Game: Daggerhood
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer/ Publisher: Woblyware / Ratalaika Games
Price: €4,99| $4.99 | £4.99
Age Rating: EU: 7+ | USA: E10+
Release Date: February 22nd, 2019
Also Available On: Playstation & Xbox
Review Code kindly provided by Ratalaika
Join Daggerhood on his perilous journey across the land in search of the King’s gold. Travel through 5 areas full of intense challenges and tonnes to collect, Daggerhood has a long way to go to claim his ultimate prize.
Run, Jump, Throw Dagger, Teleport To Dagger…
In this game, you navigate each stage in the usual run and jump fashion, avoiding the various obstacles and pratfalls. You also have a Dagger attack that allows you to throw forth a blade within a limited distance. There aren’t actually many enemies in the game but there’s a unique ability that Daggerhood possesses. Once thrown, you can teleport to where your Dagger has flown. Doing so resets your jump and double-jump which the game then uses in its stages in increasingly inventive ways, mostly to cross large gaps.
The controls are simple, and evolve into increasingly complicated and rewarding inputs as you progress. Each area has unique abilities you can borrow such as high-jump, reverse-gravity and decreased falling too to further increase the variety. The game is designed to be difficult though, it’s short stages often drove me mad as I struggled against the unrelenting obstacles you must traverse. But it sure is a good feeling overcoming a particularly hairy challenge after persevering.
Treasure Hunting & Fairy Rustling
I became more determined to simply finish the game during my play through. But each level does also present 3 other challenges. You can collect the 5 treasures littered around each stage, their placement often in places that require sharp jumping and dagger work. There is also a Fairy hidden in each stage, they only hang around for a brief period before disappearing though so you have to act fast. Lastly there are the stars you are awarded for reaching the exit quickly.
The game doesn’t punish you for hitting the deck, but does send you back to the start of the stage. So you can retry as many times as you like. It gets frustrating during the longer levels but again, it’s all part of the challenge and yields that rewarding relieved feeling on completion.
Looks & Sounds Like The Oldies
Daggerhood is full of catchy sounds and music and looks right at home alongside the 16-bit generation it borrows its aesthetic from. There’s nothing new, but it’s done right with respect to its roots which is certainly appreciated. Each area has its own theme and provides a fresh backdrop and BGM. It wouldn’t have hurt to have a few more tunes, but what’s there is friendly to the ears and hums away merrily as you focus on the challenge at hand.
To Conclude
Daggerhood is a challenging but addictive game with a good length and breadth to it. It’s easy to get to grips with and draws you smoothly along its lofty difficulty curve. Though it easily blends in to the saturated retro scene, I think any enthusiast would have a great time. I ultimately cleared through quite quickly, but there’s still plenty for me to collect and complete.
