Key Preview Takeaways:
- Combat leans heavily into parrying.
- The demo we played shows promise, but we’re hoping for more depth in the final version.
- The concept feels like a mix of Alita: Battle Angel and Cyberpunk 2077.
No other gameplay maneuver has had as much impact on modern action games as the parry. This ultimate skill suits both aggressive and defensive playstyles, letting you stylishly tip the scales of battle unscathed. Games like Sekiro, Lies of P, and the recent Onimusha: Way of the Sword lean into that focused combat style action fans have embraced. The upcoming ReBlade: The Death Spiral looks set to join that growing catalog of top-level action games that give you the tools and the satisfaction of tearing through enemies' defenses – this time within the framework of a roguelite.
Developer ChillyRoom has created a blend of a dungeon-crawling roguelite and fast-paced action-brawler, which leans into the idea of a cunning cybernetic warrior slashing and parrying through an ever-changing setting. In our hands-on with the ReBlade: The Death Spiral demo, we got to play over two hours of varied runs. This early hands-on made for a compelling onboarding experience for a stylish isometric roguelite action game, but we hope the full game shows much more of its core strengths in action.
Chinese Mythology by way of Cyberpunk
ReBlade: The Death Spiral's core concept centers on the steady exploration of a far-future megacity steeped in the mystique of Chinese mythology. Set in a sprawling metropolis ruled by cyborg gangs and warlords reimagined as deities and mythological figures, you play a nameless android who crawls out of the trash heap, damaged but still ready for a fight. They soon chart a path of destruction across the ruthless neon city, aiming to stop the cycle of violence and uncover the truth of their origins.
The concept feels like a mix of Alita: Battle Angel and Cyberpunk 2077, offering a visually stylized, brutal world to cut a path through. It has all the trappings of a dystopian sci-fi thriller, making a solid and infrequently seen framework for a roguelite brawler. It focuses on the protagonist as they cut their path through the procedurally generated upper layers of the metropolis. Along the way, she'll collect new weapons with slick abilities like chain lightning and fire-burst damage, plus new chip modifiers that further buff her stats. She can even use her heightened cyborg strength to pull off cool finishers and kick bombs back at vulnerable foes.
All the familiar elements of an action-RPG roguelite are here, but the cyberpunk-style and setting, plus the focus on fast, parry-heavy brawler action gives ReBlade a different flavor and perspective than its contemporaries. However, the overall narrative, at least as far as I can tell from this demonstration, is fairly light. It mostly relies on vibes and environmental storytelling to sell the setting and the protagonist's motivations. That's not necessarily a major negative, and the visual style and tone certainly helps ground ReBlade. However, after several runs, it still left me wanting more context and reasons to invest in the journey.
Cyber-City Dungeon Crawl
ReBlade really puts its weight on the core action of its many runs. Starting in the lower rungs of the megacity, you fight everything from lowly machine drones to hulking bruisers lurking on different floors. The action flows akin to other isometric top-down action-brawlers like Hades, and it does a good job of conveying the fast pace of combat. Using combo attacks, sub-weapon skills, buffs, and that all-important parry, I cut my way past enemy defenses. Landing a series of deflects is very satisfying, and it's especially cool to rapidly deflect enemy blaster shots back at surrounding enemies. Seriously, it felt immensely fun to pull off lightning-fast parries like this one during my different runs.
Even with the low-level gear you’re issued with at the start, ReBlade's combat fundamentals really do give you a sense of style and mastery when fighting enemies. I mostly stuck with the standard sword, which offers a balance of speed and power that I tend to favor, but I also had fun with the speedy twin blades and the heavier axe-and-shield combo. The action is further heightened by the more advanced weapons you'll find in dungeons and at various shops along the way. You can even swap certain buffs and perks between your gear to improve a favorite weapon found during a run. Tapping further into the cyberpunk angle, your protagonist can also augment themselves with different chips which add special modifiers to attacks, such as amplifying elemental damage or boosting recovery.
In an interesting change of pace from more linear roguelites, ReBlade lets you choose which path you want to take through its world. For each layer of the city, you're given choices about which areas to hit up, most of which are only available for a limited time before they disappear. This progression style let me focus on which weapon or performance upgrades and resource-gathering stages I wanted to pursue first. I really appreciated having a bit of choice in what loot I wanted, especially when I needed to save up cash before heading to one of the few shops that appear on the map.
ReBlade's combat really kicks into high gear during the boss encounters, which put the offense and defensive skills you've cultivated throughout a run to the test. These bosses blend cybernetic warlords and Chinese mythology, making the battles feel like the game is walking a fine line between a high-fantasy martial arts epic and a hard sci-fi action movie. I was really impressed by each boss's look and the design surrounding each battle; it delivered a showstopping finish to each layer. My favorite was a mysterious, wraith-like cyborg known as The Black, who fought like a cyber-enhanced grim reaper.
While I enjoyed ReBlade's spectacle and fast action, I found the demo sometimes felt a bit too generous. I didn't have much trouble getting through the two layers, especially when I found some great weapons that helped me clear enemies quickly. Moreover, you're also given a set of extra lives to help with runbacks on tougher challenges – which is very rare to see in a roguelite. While I like the ReBlade's focus on core action, I still felt some aspects of the roguelite structure were a bit underbaked and not fully realized as of this time, at least in this section of the game.
Still, this early demo offered some slick fights to dive into. With an eye-catching setting and seriously satisfying combat and parry action, developer ChillyRoom's cyberpunk roguelite concept shows solid promise as an action-RPG. While I hope ReBlade: The Death Spiral showcases a much deeper side in the full game, this early demo gets its stylized, grim world off to a solid start, and it's already got me ready to deflect and whittle down the cyborg opposition.
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Alessandro Fillari is a longtime games media professional. Talk video games with him on BlueSky at @afillari.bsky.social.