The first thing I noticed right off the bat was the art style. I thought I'd seen it before somewhere and it wasn't until I got off the plane, hit Wi-Fi and was able to Google it that I discovered that Severed is made by a developer called Drinkbox Studios who also made another great game called Guacamelee! Just as an aside, if you haven't played that you should also go check it out because it's fantastic.
So the game starts out and you find yourself in the role of a young girl who's family has been taken away by monsters and your arm has been cut off. You walk through her destroyed house and an evil thing in a mirror gives you a sword and then you go on an adventure to get them back. The story is a bit bare bones but it's got everything you need to make you want to press on. A missing family and a world full of weird monsters and places to kill and explore.
Game play wise the game plays sort of like Zelda had a baby with one of those weird first person horror dungeon crawlers on the Amiga or something. You have to explore dungeons and each dungeon gives you a piece of gear that will not only solve the puzzles in that dungeon but open up extra bits of the world for you to go and find secrets and whatnot. There are three "worlds" let say with one hub area that connects them and as you gain gear and skills you'll want to back track for heart pieces (for more health of course) and brain pieces (for mana)
It's the combat however where this game really shines. You use the touch screen to swipe enemies with your sword and each enemy has different patterns that you have to work out in order to deal damage and to block their oncoming attacks. At first you just work out how to kill them and then kill them but as you progress through the game it starts throwing multiple enemies at you which surround you. This puts you in situations where your having to manage not only attacks and blocks but doling out the occasional smack to the enemy behind you or to your side so that their attack meter doesn't fill up and slaps a bunch of your life away. If you deal out enough hits without being attacked or blocked you fill up a bonus meter and when the meter is full it allows you to....SEVER!....enemy body parts which you collect and use to power up your characters skills.
I have two complaints about this game, the first being that it felt a bit short. I don't know if it's ACTUALLY short but I managed to finish it after spending only a couple hours on the plane and then a couple more on a bus tour ride but it could just be that I'm really good. Also the upgrade system is broken and you can basically get all the upgrades you need even if you suck at the game. Sometimes in pots and things you find "giblets" and one of the first skills you learn is how to transmute giblets into upgrade items. Even if you somehow manage to go the entire game not being able to sever a single body part (impossible) you could still power up enough for the final boss to be a complete cakewalk.
Still, despite these complaints I had a great time with Severed, it's a fun game with a lot of personality. I played the Vita version but apparently it's on mobile, Wii U and Switch so go check it out.
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