This was supposed to be the „soulslike” of the 90s. Die by the Sword tried to set new standards for action games
Free sword control, brutal gameplay with limb-cutting, and a high level of difficulty - this is what the Treyarch studio tried to do in 1998, when releasing Die by the Sword.
Today, FromSoftware's games are synonymous with a high level of difficulty. However, long before the term "soulslike" was coined, Die by the Sword, an adventure action game with an innovative combat system. They believed that they were setting new standards, but the market brutally verified their plans.
Damsel in distress
Before we move on to innovative clashes, let's talk about the plot. The title takes us to a fantasy world, where there is no shortage of magic and creatures like kobolds or orcs. The plot is simple - knight Enric has to save a damsel in distress kidnapped by the forces of the evil sorcerer Rastegar. That's pretty much it, because even though the protagonist throws lines like a medieval Duke Nukem, the story only serves as a backdrop for the gameplay.
The injury system took into the wounds inflicted on Enric
We won't find many cutscenes or dialogues here; the intro and ending are short, and the main villain doesn't rush to explain their plans in the finale. We could say that the storyline is just a pretext for fighting. However, it is surprising that over 10 pages were devoted to it in the instructions! We got a detailed biography of Enric, including his farming background, time as a slave, and military service. It's a shame that not much of it made its way into the game.
Watch how you swing that
Die by the Sword is a third-person game in which we must focus on our fencing skills. While most games from that time relied on simple clicking and animation, the game from Treyarch tried something much more advanced. The creators developed a special VSIM (VirtualSIMulation) system - it simulated natural movements, bringing hand-to-hand combat to a level unprecedented in games of that time. Thanks to it, we maintained full control over the armed arm of the character.
VSIM technology is the real future of animation and character control. Die by the Sword will become a classic and will forever be ed as a game that set the standards. - Alan Pavlish, Tantrum (former division of Interplay) - quote from the instructions.
We used the numeric keyboard to set the initial position of the sword, and then we used different combinations to decide how the strike should look. How did it look in practice? We raised our weapons, preparing for an attack from the right side ("9"), and we dragged the blade to the left ("7") with a powerful swing. From this position, more skilled players immediately performed a counter-move ("9"), increasing the chance of decapitation, or they struck the enemy's torso ("6"). It was also possible to switch to using the mouse to control the sword's position.
Warrior in fancy armor, a classic of 1990s fantasy aesthetics
This allowed for making cuts at different heights, from top to bottom and at an angle. Moreover, there were special moves assigned to specific keys. The right position of the sword also helped with blocking. The opponents were using the same tactics, so the fight was all about constantly looking for gaps in the defenses. Die by the Sword didn't have "rolling," so the only addition to the combat was the jump.
Mechanics sounds complicated and... they are. Mastering them required a lot of practice, but believe me, over time, the sword really became an extension of Enric's arm. The VSIM system was coming into play, making it easier and easier to cut off my opponents' limbs. The devs were aware that although it offers many possibilities, not everyone will have enough patience to master it. So they introduced an alternative control, which is a simplified Arcade system based on a smaller number of keys.
Enemies are like a Monty Python Black Knight - they keep fighting no matter what
Challenge not only for masters
Die by the Sword had a very high entry threshold even with an adjustable difficulty level. The clashes from the beginning were challenging and sometimes dragged on when we couldn't break through the enemy defense. Many players didn't make it to the point where chaotic sword swinging turned into fencing. Even seasoned warriors had trouble with opponents at higher levels.
Some tricky elements required dodging traps, climbing, and jumping on moving platforms. Unfortunately, as good as Enric was with a sword, he was far from having the acrobatic skills of Lara Croft. So it was easy to fall off the platforms or misjudge a jump made over a river of lava. Fortunately, the high level of difficulty was paired with very frequent automatic saves, thanks to which we never lost significant progress.
Devs put in our hands a tool to design our own attacks, which we could import into the game
Fate
Treyarch Studio had a cool way of expanding virtual combat, pretty good graphics for those times, and the main character had some funny lines. The marginal plot, along with the uninteresting level design, didn't prevent the game from receiving positive reviews. However, reviews didn't save the title from disaster. Die by the Sword was a financial failure, selling less than 30,000 copies in the USA by April 1998.
Despite that, the game is ed by players, thanks to the additional multiplayer game modes. The option to compete with friends from the backyard brought a lot of fun. The effect was boosted by the ability to take control of enemies in the campaign or equip characters with different weapons.
The multiplayer mode was created with 4 players in mind
The game was developed by the Limb from Limb expansion, released in October 1998, introducing additional creatures and new modes. There was also a second storyline, even simpler than the one in the base game. Treyarch studio also developed Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm - a hack & slash game from 2000, considered a spiritual successor to Die by the Sword, which was released exclusively for the Sega Dreamcast console. The title strongly resembled the adventures of Enric, although it didn't offer such a complicated combat system.You can easily buy the game with the expansion on GOG.com for around 11 bucks.
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