Dark Raider Reviews

Controls are standard WASD for movement, but the fighting keys were in such an awkward way: U = Ultimate/ J = Basic Attack/ K = Block/ L = Jump/ Spacebar = Dodge. And no way of changing these "settings". Try playing a game like that.

i have to say i really like this game a lot, and yeah the graphics at first took a bit to get use to but i like how it makes the game unique overall, well obviously i new the graphics were going to be this style for the game because i did watch reviews first before purchasing this game but the thing is, it was not the graphics that got me interested in this game, it was the combat mechanics and i have to say i am impressed with the combat most of all that is what made me buy this game, because their is nothing more i like then a hack and slash RPG with really good combat mechanics and this game has it done perfect from the hacking and slashing, to the perfect blocking and counter attacking, i absolutely love it, so its true what they say hey its not about graphics its about the game play and boy i tell ya this game has some awesome game play so yeah i am really looking forward to seeing how this game develops and i will further support it as well if any future DLC also comes available for the game because i really find myself getting into this game and want to see a lot more added to it, and i am so glad i came across this game because i have been looking for a real good hack and slash RPG for a while now and this game is perfect it has the perfect combat mechanics, just what i like from an A.R.P.G so yeah KUDOS to you Developers, this game to me is a diamond in the rough out of all the hack and slash titles i have sifted through here on Steam

I don't care what anyone says....THIS GAME IS HEAT. The game play mechanics are so satisfying and it also feels like a souls like game. I honestly think this game is up there with dead cells and people disliking the game bc it shuts off. Buddy, THAT'S NOT THE GAME ITS YOUR PC! THIS GAME IS SO CLEAN

Amazing Experience Combat is awesome and difficult Each fight requires different skills and strategies and runes Buy this if you like anime and hard games

This game right here is what i call a hidden gem, simple but captivating combat plus cheap price and a surprising amount of bosses. Highly recommended.

This game is unfortunately just not made well at all. for starters the game crashes if you try to access the settings, the dialogue is filled with so many grammatical errors and broken English is just seems very low effort, combat seems pretty repetitive and bland. The game is pretty cheap but honestly its still not even worth it.

So let me be clear, do not buy this game. I bought it because it looked fun and interesting. The problem is, the game doesn't work. I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally limited functionality. When you try and go to settings the game gives you a black screen and locks up. You have to leave the program altogether to get out of it. On top of that; daring to go to settings shrunk the game screen. I can't access settings to change it so I can't play this game on higher resolutions. That is the punishment for deigning to click on the settings. I tried playing it, felt like it could be fun, but the sheer level of defectiveness in this state of the game destroys any kind of enjoyment I can have. Maybe in the future this game will be fixed, but right now even at this cheap price, I would stay away.  They should at least be forced to give a demo to prove they are fixing their product.  A bug that freezes your game for doing to most basic of interactions with the product, as well as the fact that the game insists you can skip things you can't, just destroys this offering. I honestly hope the developers care about this game because it seems like it could be good.  If you still want to buy it and there is no demo make sure it is on sale....and well discounted.

Don't buy it! Nigga i can't even open the fuckin settings or put that shit on fullscreen... Like, it's probably a good game, but unplayable.

Dark Raider turned out to be a much better game than I expected. By design, it is a simple top-down hack & slash game where you progressively become stronger to defeat a variety of bosses. At the time of this review, the game is in early access, so there are some bugs, but for the most part, it's playable and fun. I truly hope that the developers continue working on making improvements and that they eventually increase the price - I think that even in its current state, it is worth more than $6.99! Pros: * Nice pixel art style * Full controller support * Variety of enemies and bosses * Combat feels good (can probably still be improved) * You can upgrade your character to deal with increasing difficulty * Easy to pick up and play * In-game and Steam achievements * 3 playable classes Cons: * Can be sometimes buggy (at the time of this review, the settings menu doesn't work) * The character seems to move faster diagonally * The story isn't too strong (but I didn't expect a strong story from this type of game anyway) * Characters move in 8 directions but can only attack in 2 (left/ right) * Difficulty spikes suddenly, forcing you to grind the same level repeatedly * Upgrades eventually run out, so you're faced with increasingly difficult bosses without being able to become stronger * The final boss is an unreasonably huge jump in difficulty * Some (most?) runes aren't useful

Sadly the game currently freezes on the 4th boss for me. If I am to trust the early access notes, this is relatively early in the game. I won't bash on the developers for now, this is what the early access is for, I understand that indie developer can't properly test the game, we'll have to see how quickly these glitches get addressed. Right now I only see a total of 5 bosses, but I assume there are more areas and bosses based on the waypoints from the hub, I just can't confirm that until the glitches are fixed. So if anyone is wondering, this is not a rogue-lite, just a good old hack&slash where you don't lose progress and can do some upgrading from the hub. I am almost tempted to call it a boss rush game just because the actual stages only take 3-5 minutes, but there are regular enemies in the game. There are a few playable characters that you can access from the 'Mage' in the town - I only have access to 2 of them, with the third apparently being locked behind progression. You can also upgrade your stats and equip runes that mostly do some passive effects. The combat system is serviceable, although there are many small things that could be improved upon, mainly the stamina use. It takes like 5-6 seconds to get enough stamina for a single dash when enemies can easily attack every few seconds. It gets a lot better once you invest more into stamina regeneration, but I still feel like the regeneration out of combat should be a lot higher. Staying on the subject of the stamina use, I also think that blocking consumes too much, considering that you are heavily reliant on it when fighting bosses with insane hit-boxes. The combat can get a bit tedious without having any additional active skills. I would recommend adding a few cooldown abilities for each character that could be chained with regular attacks. One more thing in regards to the health recovery, right now you have to break vases to get the health back which you might do on accident, perhaps that should be replaced with an active skill that consumes potions. [h1] Pros: [/h1] + nice animation for a cheap game + combat needs some tweaks, but a good foundation + a few different playable characters (I have 2, I think you can unlock up to 3) + stat upgrades and rune modifiers + achievements [h1] Feedback: [/h1] [b] Stamina Consumption [/b] - it takes too long to regenerate stamina even with a few upgrades. I literally had to wait for 30 seconds running away from the boss so I could start blocking properly. If you not getting hit or using an attack for 3 seconds, boost the regeneration to 200%, please. Oh and maybe a run button at the cost of stamina? [b] Health Recovery [/b] - I think the game would be better if you could have up to 3 health potions instead of getting random health from vases, that way I am not recovering health when I am randomly hitting crap while fighting. Maybe the potions could be randomly dropped from monsters or vases. [b] Stage Design [/b] - right now the stages are very short and don't really have a purpose. I would say make them twice as big and add some risk vs reward elements like meeting a character that would temporarily give you a boost at the cost of something. [b] Active abilities or the lack of [/b] - I am not sure if any runes add some active effects as the game freezes for me on the 4th boss. But if all of them are passive effects, maybe try to add some cooldown abilities that would work as combo extenders. For example, if I attack 2 times and use an active ability, it would stun the enemy until it finishes. [b] Bugs [/b] - again, the game freezes in some locations. Also, sometimes the bosses start fighting you during the dialogue. (contact me directly if you fix it and I will remove the note from the review) [h1] Overall Thoughts: [/h1] I like the foundation for the combat system, animation and multiple characters. Even though I am complaining a lot, I like the game. It really depends on how polished it will be on release, $7 is not a huge investment for me. My main concern is the game freezing, fix those asap. [code]For more Hidden-Gems: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]