Davyria: Heroes of Eternity Demo

Combat is an important aspect of most action games, regardless of whether it’s a shooter, an RTS or an RPG that follows the D&D official rules. Getting the mechanics right is no easy task, especially if your game has a lot of encounters and they are fairly challenging as well. Frustration is acceptable if it arises from not being able to win a tough battle, but it’s extremely annoying if it appears because of awkward controls or poorly integrated mechanics.

Davyria: Heroes of Eternity is a top-down hack & slash with role-playing elements and a very hands-on combat system that keeps you on edge at all times. Unlike with most RPGs, this one rewards you for being quick and having good reflexes, given the fact that there’s a stamina system in place stopping you from just mashing buttons randomly. There are, however, a few problems that need to be addressed as well.

To begin with, the story is not exactly explained in the demo, given the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a menu either. Thus, you start in some kind of ruins and the goal is to get out alive while taking as many enemies with you as you can. The story is presented using comic book graphics in the full game, so it should be fairly engaging.

You can wield weapons like swords, hammers and axes, each one of which has a slightly different effect and requires a certain play style. The annoying thing is that your attacks are a bit too set in stone once you unleash them, especially if you happen to perform them one after the other. Hence, your character cannot be stopped once he starts swinging, making it difficult to use finesse sometimes.

Blocking drains your stamina as well, so it’s not a good idea to keep your shield up and wait for the enemies to come to you. It’s also possible to sprint and roll around the battlefield to disorient your foes, much like in Dark Souls or similar games. Speaking of which, the game is powered by Unreal Engine, so it certainly looks nice, even though the level design can be a tad too repetitive sometimes.

Davyria: Heroes of Eternity is quite polished for an indie production on a budget, but it needs more work in the mechanics department, especially when it comes to the combat. You can still have plenty of fun with it, on the other hand, even if you require a bit of patience at first.