Heroic strength

Most of the time in Bylina, you’ll be fighting packs of monsters—sometimes the player can be surrounded by five or more. The battles were engaging, although the combat system doesn’t boast any deep mechanics. Strikes, somersaults, special abilities, and archery are the only options available to the brave young man. The short story campaign doesn’t allow for any of this to become boring, so it’s hardly a bad idea to consider these “basic” elements a drawback. Moreover, some of them are worthy of special attention.

For example, those unique abilities. The protagonist gains them as the game progresses. They’re presented as “cards” that can be changed in the menu. For example, the player can temporarily increase their speed or stomp the ground with all their might, inflicting massive damage on enemies. Sometimes, these abilities are also needed to destroy an obstacle and move on further in the area. You can have four skills quickly accessible at a time—it’s definitely not a good idea to forget them in the heat of battle.

Bylina also offers other ways to level up your character. While progressing through the story or completing side quests, you can find new equipment: armor pieces, weapons, a bow, or even a headband so beloved by long-haired warriors. Frankly, upgrades don’t make a difference—you can complete the entire game without them. However, new equipment does boost the main character’s stats, and in some cases, provides unique passive bonuses that increase as you complete the set. So, don’t forget about helping the peasants with side quests!

Among the horde of mythological creatures in Bylina, there are flying enemies. For these, Sokolik has a bow with limited ammunition, so arrows must be used wisely. Ranged attacks can also sometimes be useful for pressing buttons located high above and destroying certain key stationary objects. This game design idea is intended to add variety to movement through the environments. Using the bow doesn’t involve any deep mechanics, but it serves its purpose perfectly. The player aims, draws the bowstring, releases the button, and the devil vanishes from the Russian land.

While Bylina’s combat mechanics are truly flawless, the game does have another, truly monstrous problem. Some battles in the action game are unbalanced: too many monsters attack the main character. They swarm him, draining hundreds of health points per second, and often preventing him from breaking free—even somersaulting doesn’t help. Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep plenty of healing potions and food that can be cooked over a campfire.

The fairest fights in Bylina are boss duels. The local undead leaders don’t have any unique mechanics during battles—they simply have very high health compared to regular enemies. Therefore, the player must use simple attacks, activate abilities, and move quickly around the arena.

Returning to the standard monsters, their diversity is noteworthy. Don’t expect dozens of creature types, but for the relatively short “Bylina,” the bestiary is rich. Simple walking dead are dangerous with their sharp blows and mob attacks. There are also undead creatures that hurl fiery or poisonous bombs. A burning hero takes damage continuously for a period of time, and toxic clouds drain health until the player escapes the noxious fumes.

Peculiar humor

Bylina also has another flaw that detracts from the fairytale atmosphere and Slavic style. This is the not-always-appropriate humor a la Postal 2. For example, the game itself begins with Sokolik taking a leak in the bushes—a scene that will be repeated later, albeit in a different context. And Koschei’s castle is home to chatty fly agarics, who say all sorts of nasty things to the protagonist. Moreover, “just for fun,” the subtitles for their lines may not match the voiceover and may include obscene language.

Simply looking at screenshots or reading about Sokolik’s character, you might think Bylina is a family game, suitable for children as well. However, this impression is misleading, and not only because of the questionable humor. During the gameplay, you’ll encounter several scenes of excessive violence—characters torn apart or human remains. The problem isn’t the violence itself, which reflects the infernal nature of evil spirits and the horrors that exist in the real world. The problem is that the excessively gory moments exist without any specific message or social commentary.

Some music fans note that the creators of Bylina referenced famous Russian songs, including those by the band “Korol i Shut,” which explores fairy tale themes in its music. Therefore, the bylina told by the developers feels less like traditional Slavic folklore and more like an unusual experiment and a more modern take on folk culture.

System requirements and optimization

It may seem strange, but Bylina’s system requirements turned out to be quite high. This is likely due to the modern Unreal Engine 5 and insufficient optimization—the action game was developed by a small team. In the first days after release, the game even encountered graphics issues on systems with marginal specifications, but the first updates have had a positive impact on performance. Overall, the developers recommend the following hardware:

Minimum requirements

• Video card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060.
• Processor: Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 5000 series.
• RAM: 16 GB.
• Free space: 17 GB, SSD recommended.

Recommended requirements

• Video card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti.
• Processor: Intel Core i7-13 700 or AMD Ryzen 7 7000 series.
• RAM: 24 GB.
• Free space: 17 GB, SSD recommended.

We’d like to add that Bylina can be played at medium-high settings even on computers that don’t meet the minimum system requirements. The developers also plan to release their action game on consoles. It should perform well there, not only due to the power of modern gaming consoles, but also due to the controls. While keyboard and mouse gamers had some issues with Bylina, gamepad controls offer no significant issues—a smooth experience, marred only by bow aiming.

Who will like Bylina?

Bylina is definitely not a game for everyone. It has a beautiful design, and the graphics are worthy of an independent developer—they capture the beauty of Rus’. However, fans of Slavic folklore might easily be put off by the peculiar humor, which detracts from the immersion into the fairytale atmosphere.

Bylina’s isometric camera and combat system may evoke similarities with Diablo, but the game is built on entirely different principles. It’s not an action RPG, but a story-driven adventure that doesn’t involve grinding mobs, clearing dungeons, or tailoring gear to your character’s build.

So, you need to approach Bylina with the right expectations. Looking to immerse yourself in a light-hearted story set in Slavic mythology? This action game delivers on that perfectly