Blacksad: Under the Skin Review

Meridiem Games and Microids are offering an update to Blacksad: Under the Skin, an adventure released in 2020.

The Spanish developer Pendulo Studios is already a veteran in the world of video games. The Madrid developer founded in 1994 is a specialist in graphic adventures. This has given us great titles such as the Runaway saga, Hollywood Monsters or New York Crimes. One of its most recent adventures is Blacksad: Under the Skin, a title based on a series of comics written by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, whose launch was marred by multiple bugs and graphic errors. Today, four years later, the video game is coming back to life thanks to Southern Games and Microids, with an update to the new generation. Will this improve the original video game’s mistakes? In the Xbox community, we tell you.

A fascinating story

The story of Blacksad: Under the Skin is wonderful. It doesn’t undergo any changes from the original game, but it doesn’t have to. Many characters already appeared in the vignettes appear, but this time a completely original story is told. In it, our feline protagonist, John Blacksad, must investigate the suicide of the owner of a boxing club. This case, which may seem simple, will become complicated and we will have to call upon our detective and feline talents to get to the end of the case. The story is exceptional. The characters and narrative are very well written, captivating you from the first moment to see what awaits our protagonist..

Investigation and interrogation

Blacksad: Under the Skin was a mix between classic graphic adventures and contemporary narrative adventures such as those of Telltale Games. And this is not something that has been changed in this update for modern consoles. The gameplay remains intact and most of the time we will spend most of the time looking for clues in the different scenarios, using our chat skills or interrogating different characters. We will also encounter more frenetic situations, such as fights and chases, which will be resolved through the use of Quick Time events. On the negative side, the control of our protagonist is quite rough, which makes the journey through the different scenarios difficult..

Very few improvements…

In all the updates or remasters of a video game, the section where the improvement is most appreciated is that of the graphic and technical aspects. Well, in the title in question… it is not that it has improved much… As we said a few lines ago, the work of Pendulo Studios has had many problems, both technical and related to bugs. It is true that the game has been improved, such as its performance, now much more stable, or its textures, which have a higher level of quality. But these improvements are somewhat disappointing. Many of the bugs that were part of the title when it was first released are still present.. The problem of collectible cards, which sometimes do not appear, preventing the game from being 100% complete. Loading times continue to be eternal and many bugs are still present, such as our character getting stuck and not responding to our actions.

Where the game shines is in its sound section, which remains intact from the 2020 version. The game is fully translated and dubbed in Spanish, with highly recognized voice actorswho have participated in such important works as Game of Thrones or Marvel films. The soundtrack that accompanies us throughout the adventure is also of a high level. They are jazz melodies that are perfectly suited to the video game.

Conclusions

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an excellent video game with an impressive story and setting, which are hampered by various technical errors. Which is a shame since it was the perfect opportunity for Pendulo Studios to correct all these errors and transform their work into an essential graphic and narrative adventure. Despite this, it is a more than recommended title and offered at a reduced price. For your information, Meridiem Games was commissioned to release a physical version of the spectacular title, available at a ridiculous price.. In short, Blacksad: Under the Skin is a very good title, marred by bugs that could have been corrected and that would make the game much more recommendable.