It's that time again for a new episode of Chichuki Plays, the show where I go hands-on with upcoming games and show them off. Usually it's about an hour or so but I don't want to spoil too much of the game for you. This time, we're looking at Yasha Legends of the Demon Blade on Nintendo Switch.
Yasha Legends of the Demon Blade is an action Roguelite. There are three characters you can pick from, Shigure, Sara, and Takatora. I went with Shigure for my playthrough because She uses multiple swords and I usually go with quick attacks/swords in these games. The other two characters have their own style but you'll have to play them and find that out on your own. I really like the graphical styling of the game as it looks anime-like and does its own thing with it. There is a nice anime starting cut scene but I didn't want it to get flagged so be aware that it's there and pretty cool.
The intro scene is a little lengthy but it does set the stage for the game so if you want to know the backstory, pay attention. You'll also go right into the tutorial from this scene and I recommend that you play the tutorial so you know what's going on/own the controls work. You have light attacks and heavy attacks. You'll also have charge attacks/combo attacks and the ability to parry. I have never been the greatest parry guy so I didn't use it too much. You'll see a yellow circle around the enemies and that's your cue to parry. You'll be able to stun enemies after parrying as well as jump into a combo attack if you time your parry right. You'll gain experience during the playthrough and unlock one of three skills you can select at that time. It appears that you can only upgrade these selections three times during a playthrough but these upgrades will help a lot. The Soul Orb upgrades could do many things. They could help increase attack damage when your HP is low or increase one of your swords heavy attack damage by a certain percentage. Find the play style that works for you and upgrade your way. There are mini bosses as well as big bosses strewn throughout the runs you'll go on. You should be able to figure out the attack pattern of said bosses but be careful as their attacks can still do a lot of damage. Midway through you'll run into a demon village where you can find things that will help you on your journey. You'll find a place to recover HP, a store to buy charms and healing items and more. You can also find a trial realm that can be very beneficial to complete. However, if you fail it, there will be consequences so be careful.
If you happen to fail your run, you will be sent back to a shrine that houses the Soul Fire. It's here that you can spend resources to upgrade your character. There are options that you can select here to make the other characters better as well. I think it's cool that you can see a breakdown of how each run went, sort of like a study guide to help get further. After leaving where the Soul Fire was, you'll get back to the main village/starting village. There you can interact with Hantetsusai. He'll help you get better weapons when you find Demon Blade Fragments throughout runs. I went with the Firesword, Crimson Autumn, and loved it. It has fire damage and can burn enemies. This adds strategy to the game so make sure you find a weapon that works for you. Another interesting idea is that when you get back to the Demon Village after the first miniboss, you can buy/cook ramen to give you buffs. These buffs could be what you need to defeat a tough boss so keep an eye out. You will need to find ingredients to cook ramen.
I'm really liking what I've seen thus far from Yasha Legend of the Demon Blade. I'd like to thank the devs for sending me a review code! Make sure you check out the hands-on video below!