Naraka: Bladepoint hands-on preview: Last ninja standing

We’ve seen several spins on the battle royale genre since it exploded in popularity a handful of years ago. With the continued success of the genre, more and more developers have thrown their hat into the ring, offering their own take on the last-man-standing model. Naraka: Bladepoint is the latest battle royale to enter the arena, from the team at 24 Entertainment. I got to play a few matches of the game for an early preview.

By the blade

Naraka: Bladepoint follows the standard battle royale formula, with a bunch of players spawning into a map, fighting to be the last one alive. There’s even the shrinking circle that slowly forces players inward towards each other. Where Naraka differs from other battle royales is in its theme of Chinese mythology. Players take on the roles of ninjas, scaling buildings and using acrobatic abilities to eliminate their enemies.

When exploring the map in Naraka: Bladepoint, players will gather weapons and gear. This includes swords, longswords, and bows. There’s also firearms, though they’re far more rudimentary weapons than the guns players are familiar with in similar games. The melee weapons make for some exciting moments, especially when you get into a duel with another player.

Ascend to new heights

Traversal is a big aspect of Naraka: Bladepoint. Players can quickly climb buildings and scale structures to reach elevated areas. This is useful when chasing after an enemy, or trying to make a quick escape. There’s also grappler bolts that can be found when looting, which will let players latch onto ledges Batman-style.

There are a variety of different characters that players can choose from in Naraka: Bladepoint. Although core gameplay will come down to skill and looted loadouts, the different playable characters offer some unique abilities that can shake up combat. For example, the character I played as, Viper Ning, had an Ultimate Ability that temporarily stunned all surrounding enemies, making them quick work for me and my allies. Players will also be able to purchase additional style options and customize the appearance of their character.

To the point

Naraka: Bladepoint is looking to take the battle royale model and give it a clean spin. There’s several mechanics and features that will give players new ways to approach combat and other scenarios. Though the genre has been heavily-explored, Naraka: Bladepoint is bringing some new ideas to the table.

These impressions are based on an early build of Naraka: Bladepoint played via Steam demo. Naraka: Bladepoint is set to launch on August 12, 2021.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_