The Count-Duke was the favourite of Spain’s Philip IV.
In paintings from the era he fairly radiates malice and self-interest.
He was huge and powerful, the epitome of the power behind the throne.
En Garde!
His scheming notes are scattered around waiting to be found.
He’s planning something - something big and terrible.
Like the real Count-Duke in the court of Philip IV, his presence in this world is inescapable.
Fans of Spanish history will enjoy stuff like this, I think, but the delights of En Garde!
are so generous, so freewheeling that there’s something for everyone.
It’s a colourful journey across a bunch of lovely, intricate maps.
It’s a bit of a treat in every way.
Let’s look at the platforming first.
All of this allows En Garde!
to bend its simple action-adventure agenda into lovely wriggly shapes.
Crowd management is the real challenge; rushing in swinging is almost never a good idea from the off.
But it’s not all parrying.
As the enemies evolve, so do your abilities.
There are special attacks that you might earn the juice for by countering and striking with elegance.
Here is where combat sings, in fact.
The sheer energy of the game also helps me to forgive a slight fuzziness to the edges.
I also think - and I appreciate this is highly subjective - that En Garde!
might be a little too challenging at times.
En Garde!
It’s worth sticking with it through such moments, though.
Well played, En Garde!
