When you’re playing and reviewing games, there’s nothing quite as exciting as getting a taste of new ideas, but when they get hamstrung by less-than-stellar implementation it can be frustrating. Blade Chimera is one such title, with a general feel all its own that’s equal parts a good and a bad thing, unfortunately. But, if you can be patient with it, and either adapt to or alter the default control scheme, the further you go the more it improves, which does help to smooth the experience over.

While you may be accustomed to Metroidvania-style exploration and combat action, it’s unlikely you’ve encountered any combat systems with quite this much variety and eventual customization. Not merely capable of working with both melee and ranged weapons, you’ll also find that the demon sword that you wield can be amazingly versatile, with a number of offensive, defensive, and utility uses it gives you that often have some great visual flair. Since you’ll face a variety of foes big and small, both in the air and on the ground, you’ll also find that they’ll be quite necessary the further along you go in your adventure.

Where the problem lies is first that managing your abilities across 3 different weapons can be a bit awkward, even if it allows for a great deal of versatility in how you play. Some key abilities offered by your demon sword can feel a little inconsistent to pull off at times as well, though usually that won’t end up killing you just perhaps slow you down a little. A more consistent issue is that too often it feels like you’ll repeatedly run up against the same two (or sometimes three) enemies in certain sections while simply advancing in a given area. That can make play feel a bit monotonous, though you could choose to make it more enjoyable by simply choosing to take down each enemy in a different way since there are so many means of killing at your disposal.

In the end this adds up to a unique but perhaps a bit uneven play experience, though there’s no question that it looks pretty amazing on a consistent basis. The enemies, even if a bit repetitive, tend to have distinctive looks to them, most of your demon sword abilities have great visual flourishes to them, and in general you can see the earnest effort to make something new and exciting all around you. While I do wish the level of challenge was a little higher, and that in general enemy encounters were far more varied, if you choose to continue to play with different combos to take enemies down, rather than simply go with what works, it can feel fresh and exciting. It’s hardly a perfect game, but it absolutely feels like it should be memorable.