Nidhogg

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Nidhogg is a perfect game wrapped in a not-so-perfect package. When playing locally against another human, it is the epitome of competition. Playing online is a mixed bag of lag, disconnects, and a weird chat system. Hopefully some of the bugs get ironed out over time, especially whatever stopped the tutorial from functioning, to make everything more functional as a whole.

Individual matches might last a nerve-shredding 15 minutes or barely more than 90 seconds, but Nidhogg’s tense sword battles are something I am likely to play all year against different people. Despite the surreal abstraction of the art style this feels more realistic than any sword-fighting than anything else I’ve ever played, where a single slip in concentration can mean your end. It’s the most exhilarating competitive game I’ve played in years.

A flawed single player is eclipsed by the best multiplayer experience so far this year.

There can be only one.

At the end of each match the Nidhogg, a creature with roots in Norse mythology appears to devour the winner. It’s a strange way to celebrate victory, but it’s appropriate for Nidhogg’s atypical multiplayer structure and gameplay. At first glance, the game doesn’t look like it belongs in the fighting genre, but it hits the same competitive beats of a typical fighting game albeit from a different direction and with a different set of rules.

Messhof’s Nidhogg is a game that combines gameplay as finely tuned as any triple-A title’s with a stylish retro art style and a short but catchy soundtrack. The gameplay is easy to learn but difficult to master, but the lack of map variety hurts its replayability in the long run. However, as a party game, Nidhogg is hard to beat with its lively, competitive, gameplay and fun variants on a simple formula.