BLADE CHIMERA Review: Ghosts of Ambition

Demons haunt the everyday lives of ordinary citizens in Team Ladybug’s latest 2D Metroidvania title ‘Blade Chimera’. This is the solo developer’s first original Metroidvania title, published by PLAYISM for the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam, the player assumes the role of Shin—a holy warrior of the Union—that purges demons and ghosts inspired by the very ones seen in stories all over the world. Armed with a trusty plasma rifle and eventually, a demon sword, Shin will do his job across three major maps of Osaka, where he learns truths about things he might never have realised.

Team Ladybug has done a great job with their prior 2D titles, my favourite one easily being ‘Touhou Luna Nights’. This time around, Blade Chimera plays less like a fast-paced action title but one that expects you to move a bit more strategically and finesse. Shin’s character controller is fairly slow and even a bit heavy, but with Lux, the demon girl embedded in his sword, he has a lot more movement opportunities provided to him in the form of additional blocking, swinging, restoring objects temporarily, and much more over the course of the game.

The many faces of Blade Chimera. (Team Ladybig/PLAYISM)

Now one of the first things I noticed about Blade Chimera was just how beautiful this game looks. Animations have gotten a big bump since the last time I played a Team Ladybug game—with smoother animations, parallax backgrounds, lighting sources impacting sprites, and so many little details that I couldn’t keep count. The music is great, upbeat with a hint of dystopian complimenting the world at large. Much of the game’s levels are draped in destruction, neon lights, chaos, you name it. And in your case, you can exploit quite a bit of it to gain an advantage on the army of demons that hide in every nook and cranny.

Shin’s character controller feels great to play. He shoots and slashes well, his jumps can be elongated into mounts, and his dodges have a lengthy i-frame segment. As I mentioned earlier, with Lux, his movement is extended into a barrier he can place onto the floor to protect himself against particular demon projectile attacks (usually marked with a red outline) or as an anchor point onto supported surfaces. You can use this to reach high spots in tandem with your down-the-line unlocked double jump to sniff out every nook and cranny for extras and new weapons. But what’s cool about anchoring is that it also gives you another heavy-hitting attack you can deal to baddies: by either walking away from the anchor point or exposing the barrier to attacks, the sword “charges” up and once you recall the blade to Shin, you can unleash a devastating blow to enemies that can clear your path and heal you!

That’s not all, though. Something I forgot to do for about a third of my first playthrough was to spec my skills. Unlocking skills is incredibly important as unlike other Metroidvanias, Blade Chimera doesn’t give you power-ups as you explore. You’ll find a variety of weapons such as assault rifles, whips, shurikens, blades, and more as you run about. You’ll even find MP and HP boosts, but you won’t be picking up skills. Levelling up gives you the points you need to unlock your double jump, MP bar reductions, special moves for Lux, and the all-powerful teleportation skill.

Do everything in your power to get the last one as fast as you can, because the way Blade Chimera’s levels are designed can be maddening, especially when you’re taking on side quests. Backtracking is a Metroidvania staple, but how this game lays out its levels will have you spinning in all sorts of directions. Expect long treks between halls, tricky jumps with enemies placed right before a death trap, and a couple of baddies that can outright glass you to bits. A frustrating thing about enemy and object placement in levels is that, for projectile weapons, you’ll have to rely on Shin to target baddies. He usually does a good job of it, but sometimes he might end up firing in the opposite direction, or sometimes an object that Lux can interact with gets in the way and may ultimately be your undoing.

Don’t keep a lady waiting! (Team Ladybug/PLAYISM)

Between clobbering demons and Shin learning more about the demons that beguile humanity, you’ll run into big set pieces and fight off the Titanic Demons. These large baddies have multiple phases and can be quite fun! Though towards of the game, I felt they were rather lacklustre in scope and mechanics. Maybe I was simply too strong by the time I reached the latter bosses, but I think giving bosses better puzzle mechanics would have kept me engaged. Though for what it’s worth, the story breaks up the pacing of the game by switching up certain mechanics which was a nice surprise. They don’t outstay their welcome, either, which I particularly appreciate.

Amusingly enough, the bosses you encounter in side quests arguably have better fight mechanics even if they’re short-lived, so don’t forget to do ’em. Not only do they reward you handsomely, but they also give plenty of worldbuilding that is otherwise lost in the main story. Not that I disliked the main narrative much, mind you, but it’s very much focused on Shin’s personal story—and he’s a good-natured soul, one you’ll like right off the bat! But a world as beautiful and dreary as the one in Blade Chimera’s shouldn’t just be left to the dark, after all. And I wasn’t keen about how fast everything was tied up in the end, but oh well.

Team Ladybug’s latest release is a grand one—the slower-paced nature of the action feels good to play especially as you get a better grasp of Shin and his companion’s move sets. The downtrodden Osaka city landscape has plenty of exploration potential and baddies to encounter, meaning that I can wholeheartedly recommend Blade Chimera to the 2D Metroidvania aficionado and novice alike.