The Tarnishing of Juxtia is a title where you fight against the Tarnishing. A corruption that seeps into the whole world.
The Tarnishing of Juxtia is a soulslike, side-scrolling RPG from developers Actual Nerds is a game set in a fictional world where the Tarnishing is tearing it apart. The game has a surprising amount of depth that seems to continuously surprise. Whether it’s the game’s interesting world lore and narrative to the game’s beautiful art style.
There is so much to unpack about this game. At a runtime that can last up to 20 hours, the game consistently adds more and more to the experience. The game’s narrative serves as the skeletal structure that will lead the player down the ever-winding paths and incredible environments.
To begin with, I will focus on the gameplay, the core part of this full package. Put simply, The Tarnishing of Juxtia’s gameplay is incredible. Stellar. Starting with movement, the game has some very fun and addictive, if simplistic, platforming that serves as an excellent mix and something else to do when you’re not out there slaughtering enemies… Speaking of which, The Tarnishing of Juxtia’s combat is amazing. The combat is fast and has a massive focus on aggression. Dashing back and forth as you slash at enemies is addictive, so much so that it holds every ounce of your attention.
Moreover, in terms of the gameplay of the title, The Tarnishing of Juxtia has some incredible bosses. Their designs are spectacular, and every single one feels unique in some way. Surprisingly, none of my deaths throughout the whole experience ever felt ‘cheap’, and it felt like every death was what it was supposed to be… A learning experience.
Of course, for those who are not fond of difficult games, The Tarnishing of Juxtia may have to be missed. The game is unforgiving in some places, with even the most basic of enemies seeming to do an incredible amount of damage.
In addition to the title’s gameplay, the game also features a levelling system. It doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, instead going for the traditional Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Endurance, Wisdom and Intelligence route. This system is basic and works fairly well. Though I will state that in some cases, the UI on the levelling system doesn’t feel incredibly informative, particularly when it comes to brand damage with skills like Wisdom and Intelligence.
When it comes to the game’s UI, it can be rather inconsistent. Basic things like health bars and abilities are fine and perfectly readable. But other menus, like the inventory menu, are clunky and hard to navigate, never mind how pointless and complicated the map is to read. You’d be better off completely ignoring the map almost completely as it did nothing for me except cause more confusion.
When it comes to the weapons in The Tarnishing of Juxtia, they are exemplary. However, there is a clear disadvantage to heavier weapons. In a game so focused on dodging and getting in with quick attacks, weapons like warhammers are at a massive disadvantage, to the point that using them will get you killed… Often. Furthermore, the title allows you to have two weapons equipped, but the weapons upgrade system encourages a more singular focus, finding and specialising in your weapon early on, which is a shame considering the wide variety of available weapon choices.
Moving away from The Tarnishing of Juxtia’s gameplay, let’s look at the aesthetics. I’m very confident in saying that this game is one of the best-looking games to release this year. It’s constantly oozing with its brilliant style that seems to pop off the screen. The vivid colours and incredible-looking armour and weapons enhance the game. Every background and even simple things like platforms are done to perfection, and everything fits together so perfectly.
There is not a piece of this game’s art style that seems out of place, and it all meshes together to create some of the most spectacular visuals found in any game released this year.
In addition to the art style, the music and sound of the game are superb. The music is stellar, immersing you in this tragically corrupted world. Every piece of boss music is incredible and always succeeds in hyping me up for a boss fight and increasing that tension to incredible heights.
The sound design is great. The swords, hammers, even moving with armour on, it is all great. There can be a moment where sounds are repeated too many times that they become repetitive, particularly enemy grunts and groans, but other than that, the sound is amazing.
One unfortunate aspect of this title is a severe lack of accessibility options. The lack of these options simply serves to prevent many gamers from being able to play this great game. Accessibility is such an important aspect of games that it needs to be addressed, and this game unfortunately has very minimal accessibility features.
Finally, the last aspect of the game I will mention is the game’s narrative. This surprised me quite a bit. While it isn’t the most in-depth story, I found it surprisingly captivating. The character dialogue is cryptic in that ‘Dark Souls’ esque style, but while some of these soulslike titles tend to enter the realm of almost seeming like poor parodies, The Tarnishing of Juxtia manages to create some intense and interesting dialogue, all interlinked with some very interesting world lore.
Overall, passion is what I think of when I think of this game. Great combat, stellar visuals, with a surprisingly engaging narrative serve to craft an experience that is incredibly addictive and fun. While the game may suffer from a lack of accessibility options, the occasional amount of repetitive sound design and a poor map and inventory UI, The Tarnishing of Juxtia is still a great game and a soulslike that is full of passion and heart.
The Tarnishing of Juxtia is available right now on PC. Here at GamesCreed, we cover everything gaming. From the latest news to stellar reviews, GamesCreed has you covered.
