Blade of Darkness on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Blade of Darkness is a hardcore fantasy action-adventure with unique combat mechanics and role-playing elements that pioneered the “soulsborne” genre. Pick one of four characters to hack and slash through a gory quest to save the world from the forces of Chaos.
Blade of Darkness is a violent, dark fantasy and difficult game
developed by Rebel Act Studios, Fire Falcom and General Arcade
and published by SNEG.
Released on October 07th 2021 is available only on Windows
in 7 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese and Russian.
It has received 2,279 reviews of which 2,071 were positive and 208 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.7 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 12.49€ on Steam, but you can find it for less on Eneba.
The Steam community has classified Blade of Darkness into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Blade of Darkness through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: 64-bit Windows 7, 8.1, 10
- Processor: Dual Core 2Ghz Processor
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: DirectX 11 compatible for 1920x1080
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 3 GB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
TL;DR: An amazing cult calssic though with some flaws that can be a deal breaker to some. Let’s start with positives first. Blade of Darkness has some nice visuals, especially in lighting department. The dynamic shadows look gorgeous, create nice atmosphere and are used in some cutscenes to great effect. I don’t think any game could match it in this aspect until Doom 3 came out years later. The levels are varied and there are some nice vistas. The water also looks great, although it’s not interactive in any way and there is no swimming. Combat system rewards positioning and timing. And even though you can cancel out of most animations, button mashing is discouraged. Limb dismembering system allows you to finish enemies in style and then use severed limbs as improvised weapons or to throw them at opponents. There is also a decent physics engine that unfortunately can create some gameplay issues. Probably most importantly this game features amazing level design. The levels feel like a coherent places rather than a combination of corridors and rooms. You’ll visit a bunch of castles, temples and tombs. There is a heavy emphasis on exploration with some traps and puzzles thrown in. The levels usually loop back on themselves, and contain tons of shortcuts, side areas and secrets. By the end of the level you’re usually free to go back to earlier parts in case you missed something. The are unfortunately some deviations from this rule, as some levels are more linear and have points of no return. You also can’t freely go back to previously beaten levels. It’s an action game first after all and devs have a pacing to keep. The music is… there. It’s not bad and fits what’s happening on screen. But I’m pretty sure I heard some of the music tracks elsewhere. I don’t know if they used some stock music or it’s just that generic. At least sounds are great. Many areas have a distinct ambiance. And each enemy type makes unique noises which sometimes allow you to hear them beforehand and prepare for the fight accordingly and avoid ambushes in general. You can choose to play as one of the four characters. Each having not only different weapon specializations but also distinct movement and interaction animations. Some are better at dodging, some run or climb faster, some use shields or non-character-specific weapons more effectively. It might not warrant a second playthrough on its own, but it will add some variety if you do decide to replay. The game also uses interesting approach to difficulty. There is no easy or hard option to choose from, but you can save at any time and as many times as you like. So if the game is too hard you can just savescum all the way. The game does judge you however based on the frequency of saves that you make. First it calls you awesome and heroic, but as more saves are made it starts calling you careful and even a coward. This doesn’t affect anything aside from a couple of achievements, but it is still surprisingly motivational way of making you want to improve. You want to be called awesome, right? The game does have some problems however. Some are bigger than others. The biggest issue (or rather a combination of small related issues) has to do with controls. First, the camera is tied to character’s movement and position too strictly. You’ll feel every move, turn and “bump in the road”. That can be disorienting and doesn’t feel great in general. Second, the camera turning speed is different depending on whether you’re standing still or moving. When you start walking the sensitivity shoots way up and causes you to drastically change direction at the slightest movement of the mouse. This make walking over thin bridges way more terrifying than it should be and can lead to unfortunate deaths in general. Third, the movement animation is rather jerky. On one hand it’s great that you don’t feel like a hover tank, but still I would prefer some smoother movement and transitions between movement states. Fourth, the physics engine is broken in some aspects. You can’t run or sometimes even walk down stairs. You constantly loose grip with the ground and start falling. This makes movement even jerkier than usual and has awkward pauses upon each “landing”. If the steps are steep enough you and can outright hurt yourself by falling down the stairs. Fifth, the physics can also bug out outright. I once died by running down a single shallow step when the game suddenly triggered “falling to death” animation. On the other hand I fell into death pits a bunch of times without triggering said animation and survived with no way to climb back up. Jumping off or onto a moving elevator usually leads to instant death as well. And sometimes your jumping arc can be unpredictable. All of these lead to some awkward controls and unfortunate deaths. Platforming never feels good. Fighting enemies on anything but a wide flat ground is a recipe for disaster. Which does force you to be more tactical, sure. But it also invites cheesing and AI behavior manipulation more than it should. You CAN get used to the controls but it might take a while. Which in turn might make the beginning harder than the rest of the game. Even as a returning player I was struggling at first and was in doubt whether I would get used to it again. Nowadays I’m spoiled too much by modern and better controls. There are also a bunch of issues I have with the game that aren’t deal braking, but I’ll list them anyways. While using severed limbs and furniture as makeshift weapons is neat, it’s almost entirely pointless since they do practically no damage. And it’s not like you loose or break your weapons every 5 seconds, so you would need to search for an improvised replacement. You can light torches and burn wooden crates with them, but outside 1 mandatory section it's never useful again. The food and potions restore a fixed amount of health and don’t scale with level-ups. The food especially looses it’s usefulness very quickly. But even potions don’t heal that much by the end of the game. Drinking everything that you can carry takes unnecessarily long and barely restores half your health. And no matter how many full life potions you’ll find, you can carry only one at a time. The inventory in general is limited and slow to use. Bow isn’t viable in the late game and is mostly used for puzzles since it deals low damage and cannot be upgraded. Weapon type distribution is a bit uneven. The barbarian, for example, has access to only one blunt weapon that is only found in one place late in the game. For the rest of the time he is forced to either use less effective slashing weapons against skeletons and golems or awkwardly use blunt weapons of other characters. Meanwhile an Amazon starts with a blunt weapon while most of her first level features enemies weak to slashing. To the point where fighting the easiest enemy in game, a zombie, becomes a chore. Oh, and yon can’t move sideways unless you’re locked onto the enemy. Which usually isn’t a huge problem. Just awkward. Also, while this modern version that was released a couple years ago fixed some issues, it seems it also added some new ones. For example, skyboxes aren’t affected by fog now, so they contrast quite a bit with the rest of the level. They also don’t look that great to begin with, but it was less noticeable before. At least I can play with unlocked framerate and alt+tab at will now. Still, even with all its problems it’s an amazing game. One that I loved back in the day and enjoyed revisiting now. To bad it wasn’t that popular and never got a sequel. For years I was waiting for a game like it. Thankfully my wait ended with the release of Demon’s Souls and it’s spiritual sequels. Challenging dark fantasy action-RPGs with emphasis on exploration are quite common these days. Still I think this classic is worth trying at least once and maybe even revisiting from time to time. If you can get used to controls that is.
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Your grandfather's Dark souls. Here's what you'll get: + Controls and camera from the 2000s + Hellish combinations with timings + Complete dismemberment of enemies + A sea of blood + Different character classes + Great plot + There are secrets in the locations + Traps that don't spare + No mini map, no signposts + The achievement of "Speedrun without a single save" My favorite childhood game that killed all the life in me
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I cant believe i found this game, i used to go over to my dad's best buddies house and play this on his PC with his daughter, this was 24 years ago and i never remembered the damn name of this game until I used ChatGPT to search for it. This game was incredible, This was game was so far a head of its time kids. True Nostalgia, from a far dead world.
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Bunch of kitties complaining about mechanics & difficulty. Game's atmospheric music and lighting system are beautiful. Makes it a really enjoyable journey. Mechanics are good, nothing to complain about a game from 2001. You just have to adapt and learn, which I find attractive.
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This game is great and I recommend it but there is a big caveat I feel the other reviewers ignore. This game is CLUNKY. Sometimes your weapon will just go through an enemy for no damage or you walk off a ledge because certain movement inputs make the character take two steps with instead of one. The clunk is not a deal breaker (especially since you have unlimited saves), but it was jarring after reading all the reviews that ignore the clunk. Like I said I still recommend and think it is a great game, just be ready for its age to show mechanically.
Expand the review
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Frequently Asked Questions
Blade of Darkness is currently priced at 12.49€ on Steam.
Blade of Darkness is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 12.49€ on Steam.
Blade of Darkness received 2,071 positive votes out of a total of 2,279 achieving a rating of 8.69.
😎
Blade of Darkness was developed by Rebel Act Studios, Fire Falcom and General Arcade and published by SNEG.
Blade of Darkness is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Blade of Darkness is not playable on MacOS.
Blade of Darkness is not playable on Linux.
Blade of Darkness is a single-player game.
Blade of Darkness does not currently offer any DLC.
Blade of Darkness does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Blade of Darkness does not support Steam Remote Play.
Blade of Darkness is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Blade of Darkness.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 28 October 2025 22:27 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 26 October 2025 15:42 |
| Steam price | 29 October 2025 12:24 |
| Steam reviews | 28 October 2025 23:58 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Blade of Darkness, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Blade of Darkness
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Blade of Darkness concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Blade of Darkness compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
9
Developer
Rebel Act Studios,
Fire Falcom,
General Arcade
Publisher
SNEG
Release
07 Oct 2021
Platforms
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