ActionRPG
Blade of Darkness
Give it 3 hours
Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 5h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending at least 18% of players who started
Started playing 77% of owners
Steam reviews 90% positive of 2,617
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 5 reviews are negative (20%); after 7h it's 1 in 17 (6%).
- Fully opens up by hour 5.
- At least 18% of players who start reach the ending.
- Most players drop off before “Fortress of Tel-Halaf”: only 41% of starters get there.
- 77% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 2,649 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 15.2h for positive, 3h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (77.4% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Fortress of Tel-Halaf Complete Fortress of Tel-Halaf level Most players quit here 41% −59
- Mines of Kelbegen Complete Mines of Kelbegen level 39% −2
- Tombs of Ephyra Complete Tombs of Ephyra level 34% −5
- Island of Karum Complete Island of Karum level 32% −2
- Shalatuwar Fortress Complete Shalatuwar Fortress level 28% −4
- The Oasis of Nejeb Complete The Oasis of Nejeb level 27% −1
- Fortress of Nemrut Complete Fortress of Nemrut level 27%
- The Gorge of Orlok Complete The Gorge of Orlok level 27%
- Temple of Al Farum Complete Temple of Al Farum level 25% −2
- Forge of Xshathra Complete Forge of Xshathra level 24% −1
- The Temple of Ianna Complete The Temple of Ianna level 23% −1
- Tower of Dal Gurak Complete Tower of Dal Gurak level 20% −2
- Abyss Complete Abyss level ≥18% −2
story milestone ending (most common ending) biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (56)
story milestone ending side
- First Blood Kill the first enemy 100%
- Basic Swings Complete a basic controls tutorial 74%
- A New Beginning Watch the game's intro till the end 57%
- Fortress of Tel-Halaf Complete Fortress of Tel-Halaf level 41%
- Mines of Kelbegen Complete Mines of Kelbegen level 39%
- Defeat The Troll of Kelbegen Kill The Troll of Kelbegen 39%
- Defeat the burning skeleton Kill the burning skeleton 35%
- Tombs of Ephyra Complete Tombs of Ephyra level 34%
- Defeat the stone golem Kill the stone golem 34%
- Chaos Knight encounter Survive the first encounter with Chaos Knight for Sargon 33%
- Island of Karum Complete Island of Karum level 32%
- Vampire - round one Defeat the vampire for the first time 32%
- Defeat Ragnar Kill the knight at Tabriz 30%
- The Cental Kingdoms Gaze at the map of the Kingdom a little longer 30%
- Tabriz Complete Tabriz`s story level 30%
- Kashgar Complete Kashgar, Tukaram`s story level 29%
- Carnage at Shalatuwar Kill Orc cheaftan, his minions and minotaur 29%
- Shalatuwar Fortress Complete Shalatuwar Fortress level 28%
- The Oasis of Nejeb Complete The Oasis of Nejeb level 27%
- Fortress of Nemrut Complete Fortress of Nemrut level 27%
- Defeat the Guardian of Birr Kill Guardian of Birr 27%
- The Gorge of Orlok Complete The Gorge of Orlok level 27%
- Vampire round two Defeat the vampire for the second time 27%
- Temple of Al Farum Complete Temple of Al Farum level 25%
- Defeat 2 stone golems Kill 2 stone golems 24%
- Forge of Xshathra Complete Forge of Xshathra level 24%
- Kill lava golem, Guardian of Uri-Sabrig Kill lava golem, Guardian of Uri-Sabrig 24%
- The Temple of Ianna Complete The Temple of Ianna level 23%
- Survivor Survive an encounter with Chaos Knight 23%
- Defeat Meskalamdug Kill Meskalamdug 21%
- Tower of Dal Gurak Complete Tower of Dal Gurak level 20%
- Defeat Dal Gurak Kill Dal Gurak 20%
- Kill the iron golems in the Abyss Kill the iron golems in the Abyss 19%
- Defeat lava golem in the Abyss Kill lava golem in the Abyss 18%
- Defeat the Chaos Knight in the Abyss Kill Chaos Knight in the Abyss 18%
- Defeat Meskalamdug in the Abyss Kill Meskalamdug in the Abyss 18%
- Defeat the vampire in the Abyss Kill the vampire in the Abyss 18%
- Bright future Choose to go to the Abyss and destroy the evil 18%
- Abyss Complete Abyss level 18%
- Defeat the Lord of Darkness in the Abyss Kill the Lord of Darkness in the Abyss 18%
- Defeat the demon Kill the demon at Marakamda 17%
- Marakamda Complete Marakamda, Zoe`s story level 17%
- Defeat the Troll at Kazel Zalam Kill the Troll of Kazel Zalam 16%
- Kazel Zalam Complete Kazel Zalam, Naglfar`s story level 16%
- Normal run Complete the game with the saves rating 'NORMAL' 14%
- Lend a hand Kill an enemy with a limb 14%
- Rebel Act Forever Watch the credits 12%
- That's bold Complete the game with the saves rating 'BOLD' 12%
- Sargon, the knight Complete the game as Sargon, a knight 11%
- Tukaram, the barbarian Complete the game as Tukaram a barbarian 9.6%
- A heroic deed Complete the game with the saves rating 'HEROIC' 8.7%
- Zoe, the amazon Complete the game as Zoe, an amazon 8.4%
- Nagfar, the dwarf Complete the game as Naglfar, a dwarf 6.3%
- You are awesome! Complete the game with the saves rating 'AWESOME!' 6.1%
- Dead end Choose not to destroy the evil completely 5.7%
- Express Darkness Complete the game in one run, in 8 hours or less without using saves a single time 2.6%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.