Pick yourself up off the scrap heap and defy your would-be destroyers in ReBlade: The Death Spiral, a cyberpunk roguelite from developers ChillyRoom. Being condemned to die is just the beginning for our protagonist...and die she shall - quite often in fact, as you embrace the process of Die->Repeat->Learn->Resist. With heavy influences from Chinese legends and aesthetics, begin your path of redemption and unveil the truth in this cyber-mythic world.
A demo for the game is available via October 2026's Steam Next Fest, occurring between 10/19 and 10/26. Play the demo (and thousands more) while you have the chance!
Is Reblade:The Death Spiral Worth Playing?
It really depends on what you think about roguelikes (and "roguelites", for that matter). Watching the demo video above, you could be mistaken for believing this was more of an Action RPG with linear story beats (I know I was confused). But as an avid fan of the genre, I am undoubtedly biased in my belief that ReBlade: The Death Spiral has something going for it, given what I have seen.
The flavor of Chinese mythology is apparent everywhere, from the buildings and signs in the background, to the NPCs you exchange goods with, as well as the enemies themselves. Sadly there's no voice-acting in the demo - it felt like the game was kind of silent in general - but I wouldn't be surprised if it was in Chinese as well. It enhances the atmosphere beyond a generic cyberpunk appearance...and while your eyes should be focused on the bad guys in your path, one can't help but sneak a peek at the beautiful backgrounds along the way.
"But how is good is the gameplay? I want to hit stuff!" Well, ReBlade has you covered. Not every weapon in the teaser video was actually available to play with, but I honed in on the axe + shield (shieldmaiden for life!). The game focuses a lot on parrying and dodges: just about every attack is parry-able (even the ranged ones), save for red attacks you must dodge. Perfect parries build your energy meter for big ranged blasts...something which admittedly I didn't use all that much, given I was having too much fun whacking at enemies and triggering executions. Instant "I killz the baddies" buttons are usually pretty lame, in my opinion, but here your nameless(?) character inflicts a wide variety of executions, even against the same enemy type. Small details like that can add up to a bountiful experience.
Basic attacks fill the hexagons near the center of your screen, which can be used for special weapon attacks. The ability loadout I was initially given for the axe + shield starting weapon was so lame, I was ready to write off the game in general, but pretty soon I found a much better weapon for my particular playstyle and I was happy again. My loadout in general seemed kinda bonkers by the end of the run.
Enemies have their own little icons that amount to armor. Parry an attack and an armor point will break; break them all and you can execute them...or at least get a good hacking session in. My weapon had a ridiculous ability which, when I upgraded it, would remove *5* armor points from enemies automatically, at the cost of 3 hexagons (I apologize but I don't think it had a name that I saw). A different passive gave me a 50% bonus to hexagon generation, so a couple whacks and I could instantly-delete anyone's armor and begin the executions - no parry necessary. Most enemies only had like 1 or 2 armor points, but even the bigger mechs would fall to my axe in a matter of moments. I completely cheesed the third boss such that he didn't even get a hit in: I just removed his armor with two uses of the ability, hacked at him while he was stunned, and my hexagons would be full enough to do it again.
Unfortunately, while I had the parries down and my aggression was through the roof with my bunker-busting build, the final boss embarrassed me with a bunch of unblockable attacks I wasn't ready for. I was so set on my parries that I wasn't dodging at all; to suddenly need to rely upon it was a run-ender. Some of those attacks had a hitbox larger than my dodge length, I think, which was frustrating to experience, but that could just be a balancing issue.
All-in-all, I had a good time with ReBlade: The Death Spiral. With a little polish (and maybe some NPC voices) this could be a really cool game, with a great atmosphere and solid gameplay. I can't say ReBlade will convince the non-believers to the ways of roguelite supremacy, but for fans of the genre, I would keep an eye on this one. I'm still a little bummed it's not a story-based Action RPG, but I placed it upon my Wishlist nevertheless.
ReBlade: The Death Spiral does not currently have a release date, but you can find the demo during the Steam Next Fest here.
Are you interested in ReBlade: The Death Spiral? Did you play any other cool demos during October's Next Fest? Let us know in the comments below!
Leave a Comment