Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands Review for Xbox Series S

Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is a musical-themed RPG that packs a serious punch beneath its charming storybook graphics. The premise is both wacky and straightforward: a trio of bandmates sign up for their town’s Battle of the Bands, only to find that the competition is run by a literal demon and the “battle” part is all too real. Music can wound, maim, and kill your opponents in this world – just as it can heal, defend, and save you and your bandmates. The three primary characters are Faye (a pink-haired guitarist), Ian (a bodybuilding skeleton sporting a green bucket hat), and Briff (who is constantly seen in a turquoise bird costume). The three friends live in a pastoral music-obsessed town called Bopstead, full of NPCs you can interact with and a bevy of locations to explore outside the competition.

Deathbulge has been out on PC since 2023, garnering positive reviews across the board, but not all PC games can successfully make the jump to console. A proper port involves understanding how console mechanics differ from PC mechanics and optimizing gameplay for a different set of controls. It’s not a given that a game designed for keyboard and mouse can work with a controller, but Five Houses LLC fortunately know what they’re doing. I haven’t played Deathbulge on PC, but I can say that I didn’t run into any trouble or frustrations playing the console version; in fact, if I didn’t already know that it’s a PC port, I probably would have guessed it was made for a console controller.

If you’re familiar with turn-based combat, whether from an RPG or a deck-builder, you’ll be right at home with Deathbulge’s mechanics. I’m relatively new to this genre – I, along with the rest of the world, fell in love with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 last year, and it was my first-ever turn-based game – but I was able to figure out the combat mechanics pretty easily. The game does a great job incorporating musical elements like measures, beats, notes, riffs, and tones into combat, along with more traditional combat elements like healing, speed, and defense. You initially fight foes only as Faye, but your party grows quickly, and before long, you can switch between fighters that each have unique capabilities. Every fighter has two primary bars: health and “hype,” basically this game’s version of mana. You have a basic attack that costs nothing, but more complex moves cost hype, so it’s important to strategize.

The writing really elevates Deathbulge from good to great. It’s charming and witty, with a sly sense of humor that veers a lot into dark comedy (what else would you expect from a game involving heavy-metal demons?). Case in point: the location names. Shops in Bopstead include Bass the Bass’ Bass Base (a fish-themed bass guitar store), “The Tooter’s Boot” (a bar that Faye has recently been fired from), “Qakstack’s” (a restaurant run by a human-sized duck made of hamburgers), and the less-exciting “Bopstead Mail Centre” (a caustic and unscrupulous post office locked in a intense feud with the local bus station). The close attention to detail is what takes things over the top for me, and makes the world feel lived-in despite its ridiculousness.

Turn-based musical combat sounds like a Mad Lib, and it’s not a concept I ever would have thought of for a game, but it really works here. The fights actually reminded me more of deck-building games like Slay the Spire or Monster Train than more traditional turn-based RPGs, except your attacks come from instruments rather than cards. There’s a learning curve, to be sure, but not a steep one. This is not a game designed to only appeal to the highest-level RPG players – although, with a name like Deathbulge, you probably already guessed that. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys turn-based combat, music, and a lot of witty banter.

Score: 9/10

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Ian Robinson-Lambert

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I've loved video games ever since I started playing Mario Kart on my parents' Wii back in seventh grade. These days, you can find me playing a mix of historical RPGs and horror (shout-out to Assassin's Creed and Resident Evil). I also love a good puzzle, and of course I still have a soft spot for the Super Mario series!