En Garde!

En Garde! is at its best when swordplay stays readable and playful, with parries, dodges, and improvised movement doing the heavy lifting. By our assessment, its main appeal is the theatrical rhythm of the fights: it wants you to stay light on your feet and use the arena as part of the duel. The downside is that this sort of stylish combat can feel narrower than a full-size action game, because its whole identity rests on timing and presentation more than on sprawling systems. In practice it plays like a fencing-flavoured action game with a comic edge, brisk enough to stay lively without becoming messy. Compared with broad hack-and-slash games, it is more focused and less noisy, which gives it a cleaner feel. En Garde! is the sort of game to reach for when you want duels first and everything else second.