En Garde! is a great idea. Not only is it a great idea, it's an idea that's consistently backed up by rock-solid systems and a dedication to not wasting the player's time with unnecessary exposition and gratuitous fat around the juicy centre.
At the same time, it's also a game that, unfortunately, after presenting its great ideas, quickly runs out of ways to further develop and extrapolate on those ideas, and the result is therefore short, while also becoming monotonous before the end credits roll.
In En Garde! you play as Adalia de Volador, a Zorro-like character who stands between the innocent citizens of a nameless city and the greedy, voracious Count-Duke. In one chapter you're escaping a prison, in another you're looting the aforementioned tyrant's secret treasure trove, but there's no real connection, and while the game has tonnes of self-awareness and plenty of charm, you're not particularly invested in Adalia or anyone around her. I'm inclined to say that the game has a setting but no story, which is a real shame.
Okay, so if there's no narrative hook, what is there? Across just four chapters, totalling a playtime of less than five hours, and maybe even less than three, there's a bit of third-person platforming and battles with specific groups of enemies, and that's about it. There are no collectibles, no meta-systems, no levels or skill trees. You run, jump and fight.
This isn't inherently a criticism - too many games fold too many contradictory or indifferent systems into the experience to give the illusion of depth, when what you really want is a few sharp mechanics that evolve throughout the game. En Garde! does to some extent, and kudos for that, but the feeling I'm left with is pretty hollow, unfortunately.
The combat system is the absolute gem of the game. It's a sort of Batman Arkham meets Nidhogg, where you have to both dodge enemy blows and position yourself for a riposte, while also being able to use your surroundings to your advantage. You can throw objects to break enemies' defences and kick them down stairs and into traps. At the same time, the game introduces four to five different enemy types fairly quickly, which are then grouped together in interesting combinations. When En Garde! is firing on all cylinders, you feel like Zorro, playfully using pots, musical instruments, a well-timed kick and superior skills with your trusty steeds to defeat dozens of enemies.
The problem is, that's all En Garde! can do. Pretty soon you've seen what there is to see, and without a narrative hook, reasons to explore your surroundings, interesting platforming (it's eerily rudimentary) or systems to customise your playstyle, it quickly becomes apparent that moving from level to level is really the only thing En Garde! can give you. This is, first and foremost, a shame.
Before you know it, it's over, and while it comes with a pretty cool Arena Mode that gives you plenty of objects and traps, and plenty of challenge too, it doesn't really add any more mechanics. There are attacks, defences, manoeuvres, traps and the occasional super attack, but other than that, En Garde! runs out of steam pretty quickly.
I applaud the insistent focus on combat, but En Garde! deserves more; a plot, environments waiting to be explored, real progression. None of that is here, so while the game's core is well-designed and robust, it's a bit too slim an experience to get a wholehearted recommendation from me.