#Blud Review – Cute Cartoon Charm

#Blud Review

Cartoon Network and Saturday morning animations hold a dear place in the hearts of many. The iconic design and daring humor led to programming which is still considered a highlight of the medium. #Blud summons the spirit of the era to create a vampire-themed dungeon crawler that aims to be both a nostalgic trip and a fresh adventure. Will it satisfy your thirst for excitement, or will it just suck?

You play as Becky Brewster, a brash and boisterous high school girl who’s new to the neighborhood. With strange happenings occurring in the environment, you must dig deep into your vampire-hunting heritage to halt the demonic invasion. The world is packed with interesting characters and leads to amusing conversations. Each interaction is accompanied with polished animation which amplifies their personality. It’s clear that Exit 73 Studios has a lot of love for the world of toons as each chapter is presented as a new short. Title cards are reminiscent of classic Warner Bros and Hannah-Barbera shows and help to add authenticity to the experience. Although the story is straightforward, the elements surrounding it make it a fun and addictive adventure.

Let Me Just Update My Status

Anchoring the youthful premise, social media plays a large part of the game with all menus being integrated with the protagonist’s phone. Missions appear on your Facebook-style timeline with comments giving you extra tasks and hints to complete your objective. It’s a great way to manage all components of the game in a way that develops the narrative. You can even take selfies with enemies to analyze their weaknesses so that you can determine the best method of attack. While none of these elements are uncommon, they are implemented in a fresh manner.

With your hockey stick, you whack the crap out of any creature you encounter to ensure your safety. The game progresses developing the combat by allowing you to block projectiles, dig up enemies that burrow, throw pencils and more. This creates a fun but quite basic system that is easy to pick up and play. There are a strict number of foes each having distinct attack patterns that require you to strategize in battles. Although new enemies are periodically introduced, they never serve up a significant challenge but instead offer more variety.

Bosses culminate areas and are a highlight of the adventure. The incredible animation shines as nuances with their posture signal attacks and allows you to react and counter. These build to become more epic towards the latter segments of the game adding interesting twists to battles.

The Same Old Thing

Most missions tend to evolve around the collection of items which requires you to tediously search every nook and cranny of environments. Although some puzzles are included within, the simple, repetitive tasks can lead to frustration. These typical fetch quests lack the imagination that the visuals exude, resulting in some disappointing gameplay segments. Side missions are also by the book, often with collection-based tasks that you’ll most likely skip over. While missions are given context and maintain a pleasant pace, the lack of variety hinders the experience.

Each aspect of the presentation is wonderful. From the 90s-inspired visuals to the joyous soundtrack, #Blud is a delicious treat. Characters bounce across the environment and strikes include fun and exaggerated animations that add further character. For example, when killing the Dracula-esque character, he falls into the ground accompanied by a tombstone. It’s little things like this that add to the overall presentation elevating the entire experience.

An Endearing Journey with Unique Flair

#Blud is a fun adventure that carves its own niche due to its incredible art direction and presentation. Combat is straightforward but small additions that are periodically introduced help to keep it feeling fresh. Bosses are a joy and lead to some stand-out segments that are a highlight of the journey. The mission design is a little lackluster with a reliance on collectathon missions and fetch quests which can lead to some frustrating moments. While the game sticks to the conventions of the genre, it manages to deliver a charming and engaging experience that fans of classic cartoons and dungeon crawlers alike will appreciate.

***A Steam code provided by the publisher for review***