RoguedexPart 1 (Sep 2023) · #2 of 35 in that tierWatch the moment (3:04:22)
暖雪 Warm Snow
- Developed by
- BadMudStudio
- Published by
- bilibili
$17.99
'Warm Snow' is a Rogue-like action game with a background set in a dark fantasy world, where the eerie 'Warm Snow' holds sway. You will play as the Warrior 'Bi-an' on a crusade against the Five Great Clans, in order to save a world teetering on the brink of destruction.
Consensus
B74.7/100
Steam players92.9% positiveVery Positive39,159 reviews
Metacritic ↗Users: 7.5/10
VG Insights estimate ↗≈1.2M copies · ≈$15.7M gross
What creators say
Ranked Jun 2023 · #4 of 14 in that tierWatch the moment (0:47:25)
Ranked Apr 2025 · #3 of 8 in that tierWatch the moment (1:12:09)
What players say
A Chinese-mythology dark-fantasy action roguelite by BadMudStudio (published by bilibili) in which swordsman Bi-an fights the Five Great Clans using melee weapons plus recallable flying swords, with a deep relic/sect build system.
Warm Snow is a well-liked, somewhat under-the-radar action roguelite: Steam shows about 39k reviews at roughly 93% positive (Very Positive), with the Steam store page showing a dip in recent reviews (about 79% on a small 30-day sample). Players praise build variety, the flying-sword combat and the ink-painting art style; they criticise slow meta-progression, unclear or badly translated text, a linear fixed map and fodder enemies once a build comes together. Formal critic coverage is thin: Metacritic has only two critic reviews (90 and 80), so no Metascore yet, and no OpenCritic entry was found. It is a full release (Jan 2022), not early access, with a paid DLC (The End Of Karma), a free DLC (Shao Meng / 烬梦) and console ports (Oct 2023). Commonly compared to Hades, usually as solid but a step below it in presentation and story.
Players love
- Large build variety: sects, relics, weapons and deities combine into many synergies, and players report late-game runs feel very flexible
- Distinctive gear system: the same relic or piece of gear has a different effect depending on which slot it is placed in, and can be re-slotted at any time
- Fast, fluid combat built around melee plus flying swords that can be launched and recalled
- Striking art direction inspired by ancient silk/ink painting, with Chinese mythology theme and a well-liked soundtrack
- Scalable difficulty and challenge options give high replay value; reviewers cite 30-40+ hours to unlock everything and multiple stories/endings
- Good boss fights and decent enemy variety according to several positive reviewers
- Lots of content for the price (around $18), including a free DLC and a paid expansion
Common complaints
- Translation problems: English text overflows UI boxes, some keywords and item effects are mistranslated or unclear, and some end-of-boss text is untranslated
- Meta-progression is described as very slow to upgrade, which a top-voted negative review calls the game's major flaw
- Fixed, linear level layouts and repeated bosses make runs feel repetitive compared with procedurally generated roguelites
- Many item and relic effects reduce to 'do more damage when X', so playstyle changes less than the item count implies
- Enemies become fodder with a decent build but feel like HP sponges in early runs or on weak builds
- Dash and movement are called clunky or slow by several reviewers; game feels dated to some
- Story and characters are seen as weak or forgettable compared with Hades, with average presentation of the narrative
- Some players report stuttering and performance problems on PC
- Weapons lean on specific relics to reach full power, and many weapons reuse the same swing animation so they feel like stat swaps
Can feel tedious
- Slow meta-progression and farming enemies for fragments to unlock all stories and the true ending
- Early runs feel repetitive before enough content is unlocked
- Nothing is explained well; players often have to play to learn what a keyword does
- Fixed maps and repeated bosses get samey over a long playthrough
- Completion is a long grind: unlocking everything means farming fragments across many runs, and some reviewers regret the hours sunk into 'unlock it all'
What's unique
- Slot-dependent relic effects: the same item behaves differently in each of the four slots and can be rearranged freely
- Floating flying-sword projectiles alongside melee, with a recall mechanic
- Sect and deity choices at run start that shape the build, inside a Chinese mythology / dark wuxia setting
- Multiple stories (about three) with a hidden true ending that requires collecting fragments across many runs
- Extremely nuanced status-effect and condition-trigger item system (poison, bleed, burn, frost) with deep stacking rules
Players want
- Clearer UI, status and keyword explanations and a proper retranslation of the English text
- Faster or less grindy meta-progression and unlock pacing
- More varied or procedural level layouts and more enemy types
- Better balance so that some relics/weapons are not dependent on specific relic pairings and some builds are not broken
- Stronger narrative delivery and more developed characters
- Tighter dash and movement feel
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
Action RoguelikeRogue-liteMartial ArtsAction-AdventureRogue-like2DRPGCharacter CustomizationTop-DownStory Rich
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Tier list Part 1 (2023)
Warm Snow is a Chinese hack-and-slash roguelike that plays its serious tone straight and pulls it off. Everything in it is wildly overpowered, both the player and the enemies, which makes it visually crazy and very fun. He admits the balance is only okay, but he has played it a lot and keeps enjoying it. The lack of boss variety holds it back from S, so he places it at the top of A and recommends it to fans of action-heavy hack and slash.
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