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The developers at the small indie studio, SouthPAW Games, have said Skul can swap out with another skull and create up to 70 new playable characters. This detachable feature means he can also swap it out when something better comes along. He can also throw his skull as a long-range attack and then teleport wherever his skull ends up. Combined, these moves make for a fast-paced game with plenty of mayhem. Skul has a number of basic skills available: jump, double jump, dash, and hit. Each battle scene even has a little mini-map, indicating the enemies as red blocks and your doorway out as green blocks. You’re going to be seeing a lot of this room.
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The game doesn’t really start until you are in the throne room of the Demon King’s castle, gaining advice from a shapeshifting witch-cat-lady. The first chapter is your initial introduction. It was also fun to see how they reacted to playing as “the bad guy” who wasn’t really a bad guy. It has been a huge hit with all three of our kids taking turns to share the gameplay and learn from each other. Best of all, the game is suitable for the kids being fast, entertaining, and not overwhelming with battle scenes. The controls were smooth and responsive, the graphics were easy to see on both big screen and handheld. I reviewed Skul: The Hero Slayer on the Nintendo Switch, and it was a joy to play. But there is something really annoying about this “Hero Mob” and Skul is ready to do the right thing. Skul is the last survivor of an attack on the Demon King’s castle, and, in all honesty, he doesn’t really seem like the kind of guy to seek revenge. To be fair, the skeletons just want to be left alone. They have convinced the world how evil the demons are. The humans appear to have a better marketing campaign. But then we meet Skul, a skeleton reanimated and asked to join the battle to save the Demon King and push back the human invasion. We don’t see the death (it’s sad but definitely not gory or anything like that).
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It begins with a young boy who died at the hand of another. The story focuses on Skul, our short in stature but big in bravery main character. It’s easy to point out its similarities with Hollow Knight and Hades, however, Skul has added its own finesse on many of the fight scenes, giving it a fresh touch that is enjoyable to play. Skul is a 2D action-platformer with rogue-lite features and a unique skill mechanic.
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Well, players, I’m telling you that little skull is exactly what we need on Day 24 of our Halloween Game reviews. But what if the bad guys aren’t really the bad guys? What if… now, stay with me… What if the humans really are a bunch of jerks? Especially the so-called heroes, with their fame and glory and fantastic hair? What if the true hero is someone small? With no fame or glory? And definitely no fantastic hair-it’s just a bald swappable skull. We’re pretty close to Halloween, and I have to admit, all of these games have given me a bit of an appetite for playing the bad guys.
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