Sword of the Vagrant really brings me back to earlier times with its somewhat boiled down but reasonably-good side-scrolling and slashing play. I wouldn’t say that on pretty well any front it’s going to win awards or even stand out proudly within the pretty crowded retro action space, but for a pretty low price of admission it delivers gameplay that will likely feel familiar to the likes of Vanillaware’s Dragon’s Crown and others. You’ll navigate the map, you’ll hack, you’ll slash, you’ll upgrade your abilities to suit your style of play, and you’ll work your way through. I do wish that the controls were a bit more refined as differentiating combos wasn’t always easy, leading to it being a bit button-mashy in execution but that isn’t to say I didn’t have a reasonably good time either. If you’re in a pinch and looking for a decent handful or more of hours worth of content it’s a good fit when your funds are more on the lean side.