Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster has nice visuals… but that’s about it
There’s no shortage of quality Metroidvanias available on both PC and consoles, which means that any new ones that do hit the market have to do something unique to really stand out. Unfortunately, I’m struggling to find anything remarkable about Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster by Dormidin Studio. That’s not to say that it’s a terrible game, but there’s nothing particularly impressive here.
The story of Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster is hard to parse, for one, though it doesn’t help that the writing is lacklustre. Attempts to be funny fall flat, and you tend to find yourself just aimlessly pushing forward without any real reason for doing so. And that’s another problem with the game, actually; you’re never really given any direction. You’re left to just explore, without ever really knowing what you’re aiming for.
Some might not mind that all too much; lots of players like being left to their devices. The problem here, however, is that the combined save and fast travel points aren’t spread out all that well, and death can come easily, sending you back to the last one you visited. Unlike most games these days, you don’t have a healing item that replenishes when you rest, either. Instead, you need to use healing potions bought with your hard-earned gold, which can become pretty expensive.
Throw in other issues such as the game feeling a little stiff mechanically, and the A.I. of the various enemies you come across often being annoying, and you have a game that very much has the capacity to frustrate and annoy. But if you have patience and perseverance you might get some fun out of it. The Saturday morning cartoon-inspired visuals are nice at least, and there are plenty of skills and abilities to acquire.
So, if you’re up for a challenge and don’t mind being left to explore of your own free will, you might get a kick out of Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster. But with there being much better Metroidvanias out there that are more worthy of your time and money, you’d be wise to exhaust those of their fun first. And who knows, Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster might have had some updates by the time you’re done, making it a little better.
Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC.
