Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster Review A Metroidvania

Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster: Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster successfully combines the retro spirit of classic 2D adventures with modern elements to create an experience that feels both familiar and fresh. Its excellent visual style, atmosphere, varied enemies and engaging NPC conversations are among its biggest strengths, while more responsive controls and greater variety could make it even better. If you enjoy Metroidvania games or are looking for something that brings back the feeling of 90s gaming, The Beastmaster is definitely worth checking out. – Ognjen Janjic

von 10

2026-09-11T08:47:25+02:00

Here we have something special. Something nostalgic, yet modern. Something that gives you the feeling of playing games from the 90s while also reminding you that this is something fresh. Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster is one of those games that could potentially attract new fans to the genre. It is a hand-drawn 2D dark fantasy Metroidvania, and I genuinely believe that someone who has never paid much attention to Metroidvania games might start doing so after playing this.

A Story That Introduces Us to Arborea

The story of Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster takes place in the fantasy world of Arborea, devastated after the so-called Portal Wars. Humans and non-human races are once again entering into conflict, while the King of the Empire, with the help of the Holy Kingdom and the wizard Trece XIII, declares war on the non-human peoples.

And in the middle of this chaos appears the last Beastmaster, a warrior from prophecy who can wield the powers of animals and mythical creatures. Your mission, as the aforementioned Beastmaster, is to uncover the truth (and the lies) behind the war and decide whether you will unite humans and beasts or keep them separated forever. The game also opens with a fantastic animated sequence.

Hack-and-Slash Combat That Can Get Chaotic

As I mentioned, this is a 2D game, and I mean that in the best possible way. It works extremely well as one. The combination of its themes, this type of gameplay, and the atmosphere is phenomenal. The combat is quite gory, in a genuinely positive and entertaining way, which honestly makes the fights more fun. The enemies are impressively varied and interesting, and I honestly expected less.

However, I have to admit that I did find one weakness in this area. On a few occasions, combat can become quite chaotic in a bad way, and I feel that it could be a little more polished. I sometimes had the impression that the response wasn't always as quick as the speed of my inputs required. That said, this is really a minor issue and shouldn't bother you once you get used to the game's mechanics.

The game is essentially repetitive, and I am someone who can usually be bothered by that. Here, however, it didn't really bother me. I also think fans of this genre tend to be impressively tolerant of repetition. They won't be disappointed here, and I think they will have a lot of fun.

Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster also features side quests through conversations with other characters, fantastic boss battles, and something I really love – choices that affect the outcome of the game. Yes, this game has that too.

Atmosphere and Visual Style Steal the Show

This is the strongest card in Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster's hand. The game is highly atmospheric, the visual style is really cool, the map is great, and the whole thing even reminded me of a really good anime. The game also contains an impressive amount of dialogue with NPCs, which honestly delighted me.

The visual design of every character is phenomenal, to the point where I even have to mention as a criticism that not every NPC has their own visual during conversations. That would have been great. I don't know if I'm being overly picky here, but I liked them so much that I was genuinely disappointed that every NPC didn't have one.

The atmosphere feels like a proper dungeon-crawling experience, and what really blew me away was that the background isn't always static as you move around. It has its own animations, which makes the game world feel much more alive.

Retro Sound That Fits the Atmosphere Perfectly

The sound is great. It's retro, but at the same time strangely modern in the lack of a better description. The enemy sounds are what I liked most about this aspect of the game. Some of them can sound genuinely creepy, while others are surprisingly funny.

The sound design really contributes positively to the overall impression and immersion. It isn't something that is pushed too hard, but it fits the game perfectly.