Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer Review

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Fast Facts

Meet the X Slayers

Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer is a retro first-person shooter inspired by one of the characters in Hypnospace Outlaw. The game is a traditional shooter in nearly every regard, yet this narrative adds some unique flavour to the formula. Does it do enough to stand out? Find out in this Rapid Review.

While watching the trailer for Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer, the game’s narrative design immediately stood out. It looked interesting, and having enjoyed Hypnospace Outlaw, I looked forward to viewing the inner machinations of Zane’s mind. As I booted up the game for the first time, I got excited and enjoyed seeing how the different components of the theme intertwined. Simple things like intentionally incorrect grammar and misspelt words make the world unique. These components added to the world and helped the game stand out. 

However, the angsty influences did not end there. Throughout the game, characters make comments that include jokes about characters and their mothers. Though these comments were inoffensive, they got repetitive quickly. Plus, apart from a few plot developments, these comments were the story. Since the overarching plot did not have a lot of development outside of these comments, there was not enough variety to keep me entertained in the story and writing. That being said, I did enjoy a lot of the characters. The main characters not only had unique designs but stood out more than I would have expected in a first-person shooter. I enjoyed them, and since they were recognisable, they helped me remember the plot. Unfortunately, as a whole, I did not enjoy the writing in Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer. It was repetitive, which ultimately disappointed me despite its neat premise.

Slay Bells Ring

Although I felt a bit disappointed with the writing, I typically play first-person shooters for the gameplay. Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer is a typical one. In each stage, I take out enemies while finding secrets and keys that lead me to the next stage. Though this title only features nine main story levels, each one visually stood out, and there was a decent variety here. 

The game also features a variety of weapons. Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer had glass-shooting shotguns, rocket launchers, and even a special amulet that enabled my character to shoot a laser beam out of his hands. Though none of the weapons were insanely unique, they were far more memorable than standard weapons. For example, glass shotgun ammunition could be found by breaking mirrors and windows. I enjoyed their uniqueness and how that factored into the gameplay. 

Unfortunately, despite enjoying the weapons, I did not have as great an experience with the enemy designs. At the beginning of the game, the enemies are fairly inoffensive. They shoot projectiles or run up to you, but they all telegraph their attacks well. However, as the game progresses, enemy swarms begin to increase. There can be tens of enemies attacking simultaneously. Some enemies even shoot explosives which do immense damage and explode in an area of effect, making them more challenging to dodge. The massive hordes and menacing potential damage output these sections brought were not overly enjoyable. While sometimes these segments were challenging, I was more disappointed because the optimal way to play many of the levels is to bait out enemies one at a time. This feedback loop was boring. I often found myself playing more brazenly, dying, and then slowly taking out each enemy to progress.

Diving Deeper

While my distaste for the combat was sometimes related solely to the enemy layouts and designs, it is undeniable that as I progressed, the game performed significantly more poorly. Explosion effects slowed down my game. Hordes of enemies trended inversely with my frame rate. There were so many times when Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer felt awkward and clunky solely because the game was not performing well. Two out of the three boss fights felt awful to play due to bad performance on the Switch. Therefore, while I believe that even at an optimal performance, I would find the level and enemy designs frustrating, the game would undeniably be a completely different experience, so I am not sure. 

Unfortunately, major disappointment with the combat and levels ensued because of this. It is a shame too, because I enjoyed a lot of how the levels were laid out. Though this game is not overly special in the way that certain areas are blocked by keys and exploration will enable me to unlock those sections, it was a fun feedback loop and I enjoyed exploring the different sections in Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer. There were also a bunch of map pieces which made it far easier for me to explore. The designs of the stages were set up nicely with neat setpieces and a legible map. 

Still, despite the nice themes, the gameplay as a whole was disappointing. Whether because of the poor performance or the tedious and slow gameplay loop the game inspired me to use, I found the gameplay of Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer not very fun.

Theming and Dreaming

To supplement the gameplay, the developers introduced a solid soundtrack. I enjoyed the rock themes as I explored new areas. However, the developers also included a bunch of raunchy one-liners for my character to shout. These were not my favorite parts of the game, I sometimes found them annoying, but as a whole, I did not mind them too much. The sound design overall, was good. 

The visuals, however, were not so great. I looked at the trailer and thought the art style was nice. Yet, in game, it was not my favorite. Nothing was particularly bad, but at the same time, nothing impressed me all too much. Importantly, there were some negative gameplay implications of the art style. Many of the enemies are these two-dimensional cutouts that constantly attempt to face the player. Unfortunately, this did not always work. Sometimes I had to face enemies who were shooting at me directly, yet facing me from the side, meaning they were practically invisible to me. It made their hitboxes smaller and was incredibly frustrating. Though this did not happen very often, when it did, I disliked it a lot. Though the visuals were aesthetically sufficient, they often led to confusion in terms of gameplay.

As a whole, I did not enjoy my experience with Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer very much. The weapons are neat and the theming is nice, but the story is nothing special, the game runs poorly, and despite having an adequate game design, the multitude of issues and lack of unique draw makes it hard to recommend this game over others on the console. It seems as though people liked it on PC, so if the theming stands out to you, the game might be worth investigating there. 

Rapid Reviews Rating

2.5 out of 5

2.5

You can purchase Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer on the Nintendo eShop here.