Slasher's Keep

I've always found something dislikable about first-person dungeon crawlers, be they turn- or action-based. Perhaps it's the confined atmosphere of a dungeon that doesn't, in my mind, mesh well with a first-person view. Today's game, Slasher's Keep, is not an exception.
As already mentioned, Slasher's Keep is a first-person action roguelike dungeon crawler. It's got randomly generated levels, and seems to put a lot of focus on its melee combat system, which expects you to make rather precise parries with your melee weapon against those of the enemies. As for more standard features, there's a few ranged weapons, crafting, randomly generated items, and a bunch of different enemies and traps. Standard stuff for a dungeon crawler.

I have a huge problem with this game that made me drop it after just a few runs. There is a huge focus on skill-based gameplay, where you strike the enemy, and then block their attack or move out of the way. I loved this kind of directional block swordfighting system in a game such as Mount & Blade, but here, all the models are 2D. This makes for a unique visual style, but it also makes it completely impossible to understand where anything is. When I have to parry an enemy, I have to know where my weapon has to be, because blocking based on visuals alone does not work. Similarly, I find it objectionable how a zombie has more range with just his arm than I do with my sword.
I'm afraid I can't go into much detail for the rest of the game, because between failing parries that visually clipped my weapon, getting outranged, and getting stuck on barrels and stairs while being shot at from afar, I quickly lost any interest in playing further.

Perhaps if you can push yourself through these initial frustrations, Slasher's Keep may get better. Maybe you'll eventually memorize the right angles for parrying, and know where you are not allowed to step on stairs to not get stuck. But even then, unless you really like the 2D art style or actually believe that the parry system, as implemented, is a positive for the game, there doesn't seem to be anything unique here. There's a fair amount of action roguelike dungeon crawlers, even though that's quite a specific genre. While I don't personally enjoy them, even I feel I've played ones with just more features and content, so I can't recommend this one.