When it comes to rogue-lite games, I am amazed by the concept. How developers can create a game that procedurally-generates levels and more still blows my mind. Blazing Beaks is a rogue-lite, where you control one of eight birds in an effort to defeat monsters and unravel mysteries. While this is a great game, its ranging difficulty might keep some away.
I went into Blazing Beaks completely ignorant, so after the first time I died and started over, I was a bit confused as to why everything looked different the second and third time. (Note that while it’s sometimes fun, going into a game blind is not always a good idea.) What I realized, though, was that the difficulty of these levels varied greatly. One playthrough might pit me against complicated monsters that immediately destroy me, but the next time, they aren’t so bad. Assuming this might be the game having pity on me, I dismissed it for a while. But soon, I realized the same thing happened from one level to the next during the same playthrough.
The graphical stylings play homage to the 8-bit and 16-bit era, which is common ground today. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good. It just didn’t impress me like it did a few years ago when developers began doing this. The unfortunate thing is the randomly generated levels also differ greatly. Some look amazing and are incredibly complicated to maneuver, while others are simple and relatively bland.
Here is the kicker, though. If you don’t like having different levels with wide-ranging difficulty each time you play, you can turn on a “Seeded” mode. This simple switch makes sure you have the same settings as the last time.
While the difficulty might be too difficult for some, grabbing a friend (or three) to play co-op does help and makes the game even more fun. In fact, this is where the game really shines—when playing with friends. You can also play in a tournament mode with others to see who is the best bird.
Blazing Beaks is definitely not for everyone. If you like your games easy, stay away. If you like to play alone, it is hard to say if you will like this one. But if you like the idea of tackling a rogue-lite with a friend or two, you may want to check out Blazing Beaks.
GAME: Blazing Beaks
PLATFORM: Nintendo Switch
DEVELOPER: Applava
PUBLISHER: QubicGames
ESRB: E10+ for Everyone 10+ (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood)
MSRP: $14.99 US
OBTAINED: Code provided by developer/publisher for press purposes
Gameplay Trailer
Steve is the Senior Editor of NintendoFuse and co-host of the NintendoFuse Podcast. He’s been a Nintendo gamer since age 6 and has been on staff with NintendoFuse since 2008.