Dire Vengeance is Out on Switch – 5 Reasons Why It’s One to Watch

Everybody loves a good platformer, and Dire Vengeance – from developer MagicShotGames – is shaping up to be one of our top picks of 2022. Available on PC and Nintendo Switch, Dire Vengeance is a classic old school side-scrolling platformer with some heavy duty gothic vibes, a retro look and feel, and some of the best game music we’ve heard in a while. 

The story is as high stakes as it gets. An army of depraved cultists have opened a portal to the Dark Realm, and demons are mounting an invasion. To stop them, you’ll need to go through the same portal in the opposite direction, entering hell and taking on the monsters, deadly statues, and unspeakable creatures that inhabit the underworld. 

Along the way you’ll encounter hidden passages, concealed weapons, wielders of occult magic, and horrible machines designed to rip off your arms and legs. Dire Vengeance is looking like an essential purchase for die-hard side-scrolling platformer fans and metroidvania fans. 

Here are the five reasons we think it’s one to watch:

Inspired Influences

Dire Vengeance’s main inspiration is plain to see. This is a game in the Castlevania mold, from the gothic architecture to the sword-wielding main character. But it’s no pale imitation, and it doesn’t stop at Castlevania. 

Look closely and you’ll find traces of Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, and Gradius in its makeup. MagicShotGames has drawn inspiration from the world of film, too, injecting Dire Vengeance with hearty shots of Alien, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Hellraiser. 

While Dire Vengeance is a whole new interactive experience in its own right, it carries echoes of some vintage screen moments. 

Huge Bestiary of Terrible Monsters

There are more monsters than you can shake a stick at in Dire Vengeance. This is also true of your Viper Sword. No matter how much you shake it, there are always more goons to obliterate. 

You’ll encounter 60 different enemies. Among them are gruesome walking skeletons, hulking gargoyles, weird tiny dragons, laser-eyed gorgons, and gross floating eyeballs with tentacles hanging from their undersides. 

Then there are the bosses, all with their own movements and attacks. You’ll have to take down 21 of these brutes before you reach the end of the game. 

You might regret getting that far, however, as the final boss is the devil herself. 

Forge Your Own Path

Dire Vengeance is a linear action game, but your upgrade path is far from linear. Instead, you spend the Orbs you collect on upgrading your abilities flexibly, choosing the ones that suit your playing style. 

That means Dire Vengeance is a different experience for every player who picks it up.

Or, looking at it another way, Dire Vengeance is infinitely replayable, with each run involving different choices and a different gameplay experience. 

Hand-Drawn Art

MagicShotGames is a homegrown indie studio founded by childhood friends Karl Espiritu and Adam Seger, who met in 2nd grade. 

And, in the best possible way, Dire Vengeance looks exactly how you’d expect a labor of love to look, with hand-painted art, brilliantly designed enemies, and lush backdrops full of color and detail. 

According to MagicShotGames, the visuals have been “painstakingly assembled to inflict maximum terror”, which is quite the sales pitch.

Kickass Soundtrack

Given the story, presentation, and gameplay in Dire Vengeance, there’s only one musical genre worthy of providing a soundtrack: 

Yep. Heavy metal. 

Hooman Ahmadi, AKA the “Master of Metal”, has composed a bone-shaking hard rock score to accompany you on your journey through hell. It’s so good, in fact, that it’s worth listening to even when you’re not playing the game. 

And if you buy the Deluxe Edition of Dire Vengeance, you can do just that. 

Dire Vengeance is out now on Steam and available on Nintendo eShop from the October 26th, 2022. 

---

Thank you for stopping by Nintendo Link! What do you think of Dire Vengeance? Do you think you will check it out now after learning about all these awesome reasons? Let us know in the comments!