3000th Duel proves that a good game doesn’t always have to innovate. Sometimes just delivering a strong take on a well-worn formula can still impress. In this case, Neopopcorn Corp’s action-adventure title blends two of gaming’s most en vogue styles, the Metroidvania and the Soulsborne genres, into a cohesive, challenging, and, most of all, entertaining whole.
The game runs down the checklist of prerequisites of a Castlevania and Dark Souls. Labyrinthine exploration gated by keys and abilities? Check. RPG-style progression? Check. Failure that results in the loss of all of experience points, which must then be retrieved? Big check. 3000th Duel won’t surprise anyone experienced in either genre, which could make it an uninteresting proposition in a industry overflowing with better, more creative takes on these ideas.
The somewhat bland presentation, 3000th Duel’s biggest drawback, also makes it easy to write it off as an uninspired knock off during the early goings. Drab, forgettable environments do little to draw you into the world. An equally flat plot best summed up by saying “it exists” does the game no favors either. Yet in spite of these shortcomings, the genuinely fun gameplay and exploration makes 3000th Duel better than it perhaps has any right to be.
Combat and platforming feel exceptionally fine-tuned. Each of the 3000th Duel’s three weapon types–rapid-striking swords, long-reaching lances, and heavy axes/ broadswords–pack a satisfying punch bolstered by ever-evolving combo chains. Tight controls make combining offense with the masked protagonist’s nimble maneuverability, such as air-dashes and double-jumps, a cinch to execute smoothly. An arsenal of fun spells compliment melee attacks with powerful effects, like a barrage of fireballs or exploding ice blasts. In a game where fighting and navigation make up the bulk of the experience, it’s a relief to see that at least those elements have been successfully nailed.
A dense skill tree enhances these moves with fun abilities. Unfortunately, 3000th Duel is strangely linear in its design. Reaching the next tier of upgrades requires players to basically purchase every upgrade in the current tree. That means you’ll be forced to spend precious skill points beefing up weapons or attributes you don’t use–or care to. Fans of, say, lance weapons will often have to spend time enhancing before reaching the next lance upgrade. This saps away some of the excitement in upgrading. It’s not until you’re dozens of hours in that the latter trees become large enough to allow some degree of cherry picking new perks.
3000th Duel is no cake walk but the challenge remains largely fair and enjoyable throughout its lengthy duration. Basic enemies, especially in big groups, can drop careless players with hard-hitting attacks and crippling status effects. Enemy variety does a good job forcing regular changes in strategy, be it different weapon or spell types. A plethora of genuinely helpful accessories make the effort to obtain them feel worth it. Boss battles may have you cursing like a sailor, but they never feel cheap or insurmountable. Failed confrontations often end with bosses on their last legs; it just takes an offensive tweak or some extra grinding to cross their finish lines. In one of 3000th Duel’s more creative ideas, lost experience, or karma, transforms into a malicious orb that must be destroyed to be retrieved. The novelty of this idea deserves commendation, but it ultimately proves to be more annoying than anything. Most of the time it feels like an unnecessary extra hurdle in an already difficult romp.
3000th Duel offers a more than respectable take on one of the most crowded genres in games. The game initially fails to garner more than a reaction of indifference, but satisfying combat and progression reward those who can put up with the ho-hum presentation. Metroidvania fans looking for another good fix–and have exhausted superior alternatives–should be more than pleased with Neopopcorn Corp’s pleasant surprise of an action game.
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3000th Duel is available for Nintendo Switch and PC. Screen Rant was provided a digital Switch code for the purpose of this review.
