3000th Duel has been out on the PC since last year. But it recently got ported to the Switch, so chances are that people now want to know what it’s like. Especially since the eShop doesn’t have any rating system that I’ve ever found.
So I’ll start with the basics. NEOPOPCORN Corp made themselves a decent Metroidvania game. And that’s really only the half of it. The other half is that it’s a 2D Souls-like, much like Salt & Sanctuary and Hollow Knight. This primarily manifests in its level system and the way you deal with enemies.
The level system is one stat point per level, with the max being 99. You get your choice of 4 stats: Vitality (HP), Strength, Mind (affects spells and the special attack bar), and Activity (stamina only used for dodging). You also get a skill stone at level up, which can be used to purchase skills from the tree. These skills eventually get more expensive, and other stones in the game are rare, so you’ll never have everything on the tree.
This winds up being a bit of a problem: the game itself never gives you that info early on. This means that, barring searching the minimal info online, you’re probably going to put points and stones into things which are something of a trap.
For example, Activity is pretty much something you level until you’re happy with your dodge, then use as a dump stat, because that point can go somewhere more useful. Early on, you might not conserve your use of skill stones, which means that later, you might not be able to get some of the better late-game options since they’ll be outside your means.
There are 3 weapon types; Broad Sword, Great Sword and Lance. You’ll probably figure out which you like, and do everything in your power to stick with them. That might not be terribly easy in the long run, as the equipment is the biggest boost to your standard attacks, but you’ll try anyway. Each weapon has a different special attack to it, and those typically have a status effect associated; lances, for example, have a chance to cause bleed with their special.
The game doesn’t pull any punches. You’ll probably die more than once to a given boss. And some of those bosses have attacks that’ll cause problems; one, for example, launches a pair of homing projectiles that freeze you, with the second sticking around until both your mercy invincibility and the effect wear off to hit you again.
As for the story, well, there’s not much for you to go on. It’s deliberately very vague, and there aren’t really any hard answers to your questions. If you play games for the story, this one might not be up your alley.
The game looks nice and sounds nice, true. But it just felt, as I played, that aspects of it weren’t really gelling for me. I often found that I didn’t really have the control I’d expect or the strength I’d expect to deal with enemies.
There were also things, like a weapon and spell upgrades, that you’ll get items for early on, but it takes a fairly long time to get to the point where the system they’re using in is available. It sort of felt like there were too many things that were attempted in the game, to the point that they wound up competing against each other.
NEOPOPCORN Corp NEOPOPCORN Corp
There’s also the fact that, for an action RPG in the vein of later Castlevania entries, it’s missing a number of things that are beneficial to such a game. You’d be forgiven for not realizing early on that enemies have drops other than experience; they’re rare until you get a certain accessory.
This is compounded by the fact that the HUD for these drops is subtle and easily tuned out, and that there’s no bestiary. There are consumable items, like healing potions, but there’s no shop early on, and typically, the only ones you’ll get are from chests. This winds up being a running theme.
That all said, at the end of the day, 3000th Duel is an interesting game. Though I’d argue it’s an acquired taste, compared to its contemporaries. Give it a try, but don’t be surprised if you bounce off of it.
“3000th Duel may or may not be your cup of tea, but you won’t know for sure until you give it a try.”
Score 3.5/5
*We were provided a copy of this game to review*
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