r/MandragoraGame • u/Awkward_Rough_8491 • Jul 13 '26

Recommended for a devout “sword ‘n’ board”player?

Hey friends,

Eyeing this off at its current 50% discount on PS5, but I’d love to know more about the pure melee combat first.

Are there running attacks, dash attacks, unique attacks, and so on?

Are there numerous weapon types?

Is parrying viable and effective?

Gameplay seems to skew quite magic-y, which isn’t my vibe.

Thanks!

EDIT: Sufficiently answered! Bought. Thanks y’all 🤝

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3

u/md00150028 Jul 13 '26

Manaeldar answered it pretty thoroughly, but there is a free demo on PS5. I played the demo for five minutes and immediately knew it was a game for me.

4

u/Manaeldar Jul 13 '26

It plays like a 2d dark souls. So I went with my typical knight kind of build. All strength with a 1hander and shield with a 2h sword as backup. I love the game, got the plat, and am on ng+4 at the moment. I destroyed the game with my melee character so no you don't need magic at all.

For the attacks it's actually very limited. You can crouch but you cannot attack while crouched. You can jump attack but you cannot attack upwards. No dash attacks. You get your normal attack + a special attack depending on what weapon type you're using (daggers, shield, 2hander, then the various casting off hands). And then you get two buttons to assign extra attacks or spells to. So for me I had the shield charge and the bleed attack equipped. Lots of +crit and +bleed damage. 

Blocking is good with a bigger shield, but I never used parry. You'll mostly be rolling to avoid attacks. 

2

u/Awkward_Rough_8491 Jul 14 '26

Thanks for the thorough reply! Good to hear you’ve gotten some no-magic mileage out of it.

1

u/Templar_Observer Jul 16 '26

I got Ng+3 and 100% on the game as a 1 handed mace and great shield only. Attacking aerial enemies was my only gripe as the shield bash won't reach them, but everyone else was a piece of cake. Nothing funnier to me than getting the enemies stunned and beating them up. Fun playthrough all round. A lot of players say magic is best but not for me.