''Sword of the Vagrant'' (originally titled ''The Vagrant'') is a

hack and slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

. It was developed by Beijing-based studio O.T.K Games and published by SakuraGame and Rainy Frog LLC. The game was released on June 9, 2017, for Windows, and was later released on

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, Xbox One, and

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on December 1, 2022. The game follows a female

sellsword A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

named Vivian who travels to the island of Mythrilla in search of her missing father. There, she is cursed and forced to serve an evil witch. The game is notable for its heavy graphical inspiration from

Vanillaware is a Japanese video game developer based in Osaka. An independent company, it was founded in 2002 under the name Puraguru by George Kamitani, a game developer who had previously worked at Capcom and Atlus, and directed ''Princess Crown'' (1997 ...

titles such as '' Muramasa'' and '' Dragon's Crown''. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its graphics, but called its gameplay simplistic, albeit worth the low price of the PC version.

Reception

The most positive review of the game was given by Hiroaki Mabuchi of ''

IGN Japan ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distr ...

'' for its PC version. He called its low price impressive for such a polished game, and said that it was a respectful homage to Vanillaware, calling the artwork worthy of praise and "flawless". He praised the work put into the game's Japanese

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, although he criticized the use of too many lines at once as making it difficult to read characters' emotions. He also called aspects of the gameplay monotonous, saying that the overall game lacked uniqueness. ''Gameplay'' magazine called some bosses frustratingly hard, and said the game needed to be better balanced, but still recommended it given its extremely low price. Scott McCrae of '' Nintendo Life'' described the Switch version of ''Sword of the Vagrant'' as "solid, but unremarkable". He called the hand-drawn art "wonderful", and also praised the story, although he criticized the relatively large amount of exposition. He also criticized the early parts of the game for being overly "barebones" until Vivian unlocked her full moveset. He noted the lack of autosave as an annoying aspect of the game, albeit one that did not hinder him until the final boss, which had a "long, tedious structure".

References

{{Reflist 2017 video games Fantasy video games Hack and slash games Indie games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Rainy Frog games Side-scrolling role-playing video games Single-player video games Video games developed in China Video games featuring female protagonists Windows games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games