To talk about Griefhelm means that I have to talk about the elephant in the room for anyone interested in this game. That elephant being Nidhogg. Nidhogg is a 1v1 fighting/party game where you play as a fencer. You have to eliminate your opponent and run as far as you can go before they spawn to be another roadblock to your destination.
This Tug of War styled game hasn’t been done better since Nidhogg in my opinion. Even the sequels pale in comparison to the originals incredible fluid animations and fast-paced back and forth gameplay.
Griefhelm is clearly inspired by Nidhogg, though it takes a much slower approach.
In Griefhelm this tug of war battle is fought as knights with a variety of weapons. Weight, speed, and distance are all accounted for with these weapons and add extremely interesting variety to the game. You switch around from 3 stances to hit enemies with a low attack, a thrusting mid, and a meaty overhead slash. When the back and forth gameplay is played with well-timed parries and tricky mix-ups Griefhelm is at it’s best. The excitement of the swords clashing as you think out your next attack is pretty addictive.
Griefhelm offers a variety of different modes as well. You can go for a team-based mode where the team that scores the most points wins. A horde mode where waves of enemies at you from both directions and a campaign mode!
The campaign mode really adds good amount of variety in a game like this. If it weren’t for this mode I’d only ever play this game with friends around. It’s super replayable because of all the branching paths and if you like the gameplay these kinds of games offer then you’re totally gonna get your money’s worth. What else can I say? It has cool writing and a stat-based gear system. What else could you ask for in a game like this?
Griefhelm also offers a bunch of nice stages to look at as you murder your way through the end. It’s all very pretty, there’s something about the lighting in the stages that make the really stand out. It’s not just the stages though, the game looks great overall. The graphics aren’t cutting edge or anything but the art direction and use of the 2D plane make it so that every stage looks like a grandiose battleground where only two warriors remain, destined to clash swords.
The music is just as fantastic. It’s moody and atmospheric and if you know me I like my games moody and atmospheric… This is a lie. But the music being great isn’t! It sets the tone of the game extremely well and adds to the whole grand feeling of being in a one on one medieval battle.
Play this game with your friends, your family, your dog, and yourself, you got options stacked on top of options!
Is Griefhelm a fun time? Yes. Is it Nidhogg? Kinda but it offers a lot more and has way meatier combat if that’s your jam.
Griefhelm gets an