The thing about curses is they stick with you. That means, we’re back again, looking at Cursed Blood, from David Marquardt Games, though if you remember from before in the preview, this is a very decent rogue-like, fusing samurai warriors with apes. The result? Total carnage. What else do I need to add since our last preview?
For starters, while this looks great on the Steam Deck, I wanted to blow this up on the ultrawide screen, not just to be able to see all the artefacts on screen this time around, but also because of how visually striking this is. First impressions were this was a brutal game – both literally and figuratively. Does it still play that way now that it’s in Early Access? Are the curses just as restrictive before? And have I found anyone to play with, considering this can be played as a 4-player co-op?
We’ll steamroll through the last one quite quickly. I’m not an online player, never have been, never likely to be with a few exceptions. My youngest will play anything literally with me, and while the content in Cursed Blood isn’t for kids, I’m confident that she’ll leave the house katanas where they are and not redecoate with claret. Still, the language in the game is very strong and has a fair share of c-bombs, which simply isn’t ideal. The last time she used it, the priest wasn’t all that pleased about it. I jest. It was in assembly with the school governors.
Anyway, volume down and a few calculated coughs over some expletives, and it was confirmed that the co-op was very serviceable, though short-lived. Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t due to being a stellar parent and not exposing my little girl to violence and vulgar rhetoric, and instead, the bog-standard co-op gameplay of waiting for your pal while you go on ahead or vice versa. I didn’t have the patience for that, nor for explaining how to parry. From this point onwards, it’s a solo affair, but let me stress that playing online with someone reliable is encouraged, as it’s a tough game.
Nevertheless, I was Billy Big Bollocks for a good portion of my playtime due to how good I got. Either that, or the game has had some adjustments to the mechanics. Slipping around enemies and pulling off charged attacks repeatedly was second nature, and deflecting projectiles was just as effective. I was a new man. Or ape. I was clearing the rooftop like a ninja turtle and flanking enemies like it was nobody’s business. It was too good to be true, but when I was also skipping the checkpoints, something was up.
Checkpoints are optional. You don’t have to interact with them, but it makes sense, right? The thing with Cursed Blood is the game mechanics, where you’re penalised from the get-go. To activate a checkpoint, you have to take a punt on whether you can get a better curse (should it exist), earn some money, have your health halved and more. The risks were high, but dying meant restarting again. A risk I was willing to take. This strategy paid for two reasons. First, I got better at the game and was opting to save just before a boss. The second was my previous investment in blood to unlock better gear.
In my past playthroughs of Cursed Blood, I’d managed to unlock better katanas and throwables. So, that’s why I was better at the game: better tools. Ok, not entirely, but it made a difference. My issue with the game is the levels of difficulty. When I say levels, there are no specific options for an easy game, and instead, the repeat attempts to unlock better gear. The rogue-like mechanic works somewhat in that you want to repeat playing the same stages to get better equipment, though the progress is immensely slow, plus you need to complete specific criteria, such as embracing more penalties or fighting more challenging enemies.
Perhaps the flipside of why you want to play is stronger than the actual grind.Cursed Blood, as a standalone game, is great. The movement is swift, combat and parrying are excellent, plus you have the scope for takedowns and a stealth style of play. The action side of things is incredibly tight and makes for a very slick experience. Though the downside to this is, of course, the grind. With Survivors-like games and other rogue-likes, those marginal gains begin to pay off, and you eventually feel OP. While there is an improvement in better gear, that path will take a long time, and the game is pretty sadistic in making you repeat it again and again. What amazes me more is the options to make it even harder.
So, here I am saying that, yet again, Cursed Blood is an excellent rogue-like. Weaker than most in terms of the progress you can make in the short term, but for the longer game, gameplay is superior to most rogue-likes and offers a lot of combat finesse and multiple strategies instead of mindless button mashing or automated attacks. It’s worth your time, just don’t say I didn’t warn you how tough it can be, and it will make you go ape.
