While I’ll gladly dig into challenging shooters and roguelikes of various kinds, for whatever reason I’ve never quite gotten into the slower and more plodding Souls-like style of play and pain. Maybe it’s the ADHD in me, but too much time spent trying to trigger an attack, that you’ll then be able to parry and counter, drives me nuts. While I was able to have some modest successes with my more impatient style, I do think In Celebration of Violence wasn’t inclined to show me much mercy.

Looking like a top-down game from a generation or two ago, you won’t want to roll into the experience expecting it to be a looker. From the initial, and in some ways laughably limited, character creation screen to the towns, to the many things you’ll try to slay, it has a decidedly simplistic style. For the most part its style of play is also leaning more to the bare bones side, with a much higher value placed in timing and technique over flair. Almost out of the gate you’ll be hitting the countryside, full of procedural groupings of animals as well as some unsavory sorts who won’t take kindly to you attacking them. For best results, you’ll want to take some time getting to know and understand the flow of battle, though it will vary somewhat between melee fighters and those who’ll attack you at range, as in general carelessness will lead to death.

Where my issues really sit with the experience is more the somewhat aimless feel it has as you embark. For me too much of the experience just “is”, with it taking time and repetition of runs to understand things as simple as how upgrades and things like shrines work, what you’re supposed to be doing, where you’re supposed to be going, and whether it really is a good idea to slaughter people back in town or not. I’m guessing this is by design in some way, or it could simply be by simple omission. But at this point even challenging games will generally try to give you some guidance to follow, and by comparison this left me feeling too left to my own devices. I’m certain that can have appeal to some, but as someone who values my time I’m not a fan.

Setting aside the somewhat clunky nature of the game’s look and general feel, on the whole it does feel like a world put together by design. Whether or not it fits my tastes may well vary with others, and I can appreciate that discovery and working out all of a game’s systems and nuances has appeal to some communities. I’d argue that even if you’re a fan of a challenge there are quite a number of better options on the Switch eShop from a number of directions, but if you’re down for something that does things its own way this could scratch an itch.