Naraka: Bladepoint

Naraka: Bladepoint's movement and combat are beautifully fluid, and they give the battle royale more depth than any other. You will sink endless hours into soaring above buildings and dueling with enemy ninjas. It only has a few minor technical issues that are bringing it down. If fixed, Naraka: Bladepoint will be around for a long, long time.

The battle royale genre is rather established nowadays with household names like Fortnite and Apex Legends dominating most Twitch channels. For a new game to stand out among the crowd, it needs to offer something the others don’t. So here it is - Naraka.

Naraka: Bladepoint is a fun 60-player battle royale. Unlike many other games in the genre, it focuses on melee combat and parkour-style movement. It’s a punishing game, rewarding skill, preparation, and mastery of its core mechanics. Though fun, it quickly grows stale.

Iterating on the battle royale genre is a tough job. The basic formula--arrive in an area with nothing, scavenge for supplies, be the last one standing--needs to stay intact, but everything around it can be modified to a developer's heart's content. Naraka: Bladepoint is one such example, eschewing the modern combat aesthetic of PUBG and the cartoonish whimsy of Fortnite for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The idea works very well in practice for the most part, but longevity and microtransact...

Naraka Bladepoint's sharp new take on the Battle Royale formula gets off to a promising, but slightly awkward start

For an original take on battle royale and a truly special martial arts combat system, Naraka is worth checking out. But between stability issues, off-putting monetisation practices, and an unpalatable learning curve, there's plenty that gets in the way of the fun.

Naraka: Bladepoint is a battle royale that takes place in an ancient Asian-inspired setting—this review will breakdown whether it stands out. Instead of guns, melee weapons are the primary weapon of choice in the game, which certainly makes it unique in the oversaturated market that is battle royale games.