One of the things I’ve really appreciated over the past generation has been the opportunity to dip my toe into higher-end titles that have pushed the Switch and Switch 2 with their ambitions. Whether that has had me fighting mighty beasts or masses of soldiers on a field of battle, titles like this are a great reminder of how the “other half” operates with talented teams and budgets far beyond the indie titles I normally cover. Fallen Dynasty initially felt pretty familiar, working with me to try to learn the ropes of its combat, but unlike its contemporaries it also wasted no time in kicking my butt and letting me know that I had a lot to learn with an early first boss battle.

At least compared to the various musou and monster hunting-style titles I’ve been playing, that degree of difficulty, and a focus more on individual combat rather than something more broad, help it to stand out. You’ll need to cut through small packs of enemies regularly, for sure, but the real meat of the satisfaction to be found here is against the game’s bosses or other more formidable foes, where the focus will be more squarely on technique and execution. While it’s important to note that there’s a great variety of gear you’ll have at your disposal, meaning you’ll by no means be locked into only one narrow road to success, you will need to really be on top of different key skills like parrying if you want to survive against some of these bosses. That’s because they often seem to be designed to act as skill tests, gatekeepers of sorts to prevent you from moving on until you’ve demonstrated some mastery.

At least for me, my problems were a mix of issues tied to this, and since I’ve never been a fan of the likes of Dark Souls and titles in that vein, I’ll admit that I may just lack pre-honed fundamentals people who normally enjoy titles like this may take for granted. First, I’d say that though there were explanations for different techniques, listing the buttons to press and a quick description, I found getting my arms around them to be a challenge, even after returning to the tutorials to try to isolate my shortcomings and focus on getting a feel for what I was struggling with. That leads into my second concern, and that’s perhaps that in execution some of the mechanics for whatever reason may not be as crisp as they could be. I’d say my success was hit or miss, with some pretty wild variations to either side, so my take away was that there could be some inconsistencies. What reinforces that feeling is that even with other titles in this vein that have been demanding and more focused on technique, this felt like more of a struggle. Whether the issue is me, the system, something in the game’s DNA, or simply a combination of all the above, it’s ultimately what made enjoying the game more of a struggle than I’d have preferred.