents, and then fight with the boss. Each creature encountered is unique and has its own fighting style. There are no easy opponents. In general, it looks like a souls-like system. There is a bottom and top blow. Weak and strong. The blows can be parried
Also, in addition to the sword, there is a throwing dagger in the arsenal, but only one. Having thrown it out, you will have to craft a new one, so here you also have to very accurately guess the moment of the throw. To many, this will seem too difficult. There’s nothing to blame them for, but that’s what we have here and a hardcore game for. The developers themselves advise during battles to stay calm, cold-blooded and try not to miss opportunities for attacks. There are no difficulties, but there is a setting for the battle speed. If you play at medium speed for a long time, but for a specific enemy you decide to lower it, then this is very felt and helps, so in fact it is the same gradation in complexity. By the way, the presence of bonfires at which we rest, craft stronger armor and restore health is also related to souls-games.
Realism in everything
Outside of battles, we move around the world of the game and collect resources for crafting and healing. Objects are not highlighted in any way, so you need to be very careful, otherwise at the right time there will not be enough herbs and you will have to roll back far back. Resources for pumping armor are also not worth ignoring. Along the way, we will have an uncomplicated platforming with small climbs and jumping over abysses. From time to time you have to go down or go up in elevators suspended on a chain and look for the keys to the doors for further advancement. And of course, deadly trapslike Eldritch Blast 5e. You will be crushed by stones, pierced by stakes, you will fall from a height. There are many traps and most often they are difficult to distinguish in advance, so the first time you will most likely die.
To end
Of course, the game has its drawbacks. It would probably be worth adding more variety of platforming or more events during our adventure. Apart from exploration and skirmishes with enemies, there is nothing in the game, although it takes only 3-4 hours to completein ,F95Zone. However, if you approach the game with the right mood, feel the full weight of the path that our Nordic family man goes through, feel the prickly cold wind and breath of the protagonist thanks to the excellent sound component and courageously break through all the threats, learning in the process and becoming a more skillful warrior, then you will definitely get the feeling that you have been in a real adventure, but how it ends will depend only on you! This is, in my opinion, the uniqueness of Unto the end. Everything, it would seem