Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 68 | 10 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 75 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 78% | 73 | 39 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | – | – | 0 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 0 reviews sampled · 0 total reviews in window · weighted 0 up / 0 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (24)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 60
“Generally, vampires aren't given the satisfaction they deserve, and Damsel on Nintendo Switch further proves that. Despite providing an interesting premise, the game is held back by its art style & baitful gameplay.”
read full review ↗ - 67
“When you envision what a game that involves killing vampires and saving innocent humans would play out like you're probably figuring on something high on intensity and action...”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Damsel misses the mark in many ways, but really isn't all that bad. It's more of a glaring missed opportunity than anything else.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“Damsel is a solid, if not forgettable title that really stands on its visual presentation and tight game play. I had fun with my time, but never felt the need to boot it back up after a few hours. Still at the low price it is worth checking out if the genre interests you. I certainly had plenty of fun digging into it. ”
read full review ↗ - 73
“Damsel delivers a fairly solid experience with a narrative told through neat comic book style strips prior to levels.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“or the average Joe Schmo, it may make you feel as if your life forces are slowly being drained away. (Check your necks, people!)”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Damsel gets a middling recommendation. If you’re looking for something you can file under “slightly difficult to get used to, eternity to master” then this would be in that rather specific category. As I said at the start, this won’t look out of place on the Switch or Steam library, as those two are bread and butter for this kind of game. Whereas on the supposed powerhouse that is the Xbox, it just seems like a waste of potential. Granted, this is only an indie title, so there isn’t going to be mass dollar behind it. It’s just that the end result on the Microsoft flagship is a bit of a damp squib.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“The game lives up to this award, as one of the best independent developed games I’ve played, and so near and dear to my heart that it is from our homeland of Australia. It serves itself well as a casual title that appeals to a niche crowd that absolutely have no love lost for their platformers. Damsel is an intense experience, that will leave hardcore devotee’s for their love of platform shooters, coming back to this title for years to come.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Damsel is an engaging, challenging platformer that has a little something for everyone. It may get too hard too early for some people, but mastering the mechanics is incredibly rewarding.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“Damsel is a mixed bag of emotions for me. I came into this really excited for another experience like Katana ZERO and games of a similar fashion, especially because that is still one of my favorite releases in 2019. While there are elements that I enjoy, I can’t get behind the game as much as I initially expected I would. The odd technical issues and way too repetitive missions holds this back into the good department, instead of thrusting it forward into the great department.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“I certainly do not recommend Damsel to arcade fans because these people follow this genre and the weaknesses of the game are easily reflected in their experience. Those who do not experience arcade titles should also know that there are better experiences to enter this genre and Damsel can easily make you pessimistic about this category of games. At its core, Damsel clearly has good basic mechanics, but unfortunately in all directions it is one step away from "getting better". It is clear that the development team intended to develop a challenging game, but they do not do it in meaningful way. My final suggestion is to choose better titles if you want to get into the arcade style.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Damsel is far from being a bad game. It looks nice, controls well, and has a decent soundtrack. But its moment-to-moment action grows tiresome when played for a considerable length of time. It’s a game best enjoyed here and there, a handful of levels at a time, otherwise it just gets overly repetitive and your interest starts to wane.”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
Nindie Spotlight
PC Invasion
ZTGD
Gamerheadquarters
Worth Playing
FingerGuns
DASHGAMER.com
TechRaptor
Level Down Games
Gamefa
GameSpew…and 12 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Release Notes 1.1.2.493 [PC MAC LINUX]Oct 4, 2019
- Release Notes 1.1.2.498 [PC, MAC, Linux]Sep 5, 2019
- Damsel Leaderboards are now Universal!!Aug 12, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Release Notes 1.1.2.484[MAC]Jul 18, 2019
- Release Notes 1.1.2.479 [LINUX]Jul 9, 2019
- Release Notes 1.1.2.475Jul 8, 2019
- Release Notes 1.1.2.458 [WINDOWS ONLY]Jun 28, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Damsel Update 1.0.3.347Jan 18, 2019
- Damsel Update 1.0.3.347Jan 18, 2019
- Damsel Update 1.0.3.347Jan 18, 2019
- Damsel Update 1.0.3Dec 4, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- Damsel Update - 1.0.1.309Nov 7, 2018
- Damsel Update - 1.0.1.309Nov 7, 2018
- Damsel Update - 1.0.0.308Nov 2, 2018
- Damsel Update - 1.0.0.307Oct 22, 2018
- Update Notes - Angel (0.9.3.0.244)Aug 1, 2018
- Update Notes - Angel (0.9.3.0.238)Jul 9, 2018
- Update Notes - Angel (0.9.3.0.230)Jun 20, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- Update Notes - Selene (0.9.2.3.224)Jun 6, 2018
- Update Notes - Selene (0.9.2.3.206)May 15, 2018
- Update Notes - Selene (0.9.2.3.203)May 11, 2018
- Update Notes - Selene (0.9.2.2.200)May 9, 2018
- Update Notes - Selene (0.9.2.2.184)Apr 24, 2018
- Update Notes - Selene (0.9.2.1.181)Apr 17, 2018
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.2.169)Apr 9, 2018
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.2.169)Apr 9, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.2.150)Mar 20, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.2.150)Mar 20, 2018
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.1.117)Mar 5, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.1.117)Mar 5, 2018
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.0.102)Feb 26, 2018
- Update Notes - Graf (0.9.1.0.102)Feb 26, 2018
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.1.62)Feb 5, 2018
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.1.62)Feb 5, 2018
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.1.54)Jan 29, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.1.54)Jan 29, 2018
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.1.47)Jan 24, 2018
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.1.47)Jan 24, 2018
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.0.39)Jan 22, 2018
- Patch Notes - Spike (0.9.0.0.39)Jan 22, 2018