Overview: An action-adventure, hack-and-slash video game. Play as Ayumi and progress through a dangerous world called Dragonland using your fighting skills and time rewind abilities.
20141211:
I watched a preview of this game today and immediately thought it looked familiar. Apparently the game is a spiritual successor to X-Blades (PC) (2009).
20160123:
Today I played this game and definitely enjoyed it more than X-Blades. Objectively, I played the game for 3.0 hours - more than twice as long as my recent X-Blades experience of 1.25 hours.
Gameplay:
Basic movement in Blades of Time consists of standard movement (WASD and camera) with a dash and double jump. Meanwhile, basic combat consists of a light melee attack, a heavy melee attack, and a ranged rifle shot. Then as the game progresses, the player is given a 'Time Rewind' ability and various special attacks which are executed after filling Ayumi's rage bar.
Comparison:
For the most part the sequel corrects many of the problem points I had with X-Blades:
i) Combat is now properly interspersed with the platforming/adventure experience,
ii) Skills are now unlocked at a more steady pace,
iii) Combat now includes the occasional finishing, and
iv) Enemies are now more spread out.
In particular, many of these changes make the game feel more similar to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). The game even incorporates a fun time rewinding ability (though I'm not always sure how to use it in combat). However, the time mechanic is less like that of the Prince of Persia series and more like the time mechanic in Braid (PC) (2009) or The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (2010). In other words, instead of undoing a mistake, you're actually creating a copy of yourself.
Some of the same problem points exist:
i) Ayumi's attacks seem to have a bit more feel to them than before, but not to the point where it feels good and
ii) Ayumi still can't block.
Why can't you block Ayumi?! Dashing is fun, but kiting doesn't deal damage and kiting when your main damage is melee feels counter-intuitive.
Finally, there was one major problem introduced:
i) Ranged attacks now require manual aiming.
While there's nothing wrong with manual aiming, it detracted from the hack-and-slash experience. Furthermore, in the time it took me to successfully aim my shot, the enemy already locked onto my exact location and fired a barrage of projectiles that take a chunk out of Ayumi's health bar.
As a minor problem, dying should result in better checkpoints and, whenever applicable, after a cut scene instead of before a cut scene (can skip with 'Esc' but inconvenient).
Steam: 3.0 hours (total game time)
[20250517 Edit]
Thoughts:*
Pros:
+ Absolutely beautiful environment (> X-Blades)
+ Decent combat, not perfect, but enough to be a '+' (> X-Blades)
+ 'Time Rewind' is awesome (not found in X-Blades)
Neutral:
~ Ayumi's standard costume is more appropriate (or less inappropriate) for a treasure hunter.
: X-Blades: bikini bottom
: Blades of Time: shorts (like Lara Croft)
Cons:
- Can't block (= X-Blades)
- Ranged attacks lack auto-targeting (< X-Blades)
- Story makes little sense (= X-Blades)
*Thoughts include a quick comparison to X-Blades; I write '>' for 'better than' and '<' for 'worse than.'
Recommendation:
Overall, Blades of Time is a great improvement over X-Blades and enough to warrant playing.
With that being said, it fails to be as polished as any game from the Prince of Persia series and there are surely better hack-and-slash games available.
20250517 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 3.0 hours (cumulative game time) / 3h 1m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20160123
20250517:
Today I loaded up the game and it seemed to have saved my progress.
Gameplay Log:
Wasn't sure about all the controls but got the basics.
This platforming is stupid... Ridiculously small margin of error forcing weird unintuitive hugging to the right where the distance between platforms is small
Coming back, apparently I forgot about an ability where she locks on to these glowing flowers and dashes to them (MMB to lock on and shift to dash). I found out by watching a YouTube video
This final boss of the Temple stage took forever to defeat. I put a significant time into getting him to where he started throwing bombs on the ground and died. I thought about giving up, but then I tried again. It was taking so long I thought I missed something so I skipped to the relevant part in the aforementioned video. In the video, it was the PS3 version and there was a health bar showing the boss's health. The player was using much more melee whereas I was using rifle. It seemed to chunk the enemy. When I resumed the game, it only took one more special attack (hold 2) to defeat the boss. I do wish there was a health bar. Maybe it's in the options menu. Speaking of which, when I press ESC, I don't see any menus. So I can't even quit! [it seems from Steam forums that invisible menu is due to widescreen resolution]
Completed Level 4 Temple. The beginning of this desert level was stupid. I went the wrong way and burned up. There was not enough guidance to the proper direction. The direction I had chosen was kind of close to same error of margin as the bad platforming segment in the previous level.
After ending the session, I looked at a guide for controls. Apparently ALT is for switching walk/run.
Resumed.
This three-headed desert boss felt underwhelming. It just took time and not at all a challenge. Perhaps the same could be said of the boss to the previous level.
Completed Level 5 Desert.
I died twice and got reseted back to where Ayumi gains the ability to fly. This felt too punishing and I stopped playing
Notes:
WASD = move, LMB / RMB = attacks, Space = Jump + Double Jump, E = Use
F = Rifle (LMB = Shoot, RMB = Zoom, R = Reload)
Shift = dash, TAB = Time Rewind, Q = Heal, C = Compass, X = Cast Order
Updated Thoughts:
Revisiting the game today, I thought the ranged attack had its strengths and weaknesses. At times, it was great for safely building the special meter. Also, I'm not sure regarding my comment about breaking the flow of the hack-and-slash experience. That might have been the case for a weaker version of the weapon? I'm not sure. With that out of the way, however, the game still suffers from terrible placement of checkpoints, often before a cutscene and sometimes before the start of an entire area that must be redone. Finally, I would also reiterate that while the game has a great looking environment, the platforming experience often falls short of enjoyable.
Gameplay Log:
Continue.
Killed an enemy that had this red shield by getting it to fall off the ledge.
There was a puzzle I didn't get. Apparently I correctly connected two of them. But one of the pillars I was connecting through was a dummy.
I once again encountered an enemy with a red shield but it didn't seem like I could get this one off a ledge. So I decided to look it up. Apparently with enough damage, the shield can be broken. Rewinding time was the recommendation.
Completed Level 6 Sky Islands
Completed Level 7 Sky Docks
Steam Game Time: 7.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 4.8 hours (session game time)
Blades of Time (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Blades of Time Website
Blades of Time (Steam Store Page)
Blades of Time (Wikipedia.org)
Blades of TIme (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
20141211:
I watched a preview of this game today and immediately thought it looked familiar. Apparently the game is a spiritual successor to X-Blades (PC) (2009).
20160123:
Today I played this game and definitely enjoyed it more than X-Blades. Objectively, I played the game for 3.0 hours - more than twice as long as my recent X-Blades experience of 1.25 hours.
 |
| Ayumi (cut scene before the main menu) |
Gameplay:
Basic movement in Blades of Time consists of standard movement (WASD and camera) with a dash and double jump. Meanwhile, basic combat consists of a light melee attack, a heavy melee attack, and a ranged rifle shot. Then as the game progresses, the player is given a 'Time Rewind' ability and various special attacks which are executed after filling Ayumi's rage bar.
 |
| Ayumi deals the finishing blow. |
Comparison:
For the most part the sequel corrects many of the problem points I had with X-Blades:
i) Combat is now properly interspersed with the platforming/adventure experience,
ii) Skills are now unlocked at a more steady pace,
iii) Combat now includes the occasional finishing, and
iv) Enemies are now more spread out.
 |
| Ayumi meets a character named Michelle (cut scene). |
In particular, many of these changes make the game feel more similar to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). The game even incorporates a fun time rewinding ability (though I'm not always sure how to use it in combat). However, the time mechanic is less like that of the Prince of Persia series and more like the time mechanic in Braid (PC) (2009) or The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (2010). In other words, instead of undoing a mistake, you're actually creating a copy of yourself.
 |
| Using 'Time Rewind' to solve a simple puzzle. |
Some of the same problem points exist:
i) Ayumi's attacks seem to have a bit more feel to them than before, but not to the point where it feels good and
ii) Ayumi still can't block.
Why can't you block Ayumi?! Dashing is fun, but kiting doesn't deal damage and kiting when your main damage is melee feels counter-intuitive.
 |
| (cut scene) |
Finally, there was one major problem introduced:
i) Ranged attacks now require manual aiming.
While there's nothing wrong with manual aiming, it detracted from the hack-and-slash experience. Furthermore, in the time it took me to successfully aim my shot, the enemy already locked onto my exact location and fired a barrage of projectiles that take a chunk out of Ayumi's health bar.
 |
| Taking aim at an enemy in the distance. |
As a minor problem, dying should result in better checkpoints and, whenever applicable, after a cut scene instead of before a cut scene (can skip with 'Esc' but inconvenient).
Steam: 3.0 hours (total game time)
[20250517 Edit]
Thoughts:*
Pros:
+ Absolutely beautiful environment (> X-Blades)
 |
| Decent water effects. |
+ Decent combat, not perfect, but enough to be a '+' (> X-Blades)
+ 'Time Rewind' is awesome (not found in X-Blades)
Neutral:
~ Ayumi's standard costume is more appropriate (or less inappropriate) for a treasure hunter.
: X-Blades: bikini bottom
: Blades of Time: shorts (like Lara Croft)
 |
| Learn new skills at the Altar. |
Cons:
- Can't block (= X-Blades)
- Ranged attacks lack auto-targeting (< X-Blades)
- Story makes little sense (= X-Blades)
*Thoughts include a quick comparison to X-Blades; I write '>' for 'better than' and '<' for 'worse than.'
Recommendation:
Overall, Blades of Time is a great improvement over X-Blades and enough to warrant playing.
 |
| A list of the skills and spells acquired thus far. |
With that being said, it fails to be as polished as any game from the Prince of Persia series and there are surely better hack-and-slash games available.
20250517 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 3.0 hours (cumulative game time) / 3h 1m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20160123
20250517:
Today I loaded up the game and it seemed to have saved my progress.
Gameplay Log:
Wasn't sure about all the controls but got the basics.
This platforming is stupid... Ridiculously small margin of error forcing weird unintuitive hugging to the right where the distance between platforms is small
Coming back, apparently I forgot about an ability where she locks on to these glowing flowers and dashes to them (MMB to lock on and shift to dash). I found out by watching a YouTube video
This final boss of the Temple stage took forever to defeat. I put a significant time into getting him to where he started throwing bombs on the ground and died. I thought about giving up, but then I tried again. It was taking so long I thought I missed something so I skipped to the relevant part in the aforementioned video. In the video, it was the PS3 version and there was a health bar showing the boss's health. The player was using much more melee whereas I was using rifle. It seemed to chunk the enemy. When I resumed the game, it only took one more special attack (hold 2) to defeat the boss. I do wish there was a health bar. Maybe it's in the options menu. Speaking of which, when I press ESC, I don't see any menus. So I can't even quit! [it seems from Steam forums that invisible menu is due to widescreen resolution]
Completed Level 4 Temple. The beginning of this desert level was stupid. I went the wrong way and burned up. There was not enough guidance to the proper direction. The direction I had chosen was kind of close to same error of margin as the bad platforming segment in the previous level.
After ending the session, I looked at a guide for controls. Apparently ALT is for switching walk/run.
Resumed.
This three-headed desert boss felt underwhelming. It just took time and not at all a challenge. Perhaps the same could be said of the boss to the previous level.
Completed Level 5 Desert.
I died twice and got reseted back to where Ayumi gains the ability to fly. This felt too punishing and I stopped playing
Notes:
WASD = move, LMB / RMB = attacks, Space = Jump + Double Jump, E = Use
F = Rifle (LMB = Shoot, RMB = Zoom, R = Reload)
Shift = dash, TAB = Time Rewind, Q = Heal, C = Compass, X = Cast Order
Updated Thoughts:
Revisiting the game today, I thought the ranged attack had its strengths and weaknesses. At times, it was great for safely building the special meter. Also, I'm not sure regarding my comment about breaking the flow of the hack-and-slash experience. That might have been the case for a weaker version of the weapon? I'm not sure. With that out of the way, however, the game still suffers from terrible placement of checkpoints, often before a cutscene and sometimes before the start of an entire area that must be redone. Finally, I would also reiterate that while the game has a great looking environment, the platforming experience often falls short of enjoyable.
Gameplay Log:
Continue.
Killed an enemy that had this red shield by getting it to fall off the ledge.
There was a puzzle I didn't get. Apparently I correctly connected two of them. But one of the pillars I was connecting through was a dummy.
I once again encountered an enemy with a red shield but it didn't seem like I could get this one off a ledge. So I decided to look it up. Apparently with enough damage, the shield can be broken. Rewinding time was the recommendation.
Completed Level 6 Sky Islands
Completed Level 7 Sky Docks
Steam Game Time: 7.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 4.8 hours (session game time)
Blades of Time (PC) (2012)
 |
| Beautiful environments. |
Relevant Links:
Blades of Time Website
Blades of Time (Steam Store Page)
Blades of Time (Wikipedia.org)
Blades of TIme (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
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