Daggerhood – review

At Starbucks all those fancy coffees sure taste great, but sometimes I get this craving for a basic black coffee. It’s just like that with video games too, at some points I just want to play something dangerously close to being dull. Something as basic as learning how to draw inside the lines at kindergarten. Daggerhood from Woblyware is just that kind of game, so I’m glad that Ratalaika Games ported it over for Xbox One. Anyway, grab that black coffee and read what I have to say about Daggerhood!

The good

• Replaying a level: Playing the same level multiple times is normally not the thing you want to do in a game, this is a little bit different with Daggerhood. While it is possible that all level challenges are completed in your first go it is near impossible to do that with more than half of the levels. All levels have the same challenges, finishing it within a time limit to earn three stars, trying to catch a fairy that disappears after a specific time limit and finding all treasures. The time-related pressure works perfectly with the gameplay mechanics, and what is even best, players who want to take things slow doesn’t matter. The game doesn’t punish you with lame star restrictions so you can just keep playing.
• A teleporting dagger: That main gameplay mechanic is a magical dagger that can teleport you. It is limited to a strict distance so there is some skill involved, especially if you need to time your landing or squeeze it in tight corners surrounded with deadly hazards. Errors will happen but levels don’t take very long so nothing is frustrating or annoying, at least for those that don’t mind to be killed once in a while. Daggerhood is a trial and error game first class so don’t expect a walk in the park.

Mixed feelings

• You want the King’s Gold, the end: A game like this doesn’t need a story to be fun, Mario saving Princess Peach a million times is an undenying proof for that. You play as Vincent a highly skilled thief, as punishment you are thrown into some kind of cavern, you want revenge so you start to steal all the King’s gold and try to reach the castle. The game opens up with a simple cutscene explaining the above, that’s about it though. We’re here to do some platforming with Vincent, so don’t expect to be talking about the game’s plot with friends in your local pub.
• Achievements (No point influence): It took me less than an hour to get the full Gamerscore, to get back to Starbucks, that is less long than some waiting lines at this damn coffee shop! Great for Achievement hunters but for me, it is biting through a very sour strawberry, it still tastes okay but you know it could be a lot sweeter. This has to lure Achievement hunters all over it, trying to get a few more buyers, just for the easy gamerscore.

The bad

• Uninspired visuals: I’m that kind of gamer that adores playing games with retro visuals but they need to have some personality, this is something I totally missed with Daggerhood, the boring black backgrounds and unclear pixelated characters and monsters just didn’t speak to me, this might be a matter of personal taste but it all felt really stale and lifeless.

Daggerhood | Score: 61%

Woblyware’s Daggerhood is another decent port done by Ratalaika, the precise gameplay mechanic with teleporting and the different time-based challenges make the game fun enough to stand out, it is a shame that the visuals aren’t living up to the potential.