Blightbound Critic Reviews

Even with some minor issues with the puzzles and UI in the game I am impressed by how much Blightbound offers out of the gate. The shared experiences and monster variety make this something I would recommend to anyone familiar with the dungeon crawling genre. That being said, even though random matchmaking worked well, you'll have a lot more fun playing with a dedicated group of three.

As Blightbound emerges from its year in Steam Early Access one can’t help but think that it might be doing so a bit too early. Lingering issues with the pretty visual elements overlapping each other, uneven party balance, repetitive loot with lackluster stats, AI/single player issues, and a bare-bones leveling design suggest that this game could do with more fundamental development work before taking the main stage. With its creative art and engaging voice talent, there is definite potential here for a terrific dungeon crawler, but the overall elements just have not entirely come together as of yet.

Perhaps the high tension cooldown/charge loop will be enough to compensate for a somewhat threadbare presentation elsewhere. There’s an entire crafting/shopping/customization system I failed to mention. Like the battles and the story, it grows slowly, developing over dozens of hours into something tangible and potent. If my description of the core gameplay loop has you curious, check it out! But if a quick glance at the trailers and the streams has you wondering what you’re missing, maybe save this adventure for another doomed warrior.

It’s not the most compelling dungeon crawler on the market, but Blightbound‘s smart blend of genres and unique visual style help it stand out in a saturated space. I wouldn’t recommend it for solo players, but if you’ve got a trio of friends ready to go and you’re looking for a challenging, tactical brawler with decent replayability then it’s certainly worth a punt. Just keep in mind that despite the early access period, it still feels like you’re buying into something that is a work-in-progress.

To say that Blightbound has a lot of potential is an understatement, but to say that it squanders that potential is even more of one. For all its faults, the game is still worth playing thanks to the nuggets of concentrated fun that can be had while playing it with friends. In the end, the frustrating aspects of Blightbound are likely to be far more transient than its appeal, but what's a good game now could be an excellent one with some patches and a smoother experience on the technical side of things.

I will say if you even remotely like the look of the art then Blightbound is a must buy to experience that alone, it's worth every penny in that regard, but if you are looking for anything more then I’d sadly give it a miss. I really wanted to like Blightbound, it's clear there is some real passion and brilliance in places but it just never reaches anything close to its potential. The rabbit hole is horribly shallow, the promising first leap into the magical world being cut horribly short as you hit the earth with a deafening thud.

Blightbound is emerging from a year in Steam Early Access, but it might be doing so too early. Lingering issues with visual elements overlapping each other, uneven party balance, repetitive loot with lacklustre stats, and a bare-bones levelling design suggest that this game could do with more fundamental development work before hitting the big stage. With its creative art and engaging voice talent, there is definite potential here for a fantastic dungeon crawler, but the elements have not come together yet.

Some good ideas and a great world building for this action RPG but it feels far too repetitive too quickly. We recommend Blightbound only to hardcore looters and farmers.

Blightbound fails to convince mot only gameplay-wise. That’s a real shame, because the art style is very pretty. Bad AI, boring characters and a story that’s barely there are just some of the things that bothered us.

Blightbound is a perfect example of a game as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle. There’s a story, customization, and many characters, but they all take so much time to experience and have so little payoff that I can’t really recommend this game to anyone in its current state. Coming from the studio that made Awesomenauts, Blightbound feels like a step down in terms of execution and polish. It’s disappointing to see something that clearly had lofty ambitions fall so far short of what it could have been.

Blightbound is the latest release from developer Ronimo Games, published by Devolver Digital. The game is in early access on Steam and shows potential. Out of the gate, it is fun to play with a few interesting mechanics. But issues quickly rise to the surface that may make this a wait and see purchase for most players.