Bang The Anvil

Usually, blacksmiths make tools for adventurers aiming to fight monsters. Smithing Master from DHGames Limited flips the script; you are both the smithy and the monster-hunting adventurer. You make all the pieces of your armor, from boots to helmet, then attack creepy monsters across various stages. Pretty simple gameplay, though it becomes more difficult when the creatures become stronger. Making better equipment is essential but takes a lot of hammering on the anvil to get them. And though the game looks pretty cool, it gets repetitive.

Detailed Designs

Both the armor and the monsters have interesting and unique designs that I’ve never seen before. The developers really let their artists creativity flow with these. Oftentimes your hero is going to look like they got dressed in the dark, as the most powerful equipment doesn’t always match. Besides the boots and helmet, there’s also the breastplate, pauldron, gloves, trousers, necklace, and ring. Armor types range from common to extraordinary and above. The higher the type, the more powerful the armor. All equipment comes with four main attributes: HP, ATK, DEF and SPD. Other attributes, such as CMB (combo), CTA (counter), ER (evasion rate), BLK (block) and more are randomly assigned to different armors. Personally, I find Stun to be one of the most helpful. A monster can’t attack if it can’t move. There are over one hundred types of equipment, and they all can be combined into matching sets.

The monsters are, apparently, based on the seven deadly sins, though Smithing Master doesn’t really make that clear. Some designs are a bit simple, such as one enemy straight up being a tentacle. Others stood out to me. For example, a giant hat with multiple red, feminine eyes attached to a suggestive body. Plus, a female tentacle creature wearing a possibly bloodstained dress with a mouth on its stomach. Not to mention a big pair of lips with an eye inside, standing on four legs ending in heels. The game may not mention the seven deadly sins specifically, but it does make them obvious. While the look of the game as a whole is interesting, the gameplay gets repetitive very fast.

Keep Hammering

Besides the main stages, there are minigames you can play. You can battle real players in the Arena, and endless monsters in the Tower and World Boss sections. Unfortunately, they play the same as the main stages. Fights can be sped up some, but it’s still the same back and forth. When you can’t continue because you’re not strong enough, making better armor can take a while. The hammer can eventually be automated, but it still takes a lot of hammering. All the waiting becomes tedious and boring very quickly. Not to mention it takes forever to level up. This really takes the fun out of an otherwise interesting game. If there was a way to speed up the process, then it wouldn’t take so long to get anything done. As is, the developers could stand to make some improvements to the game. More people would definitely check it out.

Smithing Master has incredible armor and monster designs, though waiting for decent equipment holds it back from being a better game. It’s basically all style and hardly any substance. The unique designs here don’t deserve to be wasted on something sub-par.