En Garde!

En Garde! (with an exclamation mark) had looked like one of the rare few gaming highlights of otherwise unexciting 2023 to me: a vibrant and lighthearted swashbuckler game. The actual experience turned out to be quite frustrating now that I got to actually play it. That was probably in part due to lack of skill when going for all achievements but I think that certain mechanics can be rage-inducing, even when trying to get through the game casually.

A straightforward action comedy experience

You play as Adalia de Volador, an expert swordswoman and a hero of the people who opposes the oppressive ruler Count-Duke. Once again I was perplexed by a game character's face: on the cover art Adalia is prettier than in-game. The difference is deceptively subtle, like how her eyes are slightly larger and her hat's shadow and the hair curl mask her actual nose shape. I got this weird uncanny feeling every time I turned the camera to face her in-game and she didn't look like the Adalia on the cover but someone else. Otherwise her model is great, though, and animated well, too.

The game happens over four episodes, which are kind of separate adventures but the fourth one does tie them together, featuring reprises with the bosses of the previous three. En Garde was originally a student project that later got a proper team formed behind it to refine the game for a commercial release. It's still a short game: a casual playthrough takes around 4 hours. But if you decide to find all points of interest and secrets, complete all challenges, do 30-minute speedruns of each episode, and finally engage with the unlocked arena mode, you'll be looking a lot longer game. It took me over 17 hours to get 100% completion.

En Garde plays pleasantly smooth and fast -- and definitely doesn't require a controller for that despite the game's claim. Controls are responsive; new input interrupts current animation.

The game starts simple with 1-hp lackeys and 2-hp soldiers but keeps introducing more challenging ones overtime. For every hit point, you have to break the enemy's guard first. Guard bars regenerate over time unless the enemy has been weakened from being kicked down stairs, hit by objects etc. Things start getting noticeable more difficult once enemies with yellow guard bars enter the fray.

With a problematic mechanic

Enemies with such a guard bar -- elites, duelists, the third boss, and at least the encore version of the first boss -- regain their whole bar instantly if you don't correctly counter their attacks. If they hit you: full guard. If you dodge a parriable normal attack: full guard. The most diabolical thing is their red attack (can't be parried) plus normal attack combo. I always got used to needing only parry or only dodge against their attack chains so the normal attack after a red one surprised me almost every time despite there technically being enough time to react correctly.

It got particularly bad at the third boss fight and the first boss of episode 4, which both are set largely as empty arenas without the usual environmental objects you can use to weaken enemies and to gain panache (which powers your special abilities). You can't do the usual kiting around; your only option is to get good at responding correctly. The third boss also has an associated challenge to finish her off with your secret kick ability. It's so easy to accidentally final hit with a regular attack or for the low-damage secret kick to not defeat her. I had to retry the fight multiple times to complete the challenge.

It didn't surprise me that En Garde has an option to disable the instantly regenerating yellow guard. I honestly think the instant refill was not that great of an idea. There's also an option to turn on automatic parry. I turned both settings on when I went for the harder campaign achievements. I lowered game difficulty down to easy, too, after having played on normal up to that point.

The fourth episode's 30-min speedrun was a close one despite that: a bit over 28 minutes though I did get it on first try. There is also an achievement for finishing an episode without taking any damage. Attempting the first episode repeatedly was not a great time with its many mind-numbing tutorial encounters. They make you impatient and then a soldier surprises you with a red attack and it's back to square one.

Fun arena mode

The game's arena mode has the same achievement. I thought it would be even more annoying due to all the randomness but I got it on my third attempt on the easy, 3-arena run. The arena mode in fact largely redeemed En Garde for me. The random modifiers made the game fun again. I feel they favor the player because you can pick one from three positive modifiers every time. Some of them are a bit too good. And boss fights too happen in object-littered arenas where slapstick combat is possible.

En Garde turned out to be too arcadey for me. The linearity with strict encounter structure and comedic tone is not immersive. Combat being fun when not restricted, though. Also: having to hit a button for every line dialogue is dumb -- why not just have normal cutscene dialogue? You're not making choices. Holding down the button to skip all dialogue takes longer than smashing the button, too.