Katanaut | Steam Deck Review
There are two things I love when it comes to video games. Anyone who listens to our weekly podcast knows that I’m a huge fan of roguelikes. I’ve also adored the Dead Space series since the very first title released in 2008. With that said, a 2D roguelike where you play as a katana-wielding character in space slicing through cosmic horrors sounds perfect for me. So why didn’t Katanaut from developer Voidmaw work for me? Despite the fact that this solo developer created a game with tight controls, the upgrade paths failed to grab my attention like most games in this genre. I wanted to enjoy this one, but it’s simply not for me.
An Astronaut with a Sword?
The story is more or less nonexistent here. You play an astronaut with a katana named Naut. You and two other characters are at, what appears to be, a nightclub before being summoned for a mission. Apparently a space station has been overrun by horrific creatures, and it’s up to you to figure out what’s going on and right the ship. You’ll get some character moments in between roguelike runs at your hub area, but that’s pretty much it. The rest of the game revolves around you navigating procedurally-generated 2D dungeons as far as you can.
Combat comes in the form of both melee combat and ranged attacks. In a unique twist, you can actually aim the direction of your melee attacks while you run. Your ranged attack is secondary and has a very limited ammunition capacity. You’ll also acquire random “magic” abilities along the way. Depending on your choices, you could have passive abilities or brand new attacks to take out waves of enemies. There are also syringes that increase one of three stats each time you find one.
In true roguelike fashion, finding the best combination of upgrades, weapons, and abilities is imperative to your success. Some runs will naturally click and make you feel awesome. Either way, you’ll have the chance to make permanent upgrades or choose new starting weapons at the beginning of each run.
Make Us Whole
I’m very impressed by the use of animation in this game. The characters are all pixelated, but there’s an elegance to everything from Naut himself to the grotesque creatures he faces on each run. Every kill spills digital blood all over the place, and it gives the game a very dark tone that I enjoyed quite a bit.
Unfortunately, the combat simply didn’t click with me. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how the game wanted me to play it. I understand that choosing gear to make interesting combinations is part of the appeal for this type of game. But regardless of my upgrades, I found myself running past packs of enemies swinging my melee weapon, turning around and repeating the process until that line of enemies was defeated. If there’s another strategy, it wasn’t obvious to me. I enjoy learning enemy patterns and reacting to those patterns instead of mashing buttons over and over again. Granted, this could be my complete ignorance of how the developer wanted me to play the game, but I had nothing else to go on.
It’s also rather frustrating how little ammunition the ranged weapons have. In my experience, it made them simply not worth wielding, even though the new ones I picked up seemed to be improvements. Furthermore, I found myself constantly forgetting I had “magic” abilities. So instead of experimenting, I kept whacking away with my sword, over and over again.
Katanaut Final Verdict
On paper, I should have adored Katanaut. It’s a recipe with many of my favorite ingredients. I even got some Dead Cells vibes while playing it, which is a game I loved. I fully attest that this is just not a game for me, because there’s a lot of positives going on with this title, especially considering it’s developed by a solo developer. I wanted to like it more than I did, but I just couldn’t muster a ton of interest. I hope you all enjoy it more than I did.
To hear me talk more about Katanaut, be sure to listen to the September 16th, 2025 episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 58:50 time stamp.
This review is based on a PC copy of Katanaut provided by Pirate PR for coverage purposes. As of this writing, it is exlusive to that platform.
Katanaut
$17.99
Pros
- Stylized Pixelated Art
- Tight Controls
- Bleak Theme
- You're an Astronaut with a Katana
Cons
- Couldn't Use D-Pad
- Directionless Combat
- Ranged Weapons Basically Uses
- Upgrades Difficult to Compare
- Unexciting Special Abilities
