Slitterhead was supplied by Bokeh Sport Studio for assessment. Thanks!
I’ve been making an attempt my hardest to not comply with Slitterhead’s bulletins because it was launched. This wasn’t as a result of I did not like the way it appeared, however I liked the way it appeared a lot that I did not need any spoilers. That is Bokeh Sport Studio’s first sport, directed by Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, and I needed to essentially be stunned by the form of sport and the story. After enjoying it, I used to be left a bit torn, with the overall gameplay feels nice, however the execution is stiff.
Slitterhead is a third-person fighter that has you working round a bit on the map and preventing grotesque monsters often called Slitterheads. Every character has a unique weapon to assault and 4 completely different skills to make the most of, all of which contribute to how you’re taking down your enemies. You can too block and deflect enemy assaults, which might come in numerous instructions, and you’ll have to transfer your proper stick within the corresponding path to replicate correctly. When you do it sufficient instances, you may enter a slow-mo mode to assault them much more.
Whereas the fight is a bit primary, I preferred it. You solely have one assault button, however you may execute completely different assaults relying on the path you maintain down on the left stick. Mixing this up with the talents is nice; every character feels distinctive. I loved utilizing all of them as every had a capability I loved enjoying round with, particularly the one the place my weapon would flip right into a mini-gun or javelin. I’m glad since video games like this may normally get me wanting to simply stick to at least one or two characters. I additionally preferred the deflecting mechanic, which feels so rewarding once I get into that slow-motion mode.
Your well being and weapon are all based mostly on blood, which could be replenished as you struggle. Some skills may also drain your well being, whereas sturdiness decreases the extra you block. You may replenish the sturdiness by deflecting, and managing each your well being/blood and sturdiness will likely be essential. It’s a little annoying to have to soak up blood off the bottom and heal, which takes time, and I normally get attacked whereas making an attempt to heal.
Nevertheless, the true winner in fight is the way you make the most of Hyoki, the character you might be controlling the entire time. Hyoki is that this entity or spirit that may possess our bodies, and all through the sport, you may be consistently switching to completely different our bodies on the fly. This additionally interprets into fight, the place you’ll struggle enemies with many individuals round you, however they will not do a lot till you’re taking management of them. I used this extra within the harder boss fights to strategically assault and swap to a different particular person additional away. The enemies normally will not discover you switching simply but, so you’ve got an opportunity to revive characters or assault with out them reacting instantly.
You go into every mission choosing two “Rarities” to start out. These members of your crew have additional particular skills and distinct weapons because of resonating properly with Hyoki. In fights, you may swap between every of them, in addition to random civilians round. The civilians haven’t got extra in-depth skills and just one weapon, however they’re extraordinarily helpful.
Exterior of preventing, you’ll run across the metropolis, normally following the story path set in entrance of you. Some missions offer you a bit extra freedom with some stuff to gather, like Hyoki’s reminiscence fragments for some additional talent factors and shrines that have you ever struggle particular monsters that offer you clothes gadgets to vary your character’s look, however for probably the most half, you’ll simply be preventing or working round. No mission feels too lengthy, and there are some fascinating issues you are able to do, like flinging your self from neon billboard to neon billboard and altering to different characters to get by particular sections of the map.
When not on a mission, you may customise your characters aesthetically and stage up their abilities. Utilizing the talent factors you get, you can also make their weapon and skills extra highly effective, in addition to some passive skills that enhance well being, weapon sturdiness, and extra. That is additionally the place you may discuss to your crew, the place new missions are unlocked and you may be taught a bit about their backstory.
I like the story of Slitterhead, although it felt somewhat arduous to comply with alongside to start with. Hyoki randomly got here into this world with out reminiscences and found they may possess beings. The one factor they know is that they have to get rid of the Slitterheads, so they begin placing collectively a crew of gifted people who can resonate with him properly and actually take them down.
With out spoiling something, it may really feel somewhat complicated at instances. The majority of the story and background are advised in textual content sequences once you discuss to your crew exterior of fight, and it took me some time to understand what was taking place. You may unlock extra of Hyoki’s backstory by discovering reminiscence fragments throughout completely different missions, however it’s cryptic and would not make a lot sense till later. I additionally discovered it a bit arduous to find the place a few of these reminiscence fragments and different collectibles had been for the reason that sport would not offer you hints about the place they’re. They are not inconceivable to search out, and I found out the place most are simply by exploring, however it was nonetheless somewhat irritating.
The characters themselves had been all completely different sufficient to face out, however I wasn’t invested in any of them. I knew who every of them was, however the lack of voice appearing and the way in which the story was advised stopped me from resonating with any of them. Enjoying round with every particular person was good, however I by no means felt connected to anybody particularly.
There’s additionally a time loop mechanic in-game, so you need to replay some ranges. Normally, I’d discover this a bit obnoxious since I ended up enjoying the identical ranges a number of instances, however every time, it had some completely different factor to it, protecting it contemporary. I did not really feel like every place was overused an excessive amount of, and Bokeh applied this very properly.
There’s additionally a real ending to get, which I did not discover overly arduous to do.
As for the visuals, I used to be splendidly amazed by them. There are some areas which are somewhat extra boring trying just like the gray hallways of a constructing, however there have been many extra attractive websites just like the streets lit up by the numerous neon indicators coming off of buildings. I liked what I noticed greater than not, and whereas it might have used some higher lighting at instances, I walked away very glad.
The way in which the sport incorporates the Slitterheads and the way they come out of people is simply brutal in all the precise methods. I discovered it disturbing every time they morphed into the enemies I noticed earlier than me and the way among the smaller enemies would suck up and chew off a human’s head. When you do not like physique horror/gore, you’ll hate this, however I discovered it fascinating the way it was animated.
Then, we’ve Steam Deck efficiency, which works properly for probably the most half.
Slitterhead – Steam Deck Efficiency
Slitterhead is a really playable sport on the Steam Deck, and it appears particularly good on the OLED display, however I encountered a few hiccups in my playthrough. Efficiency generally is a combined bag, relying on the world. A whole lot of them can hit upwards of 50-60 FPS, however in others, it can drop closely right down to round 38-42. Most of those heavier areas did keep above 40 on low settings, not together with some cutscenes that went to 36-37, so my beneficial settings imply setting this to a 40 FPS cap with low-quality settings.
Fortunately, the low settings didn’t damage the visible high quality an excessive amount of. It’s a lot much less noticeable on the smaller display, however in comparison with Medium and Top quality presets, the one choice we are able to change for graphical settings, it nonetheless holds up. I didn’t discover any pop-in or low-quality textures and I solely noticed a slight quantity of blur in some situations.
Whereas I like the smoothness of 40 FPS, particularly in fights, there are some situations the place it might drop. Right here, I like to recommend enjoying at 30 FPS whereas protecting settings low for probably the most secure expertise. It’s nonetheless very playable, and can save somewhat battery, however it positively would not really feel as fluid:
Accessibility
In Slitterhead, you may change your issue, digital camera auto-turning, climbing help, display distortion, controller vibration, digital camera sensitivity, and whether or not it is inverted, in addition to audio settings.
The sport would not help 16:10 resolutions, however it does have cloud saves and controller help. The sport helps HDR as properly.
Conclusion
Slitterhead is a combined bag at instances, however it’s an intriguing and pleasant time for probably the most half. The fight feels nice and using skills, common assaults, deflecting, and swapping our bodies on the fly makes for a really rewarding expertise. The story itself is fantastic, and the visuals exemplify the horrific nature of those monsters and the way they kind. It may possibly really feel a bit stiff at instances, and I wasn’t a fan of how the backstory was advised, however it’s nonetheless a good time that feels distinctive towards the present lineup of horror video games.
It’s hit and miss on the Steam Deck in some areas, however it can maintain for probably the most half. It feels nice on the moveable display, particularly with HDR help. General, this can be a fantastic expertise, and I extremely advocate it!
Our assessment is predicated on the PC model of this sport.
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