Severed builds its entire game around a single demand: fight with one hand. DrinkBox Studios made a first-person dungeon crawler where the touchscreen is the only weapon, and it never once apologizes for that. The game launched on PlayStation Vita in North America and Europe on April 26, 2016, then reached Wii U and iOS on September 22, 2016, 3DS in Europe the same day, North America on October 13, and Japan on December 28.
Trailer, via fuzzyren works.
Swipe to swing, cut to craft
The combat is the whole hinge. You swipe to attack, and every fight becomes a small test of angle and timing rather than a memorized combo. There is no dodge button to mash. The screen is the controller, and Severed is honest about that from the first room.
Then it asks for more. Enemies do not just drop loot when they die. You sever their body parts, and those parts feed a crafting system that builds and upgrades your armor. That is a loot loop with a body count, and it gives every kill a second job beyond survival.
The RPG, hack-and-slash, adventure and indie labels all fit Severed, but none of them captures it. It is a first-person dungeon crawler with touch-based combat, single player from start to finish.
The Vita version landed first
The rollout was staggered, and that says something about how DrinkBox viewed each platform. PS Vita got Severed first, in April 2016, where the touchscreen was native and the mechanic needed no translation. Wii U and iOS followed in September, 3DS in Europe the same month and North America in October, and Japan in December.
That is a slow burn for an indie release. It also means Severed was never a single-platform story. It was a Vita game, then a Wii U game, then a 3DS game, and the touch combat had to make sense on each one.
DrinkBox developed and published Severed itself. The studio’s other work is not part of this story. What is left is spare: you crawl, you fight, you cut, you craft, you go deeper.
What the touchscreen costs
Severed is not a long game, and it does not pretend to be. It sets a rule, tests that rule, and gets out. In a genre that usually pads itself with side quests and collectibles, that discipline is rare and worth naming.
The touch-first design is also the game’s one real risk. On Vita and iOS the mechanic is native. On Wii U and 3DS, the same idea has to survive a different input, and the source does not detail how each version handles that. This review will not pretend otherwise. It is the one thing a buyer should check before choosing a platform.
Severed holds an 8.4 out of 10 critic aggregate across 15 outlets on IGDB. That number is high, and it is earned.
Where the crafting loop actually bites
Most games with a crafting system treat it as a menu between fights. Severed makes the crafting part of the fight. The parts you need come from the enemies you are currently cutting apart, which means the loot loop and the combat loop are the same loop. You cannot grind your way to better armor without engaging the mechanic the game was built around.
That is the design decision that separates Severed from the other action-adventure games crowding the same shelf. The touchscreen is not a gimmick bolted onto a conventional game. It is the reason the game exists, and the crafting system exists to make sure you keep using it.
Severed knows what it is. It does that one thing well, and it does not waste your time.
Hard numbers
- Title: Severed
- Developer and publisher: DrinkBox Studios
- Release dates: April 26, 2016 (PS Vita, North America and Europe); September 22, 2016 (Wii U, iOS, and 3DS in Europe); October 13, 2016 (3DS, North America); December 28, 2016 (Japan)
- Platforms listed: PlayStation Vita, iOS, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch
- Genres: Role-playing, hack-and-slash, adventure, indie
- Modes: Single player
- Perspective: First person
- Critic aggregate: 8.4/10 across 15 outlets on IGDB
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
