Kaan: Barbarian's Blade

If you are trying to find an interesting and intriguing combat game to play that was a PS2 classic, you might wish to try out Kaan: Barbarian's Blade. This popular fighting game follows the story of someone who is chased from home, with the princess captured and thus must be rescued. Pretty basic stuff, but what Kaan: Barbarian's Blade does to help make the journey worthwhile is it offers a deep enough combat system to keep you coming back for more. Is, though, this classic worth trying out today?

A PS2 classic – with all the pros and cons

Given this came out some three console generations ago, expecting modern flow and graphical quality would be a mistake. What you get with Kaan: Barbarian's Blade is a classic PS2-era game with a simple enough story, a deep enough combat system, and an enjoyable gameplay loop that can keep you wishing to keep playing.

The game does come without voice actor, which can somewhat limit the artistic detail, but the graphics and the gameplay are enough to keep most coming back. If you have played other PS2 combat-themed games such as Kengo, you will probably find this game easy enough to play. It shares a lot in common with various third party action games of the time, and even has some similarities with less action-oriented platformers like Spyro the Dragon. In terms of pure gameplay loop, though, it’s more akin to something like Diablo in terms of the fact most of the time you are grinding for gear to help improve your character stats overall.

Showing its age in 2021

While at the time the armour and weapons depth in collection was deep enough to keep fans coming back, today it won’t hold up anywhere near as well. The game itself is fun and engaging enough for those who like simple combat (albeit repetitive over time) and who like to collect gear. However, it falls down quite drastically when it comes to telling an original story or finding a way to get you emotionally invested in the whole story.

It’s a fun enough game with enough there to keep you playing, but it’s fair to say that publisher DreamCatcher Interactive didn’t catch a timeless design with Kaan: Barbarian's Blade. It’s a good enough game, albeit heavily aged given it came out close to 20 years ago. It’s a simple enough game to play and can easily be mastered thanks to the simple combat and skill system.

Pros:

• Exciting enough gameplay loop
• Decent combat and weapons/armour collection system

Cons:

• Dated controls, layout, design, and storyline