Developed By: 7QUARK
Published by: Game Source Entertainment
Categories: RPG
Release Date: 05.14.2025
Price: $29.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review

I’m not a fan of roguelikes and roguelites. I can’t get behind things like permadeath and sometimes I don’t like the art style. Hades was a rare exception because the gameplay was fun and I occasionally liked Crypt of the Necrodancer. When I found out about Yasha, I gave it a shot because I liked how the game looked from the screenshots and trailers that I saw.

The game is a roguelite RPG that takes place during the Edo Period. In this world, there’s been balance between the humans and demons for a long time, but that changes when the ruler of the demons, Nine-tailed Fox, attacks.

You choose between one of three characters and set out on a grand adventure to restore peace. The three characters are Shigure the immortal ninja, Sara the oni emissary, and Taketora the demon samurai. Each one has their own unique playstyle.

Each run is pretty much the same because each area and the demons you fight are static. The only thing that might change is the loot and buffs that you collect. Running around each area and fighting the demons was my favorite aspect of the game. I thought combat was fast and fluid and the visuals for attacks were really good. Unfortunately, you’re a weakling when you first start off and you’re going to die pretty quickly.

Every time you die, you’re teleported back to the starting town, which serves as your base of operations. Here you can upgrade various aspects of your character using loot and souls that you collected during your run. You can spend your resources on upgrading passive abilities or unlock and upgrade various weapons. 

For each character, there’s a variety of weapons, and you can take two with you into battle. The more runs you attempt, the more upgrades you can do in between runs. But this is where the game loses some of its charm. There’s going to be a lot of repetition right at the start and while the combat remains fun and fluid, the progression loop becomes bland after an hour or two.

When you have a killer run and finally defeat the game, that’s just the beginning. Next you get to pick one of the remaining characters and start the game all over again. Your next playthrough will be basically the same but you’ll unlock modifiers to mess with the experience and new character you choose will have a different playstyle. 

While the modifiers and different playstyles do shake things up a bit, you’re still going through the same motions. You can get between 15 and 30 hours of playtime if you don’t mind the repetition and constant grinding, but I don’t see the average gamer doing more than one run and for $30 it’s a bit on the expensive side.

6/10