Clan N

I went into Clan N expecting a cheap pixel-art cash-grab riding the retro-brawler wave, and I came out mildly impressed, which for a one-man indie studio is actually a decent result. This is a top-down beat-em-up set in ancient Japan, built around four playable characters: Akira the shinobigatana ninja, Reina the staff-wielding shaman, Daiki the dual-sword fighter, and Tarou the sickle monk. Each has a distinct magic ability - Akira throws lightning, Reina cracks the earth, Daiki whips up tornados, Tarou calls dragons - and the combat is structured around light attacks, heavy attacks, and a chargeable special tied to a meter you fill by landing hits. On controller, it feels right. The dodge-and-block rhythm has some actual depth to it once you stop button-mashing, and the combo system rewards players who mix their light and heavy strings to juggle enemies before slamming them back down. The seven levels are split across more than 50 sections, which sounds like a lot until you realize those sections are essentially wave-clear rooms you push through one after another. That loop gets repetitive around the midpoint, and reviewers across platforms flagged it consistently. The magic system compounds the tedium: potions that charge your bar are rare enough that you end up hoarding them for boss fights, and since the bar empties all at once rather than letting you spend it partially, you constantly second-guess using it at all. The stat-upgrade screens between sections are similarly murky - it is not always clear what you are actually improving, and the leveling feedback is weak. Where Clan N genuinely earns its keep is the boss variety. A giant spider with a swarm of offspring, a fire-breathing dragon that scrolls across the screen, horse-mounted enemies where you have to drop the horse before engaging the rider - the encounter design is more creative than the wave rooms that connect them. The pixel art is clean and detailed well above genre average, with painted-style backgrounds that shift from green forests to temple interiors to ships without feeling monotonous. The far-east soundtrack is short on tracks but fits the mood. Local and online co-op for up to four players is the obvious best-case scenario here. The arcade HUD keeps everyone's health visible at the top of the screen, the chaos of four characters on screen is genuinely fun, and the mini-games scattered through the campaign - including a dragon-riding section that belongs in a different, weirder game - land better with friends watching. Solo, the wave-room repetition wears thin before you hit the back half. The campaign has two modes, which gives completionists a reason for a second run, but the lack of any ranked or competitive structure means there is no ladder to climb. This is strictly a couch or Discord session game, not a ranked grind. Netcode is workable but not something anyone is writing home about. On PC with a controller you are in the best place to play it - keyboard is not the move here. The performance overhead is basically nothing, so any mid-range rig from the last decade will run it at locked framerates without a thought.

Fred · Scout Team

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