En Garde

Jack Sparrow, but sober and a woman

Why

Why Not

Impressions

En Garde is exactly what it sets out to be; a swashbuckling, improvisational romp through incompetent goons and scenery chewing villains. The combat allows for incredible highs straight out of a movie set piece and pairs with the perfect-for-the-tone art-style and writing to create a fantastic ~4 hour experience.

The tutorial immediately makes it obvious you're not meant to take any of this seriously, opening with your brother informing you your sword has been stolen by the dashing 'El Vigilante'. Your quest to retrieve it takes you on a tour of the game's mechanics, rife with conveniently placed props and guards bribed to stand by the ocean until you kick them in. It all culminates in a dramatic duel with El Vigilante, dressed suspiciously similarly to your brother, giving an overview of the structure repeated by each of the 4 chapters as you progress through all the expected cliches.

They cliched story beats are well executed despite their predictability though, and quite a few of the little jokes got actual laughs out of me. From goons continuing to talk after their 'deaths' to totally unexpected double crosses and the ability to hoist sappers with their own petard, En Garde never stops surprising you with the execution of its cliches if not the content.

Another strong point is the combat; there're a wide variety of props scattered around for use in separating, befuddling and tripping up the forces arrayed against you. Combat typically takes place in an arena-type area filled with buckets to throw on enemy heads, stairs to kick them down and cannons to dispere crowds with. The game strongly encourages you to use those tools as well; unless you're Neo in the Matrix you're not gonna be able to take on groups with only swordplay. Enemy variety is pretty good as well, with new enemy types introduced in the first 3 chapters then mixed into interesting combinations by the fourth. Each requires a different approach you'll need to remember and balance with those required by other enemies in the heat of the moment, making each wave of an arena fight a puzzle to solve.

Where the game breaks down though are the boss fights, which often see you relying only on your swordplay against a single enemy (occasionally alternated or combined with waves of regular enemies). These bosses are largely immune to your usual tricks and typically have much more complicated attack patterns, requiring quick alternating between parries and dodges lest you hit the wrong button and their stamina instantly refills as you take damage. I sucked at these, maybe my old man hands are just too slow to react to the clearly telegraphed tells in time but I almost never managed to prepare the correct counter enough times in a row to deplete their stamina before a mistake refilled it. The issue is especially noticeable in the final chapter, which has re-runs of all 3 bosses you've faced up to that point. Apart the second at least alternates with waves of enemies while the third brings them into the fight in typical weaselly fashion, but combined they suck a lot of momentum out of the chapter.

Regardless, En Garde is a great time with a lot of cool ideas. I really hope they get a chance to expand on the ideas demoed here in a bigger game, hopefully with a few less frustrating 1 on 1s. It might be difficult to justify at full price with a 4 hour runtime, but on sale it's definitely worth giving a go.