Sclash Review

I love to draw and paint, so I get excited whenever I see a game featuring a hand-crafted style. Immerse yourself in one of the most beautiful, hand-painted games that I have ever played, and that’s a lot of different games in over 35 years! Sclash was developed by Bevel Bakery, who worked with publishers Just for Games and Abiding Bridge to bring this martial arts fighter to life. The developer has created a visually rich title with simplistic fighting mechanics to make the title accessible to everyone, creating a tense experience, no matter how many fighting games you have previously played. Sclash will be a true test of your reflexes and patience.

In the Main Menu, there are a few different options to check out. Play mode that has you facing off in a duel against another player locally or an AI samurai. It says Online mode is supposed to be coming soon, as it is currently not available to play. Settings allow you to make adjustments to the audio and visuals of the game. If you find the painted graphics of the game a bit much, you have the option to turn off the Paint Effect Filter. There is also an Archive where you can see all the weapons, masks, and achievements you have earned during your time playing.

The story mode starts you off in the village of Aki, where the raven god, Tengu, has blessed the samurai living there with the strength to defeat enemies with only one slash. You are playing as Jinmu, an orphan who was raised by Susanoo, the leader of the Aki clan. They are at war with the Natsu clan, led by Amaterasu, who is not the type of man to walk away and call a truce, and he is also the one responsible for the death of Jinmu’s parents. 

Jinmu is training to protect the people in his village and join the battle along with the other samurai. During this training in the dojo is where you learn the controls and how to fight. Sclash is a minimalist fighting game where you only need to know a few moves to be successful. I played using a controller, but the game also offers keyboard controls. To swing your weapon, you use the X or RB button to perform a “stamina break” and catch the enemy off guard, use Y to perform a kick or punch. To defend yourself, block/parry using A or LB. Other than that, you just move with the left thumbstick, and to move faster/dash, use the right thumbstick. That’s it. Sounds incredibly simple, right? Sclash is one of those games that is simple to play but difficult to master. You can’t go running in, slashing all the enemies in your sight; success depends heavily on your timing and patience.

Jinmu, like most of the other samurai you face, will perish with only one hit. There isn’t a massive health bar or hit points, one slash and you are done. So you need to make sure that you block your opponent's attacks by using the parry. There are four stamina bars — that look like lines of paint — that restrict how many moves you can do before you get tired and can’t attack or defend yourself. These “paint strokes” are constantly refilling, so as long as you don’t button mash and restrict your movements, you will be able to resume the fight in mere moments. It is important to be observant and watch your foe's attacks to figure out the perfect time to go in and slash without taking damage yourself. Dying with only one hit makes Sclash a game that is full of tension — and times frustration — when you are beaten so easily. 

The story mode features bosses that are stronger than the regular samurai that you face, they have five hit points compared to your one, so patience is going to be key. I would get so excited when I would successfully attack them four times and would rush and make a silly mistake that led to my death, so then I got to start the battle over again.

When you are defeated in battle in the story mode, you will need to replay that section again. Sometimes, that would mean only having to take out a couple of the rival samurai, while other times, it would be more difficult and may require you to take out a large number of foes coming at you from both sides of the screen. 

You will need to determine which of those enemies is closer to you so that you can attack before they get close enough to ambush. It’s hard to block against multiple ninjas when another is sneaking up behind you. If you fall in battle against a stronger enemy, you won’t have to worry about backtracking, Jinmu is taken back to the beginning of that battle and has to start over again. 

The main story is not long at all, at first, I thought it would take a while to get through, and I was super frustrated when the game did not save my progress, making me start from the beginning again. When you get to the end, you see why that is, as it is not something that will take hours to complete. Once you complete the Classic mode, others like One Life Challenge, Relax Mode, Time Attack, and Fire Wall are unlocked to challenge.

Sclash features some of the most breathtaking visuals I have ever seen in a game. There are so many animated assets it’s quite amazing to see. Leaves and snowflakes fall in the foreground, elements in the background move, and even your samurai has a three-frame animation that makes it look like he is breathing and slightly moving, which really makes it feel alive. The other thing that I found impressive was that grain and grass are constantly blowing in the wind, making it look like fields of waves. Though the way it is animated makes it look like the wind is blowing one way, then suddenly blows the total opposite way, continuously switching back and forth between the two. If you are susceptible to motion sickness, the movement may make you feel a little bit queasy. Either way, the hand-painted look of the game was impressive.

The traditional feel of the music fits right in with the visuals we are seeing on the screen. It uses flutes, drums, and even gongs to make music that does a great job portraying the feeling that Jinmu was experiencing in the story, it could feel woeful and upbeat with a sense of determination at the same time. The narrator was great, she had a voice that reminded me of a grandmother telling a great story, that was full of emotion and feeling. The other voice acting you hear was also done very well; I played with the English voice and subtitles in case I missed something that was said, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

When you complete the story, or if you have decided to just try out the Play matches, there are a lot of battles waiting for you. Like Story Mode, Play Mode features one-hit kills, so chances are, each duel is done very fast. Though the game lets you decide how many rounds you want to have to determine the winner, you can set it as low as one, all the way up to 50. Even though each fight is usually done quickly, I can’t imagine playing 50 rounds! There are 16 different stages to battle on, made up of eight locations during the day and that same location at nighttime. They are all beautiful, but the game lets you choose your favourites, and you can make it so that if you choose the random option, it will only pick from the ones you put a star on. You can also select which character you are playing, which mask they are wearing, and what sword they will use for the fight.

Sclash is a simplistic yet incredibly challenging samurai fighting game. I don’t remember any martial arts-themed game feeling so tense! It’s amazing how hard it can get when you are always only one hit away from death. Making simple mistakes like rushing or miss timing your attack can really bite you in the butt here! Sclash is one of the most impressive-looking games that I have ever had the pleasure of playing. So even if you aren’t usually a fighting game fan, the strategy involved here may make it worth your while to check out! Will you have the samurai skills needed to stop the war between the Natsu and Aki clans?