Netflix's Kingdom: The Blood Game Is a Simplistic Action-RPG

ign.com:

I’ve never seen Kingdom, the Netflix K-drama that zombie-filled action-RPG Kingdom: The Blood is based on, so I can’t speak to how accurately the game adapts its characters and settings. But based on my limited-time hands-on preview, I can confidently say that as a melee-focused brawler, the high potential for customization and personalization in combat and quick pick-up-and-playability makes a strong first impression. However, with bothersome mobile game design galore and a real lack of challenge in the single-player campaign, it’s hard to know how much of a bite you could really take out of the experience.

After a tutorial fight and some account-creation digital paperwork, I was dropped into what would be an all-too-familiar layout of quests to track, blinking icons on a map, and lots of quick explanations about the various sorts of currencies you can earn by completing objectives. As a free-to-play game enjoyer myself, this wasn’t really a shock, but it did make understanding the best way to start engaging with the various modes and menus pretty daunting. I had some handy starting advice via PR tour guides, but I could see a brand-new player just ignore all of this completely.

Luckily, jumping into the single-player quests and chopping your way through the hordes is pretty simple. You have a special attack, which is a heavy blow that costs chi to use, and a basic attack that does less damage, is free, and actually restores chi when you connect with it. Stringing these basic attacks together in short combos punctuated by a special attack changes the latter. So instead of the big swinging chop you get from using it by itself, it could become a spinning kick that knocks enemies over. Some combos also make a burst attack