Blade & Sorcery: Nomad never felt as fleshed out or high-tier as the PCVR version of the game, but yesterday, that changed. The developer, WarpFrog, has pushed out ‘The End Update’, the full release of Nomad that brings it up to spec and makes it feel like an entirely new game.
It’s not without issues, but this change boosts the game’s graphics, frame rate, performance, and sound effects. It also adds the core progression mode, which gives you something to aim for when you play.
It’s like Cyberpunk 2077’s ‘2.0’ update. It has made Nomad feel like an entirely new game.
Overhauled
Let’s get the downsides out of the way before we talk about Blade & Sorcery: Nomad’s full release.
When you install The End Update, you’ll lose all your mods as they’ll be incompatible. It’s advised that you hit ‘Uninstall All’ on your mod list before you proceed, as even having them installed could cause issues with your update. That’s a massive hit for anyone like me who previously had dozens of mods installed.
Another issue I have is with the combat – decapitation seems to be bizarrely easy, and simply tapping an enemy with a sword results in their head popping off. I’m not sure why, but it’s irritating.
That’s about it when it comes to issues.
The biggest talking point about The End Update is the addition of Crystal Hunt, which is Blade & Sorcery’s core progression mode. With this mode, you’ll get to pick a path and follow it with a new character, exploring an all-new world, never-before-seen (for Nomad) races and factions, and a gameplay loop that gives the game more of a point.
Here’s what WarpFrog had to say about the introduction of Crystal Hunt:
The addition of Crystal Hunt was sheer madness for us because it was like dropping a new game on top of the established Blade & Sorcery game that you already know. Then trying to make that work for the standalone headset… it was insanity fuel. However, here we are.
There’s a skill tree to work through, a trading system, immense new enemies, and a stack of lore and puzzles to unfold and uncover. The graphical improvements are nothing short of stunning, and as someone who poured hours upon hours into Blade & Sorcery: Nomad before the update, the changes are night and day.
Everything from the ambient sounds to the effects of spells, and from the detail on weapons to the way enemies behave mid-fight has been changed for the better.
It took me a good few minutes to get to grips with the changes, including the new inventory menu and journal system, but it was worth sticking to it. I cannot stress how impressive The End Update is. Let’s rattle through some more bonuses:
- There’s a new stash system and the ‘home’ is persistent when it comes to adding and moving things around
- Modders can now take full control of the SDK
- Enemy mages are now wild and have immense powers
- Enemy AI is much more realistic, particularly in combat
- The existing Arena maps have been overhauled
- The new armour sets and weapons feel and look superb
- For the first time, there’s a voiced and animated NPC shopkeeper
Of course, this monumental change has brought about a sharp price increase. Before, Blade & Sorcery: Nomad would have run you up a bill of just $19.99, but that has been increased to $29.99 to account for the overhaul update.
Verdict: Buy
The End Update makes one of the best games on VR even better. I didn’t know it was coming, so it was a very welcome surprise, but if you’ve been holding out waiting for the full release of Blade and Sorcery: Nomad, you won’t be disappointed. This feels like WarpFrog has given us an entirely new game, and it’s worth every second you spend exploring it.
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