In this Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 article, we’ll be going through everything we know about the third-person shooter so far.

Space Marine 2: Everything We Know About The Upcoming Third-Person 40k Shooter

Space Marine 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the 2011 third-person shooter of the same name, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine. This time around, the sequel is being developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment. The game is set in the grimdark sci-fi universe of Warhammer 40k, where humanity is beset by countless enemies, both alien and heretical. 

Story and Setting

The game follows the exploits of Lieutenant Titus, an Ultramarine and a veteran of countless battles, as he leads his squad of Space Marines against the Tyranid invasion of the planet Sedna.

For those who aren’t familiar with the lore, a Space Marine is a superhuman warrior and agent of the Imperium of Mankind. They are considered the Emperor’s greatest defenders. They are further divided into Chapters, each with their own cultures, histories, and practices. 

Space Marines are genetically enhanced and undergo rigorous conditioning to become the ultimate warriors of destruction that can be pitted against any enemy in any environment. They wield massive weapons that normal humans could never even dream of using, such as fully automatic Bolters, deadly chainswords, and plasma guns. 

The Space Marines tower over humans, with their average height being about 8 feet tall but are made even more gargantuan with their massive power armor. The presence of a Space Marine is quite rare, as evidenced by their absence in Warhammer 40k: Darktide, or the fact that there is only one of them (so far) in Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader. Usually, Space Marines are called in as a last line of defense for the Imperium of Mankind. Grey Knights, which were the main forces in Warhammer 40k: Daemonhunter, are even rarer and are reserved for apocalyptic levels of emergencies. Most citizens of the Imperium can go through their entire lives without even hearing about the Space Marines. 

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 picks up what looks to be a few years after the first game. Titus was seen being taken away by the Inquisition, the Imperium’s branch that sniffs out heresy before it takes root, due to his exposure to the Warp at the end of Space Marine 1. It looks like he made his way out somehow, and finds himself on the planet Sedna, an Imperial world that has been besieged by the Tyranids, a race of destructive creatures that lay waste to entire galaxies in their quest to absorb any biomass that they come across.

It will be up to the Space Marines to stop this insurmountable foe from gaining even more foothold in the sector. Leaving the Tyranids unchecked will spell doom for the entire galaxy, and not just Sedna. 

Gameplay and Features

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is a third-person shooter that combines brutal melee combat with ranged weapons and abilities. The game will feature a solo campaign, as well as a 3-player co-op campaign, where players can team up with up to two of their friends or other online players to face off against the Tyranid hordes. 

The game will retain the core gameplay mechanics of the first game, such as the regenerating health system, the fury meter, the brutally satisfying executions, and the weapon swapping. Space Marine 2 also looks to continue the trend of not introducing a cover system at all. Puny walls aren’t needed when the Space Marines themselves are the cover. 

Speaking of which, Space Marine 2 puts a heavy emphasis on the grandeur of the Space Marines themselves. As they are literally walking tanks of fury, players will immediately feel the sheer scale and weight of the Space Marines. The ground shakes whenever Titus charges at a hapless foe, even more so when he gets into melee range and starts striking his enemies. 

Space Marine 2 is all about fulfilling the fantasy of becoming a titular Space Marine and becoming an avatar of wrath, brutality, and destruction. 

Melee Combat

Melee is as satisfying as ever, letting players engage in a cacophony of violence with every weapon swing. We see the return of fan favorites, such as the chainsword, eviscerating hapless Tyranids with ease. Those with tougher armor will require a bit more effort to take down but is made easier with more defensive options.

New to Space Marine 2 is a simple yet effective parry and blocking system. Certain foes can be parried in melee, staggering them for a brief moment and opening them up to instant kill execution moves or a quick shot to the face. Another very entertaining new move is that Titus can catch enemies mid-air, and then thrash them into the ground for massive damage. He can even cut them in half with his chainsword if he has it out. 

Titus can also gain access to a Jump Pack, presumably at set points in the game just like in the first one. This will let you become an Assault Marine that can fly into the air, only to cannonball down into a group of foes, sending everything flying and to their doom. Smashing yourself into bunched-up enemies never got old in the first game, so it’s interesting to see how frequently we’ll be able to make use of the Jump Packs here. 

Battlefields eventually become littered with corpses, body parts, and other debris, giving you a satisfying sense of pride and accomplishment after every combat encounter. 

Ranged combat

Titus and the Space Marines will have a lot of options when it comes to ranged combat. Aside from mowing down enemies with your regular Bolter gun, players can also pick up Auto Bolt Rifles, Bolt Carbines, Meltaguns, Heavy Bolters, and Plasma Incinerators. 

The interesting options here are the Meltagun, Heavy Bolter, and the Plasma Incinerator. Meltaguns shoot out a small burst of superheated energy that can tear through lesser foes while stunning some of the more elite ones. Heavy Bolters are massive weapons that can tear through enemies with their superior rate of fire coupled with explosive rounds. These are more limited, however, and cannot be reloaded so you can only use them sparingly. Last is the Plasma Incinerator, which launches a bolt of pure energy that is capable of melting armor. 

This isn’t to say that other weapons aren’t effective. Even the simple Bolter gun is capable of violently tearing apart any foe, be it large or small. 

Cooperative Play

Space Marine 2’s cooperative mode will include up to three players in a group. There are only three characters, Lieutenant Titus, Brother Chairon, and Brother Gadriel. Chairon and Gadriel will be AI-controlled in case you prefer not to engage in the multiplayer mode. 

All three of the Space Marines will fundamentally play the same in the sense that you are all hardened walking tanks. You will have the same basic moves in melee and have the same options when it comes to weapon choices.

However, each of the characters has a unique ultimate ability they can unleash when they reach maximum Fury. Titus looks like he will be retaining his defiant roar which makes him more dangerous while in melee range. Chairon can scan the area and mark enemies for everyone to see. Perhaps it will be like the Veteran in Darktide, wherein he immediately draws attention to high-priority targets, instead of just highlighting everything that moves. Lastly, Gadriel has some explosive munitions available only to him, so it looks like he might be fun if you’re into pyrotechnics.

There’s also a revive system in place in case one of you falls in battle, allowing the standing Marines to try and bring the other back into the fight. 

It hasn’t been announced just yet whether the multiplayer will have any form of cross-platform or cross-progression support. 

Space Marine 2: Enemies of the Imperium

The Tyranid Swarm

Space Marine 2’s visuals are a huge step up from the 2011 original, both in terms of the technical side as well as the artistic direction. Due to the developers’ choice of limiting the sequel to current-gen consoles and PCs only, they can create some very intimidating displays. 

The Tyranid Swarm is constantly on full display in Space Marine 2, be it up close or at a distance. There are some moments when you can see that this is truly a war because of the scale of everything. Some scenes even contain hundreds of Tyranids flying around the battlefield, creating chaos in their wake. The aliens are so many that they become a literal sea of horrors, ever-flowing closer to you and your allies. The technology being used here is impressive, as each of these are individual entities in the game world that you can shoot at. 

As the Tyranids are on a full-scale assault here, we can see a wide variety of strains here. Everything from the cannon fodder Termagants to the iconic Tyranid Warriors who wield bone swords, to even psychic Zoanthropes are represented in the game. As expected, each type of Tyranid will have its own unique behavior. 

Termagants and Hormagaunts will try to swarm and overwhelm the player, as they are weak individually. The bigger Tyaranid Warriors will face Titus head-on, either in direct melee or with venom cannons that can penetrate even a Space Marine’s hardened power armor. 

There are also airborne horrors that you will need to attend to. Spore Mines are floating sacs of explosive poison that launch themselves at their enemies. 

The Forces of Chaos

Also introduced in one of the latter trailers for Space Marine 2 was the return of the forces of Chaos. Specifically, we see that the Thousand Suns traitor Legion being represented here, who are devout followers of the Chaos God of Change and Sorcery, Tzeentch. This is further confirmed in the trailer footage by the presence of a Silver Tower, a demonic engine that is often used by the Thousand Suns as a mobile fortress that can transport troops over great distances, or even act as an energy battery to help supply magic users with unholy powers. 

Chaos Space Marines will prove to be a different challenge entirely to the Tyranids and will require a different approach to take them out effectively. For one, they will not swarm you with numbers and try to kill you in a battle of attrition. Instead, Chaos Space Marines are also formidable in their own right, being Space Marines themselves. They have been trained and equipped similarly to Titus and his Battle-Brothers, but have the bonus of being touched by Chaos.

Essentially this means they have demonic powers under their belt, which often take the form of dangerous Warp powers from their Sorcerors or mutations that greatly enhance their speed and strength. Oftentimes, the forces of Chaos would summon lesser demons to do their bidding and act as cannon fodder to spread disarray in their enemies’ ranks. 

What sets the Thousand Suns apart from other Chaos Space Marines is their affinity to magic and their “thrall” soldiers. The Thousand Suns have suffered from a curse known as the “Rubric of Ahriman” that was supposed to cleanse them of their imperfections. Instead, the bodies of the non-psychic turned to ash. The ranks of the Thousand Suns became, and still is, a mass of animated armor devoid of any free will. 

Only two specific types of Chaos foes were shown off, the Scarab Occult Terminators and the Exalted Sorcerers. The first are powerful Terminator armors that have been animated by the essence of former soldiers. Exalted Sorcerers are just that – extremely powerful magic users. 

Release Date and Platforms

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is expected to launch this “Winter”, although no specific date has been announced yet. This could mean any time from now up until the early months of 2024. The game will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. The game is a current-gen exclusive, which means it will not be released for PS4 or Xbox One. This decision is highly likely due to the way they are presenting the grandeur of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. As alluded to earlier, making use of current-gen hardware lets the developers run wild with their imaginations, specifically with the huge number of enemies that can appear on screen at once.

The game also called for a beta test, where eager players could get early access to a preview build of the game, and provide feedback to the developers. It looks like the beta test is available for all platforms, and will feature a smaller portion of the solo campaign. 

Space Marine 2: Final Thoughts

As it stands from all of the trailer footage, Saber Interactive and Focus Home Entertainment are set on capturing lightning in a bottle. They have extremely large shoes to fill, as the first game was a cult classic that could be considered one of the best Warhammer 40,000 games of all time. However, it looks like they have all the ingredients they need to make this second entry a success. They have an amazing look and feel nailed down, alongside a new apocalyptic-level threat looming over the horizon. The essence of the first’s gameplay looks to also have been preserved quite well but enhanced tenfold. Also, the addition of a co-op mode is sure to bring in even more fans. 

It looks like fans of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise will eat well this Winter Season as they will have Space Marine 2 and Rogue Trader to look forward to. 

If you enjoyed this preview, be sure to check out Everything We Know on Darktide and Rogue Trader. 

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In this Warhammer Age of Sigmar Realms of Ruin Review, I want to talk about my first impressions of the game. I’ve been playing it on and off for the last week or so. I want to tell you what I like about the game, what I don’t like about the game, and whether I think you should spend money to buy this game or wait for a sale. If you’re a Warhammer fan, this is probably a game that you’ve been keeping an eye on.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin Review

What is Age of Sigma Realms of Ruin?

So first, let’s talk a bit about what Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin is. This is a Warhammer RTS and it plays a bit like an RTS but it plays a bit like a MOBA. When I first thought of Age of Sigmar Realms of Ruin, when I first saw the gameplay and I heard of a Warhammer RTS, immediately my thoughts went to Dawn of War. Now obviously, Dawn of War is in the 40K Universe, it’s a bit different, but in terms of tactical real-time strategy, that’s sort of what I was expecting from this game.

I love the Dawn of War series. Obviously, Dawn of War 1 is my favorite. Dawn of War 2 was not quite as good, while Dawn of War 3 we don’t talk about. I will say for the faults that I find with Age of Sigmar Realms of Ruin, I really like the tactical nature of combat. Characters move slowly, they have abilities that you can use, and fights aren’t over immediately so there is room for maneuvering. Elevation plays a big role, the direction your troops are facing plays a big role, and the way they’re positioned is important. So there is a big tactical nature to combat.

Resources and Currency

So first, let’s talk about one of the things that I really loved about the tactical nature of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin. The abilities of units are tied to two resources in the game that you use to generate units with. You have to decide, do you want to spend your currency to win this fight that’s in front of you, or do you want to spend your currency to create more units? So maybe you spend your currency and you win that fight, but then you can’t create any more units and then you lose the next fight. If you don’t spend the currency and your units die, but then you generate new units to replace them you’d really win.

Making tough decisions in combat about when to spend your currency to gamble it on winning that fight, is it better than creating new units or upgrading the units that you have? I think it’s a really, really cool concept and I really enjoyed how that played out throughout the game.

Audio, Sounds and Voice Acting

I also really, really enjoy the sound effects of the game. The voice acting is top-notch, and the sound effects of the game are top-notch. It really immerses you into that Warhammer Age of Sigmar Universe where you feel like you’re inside the game and you’re part of the campaign. I wouldn’t go out all the way to say that this is a triple-A production because it really doesn’t feel like a AAA production, but it’s somewhere between AA and AAA when it comes to the sound quality of the game.

RTS or MOBA

Let’s talk about some of the things that I think players should be concerned with if they are RTS fans, Dawn of War fans. This might not be an issue for some of those players, but the game plays more like a MOBA than it does a real-time strategy. What I mean by that is there’s no real base-building element in Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin.

Unlike Dawn of War where you would create your buildings and create your units from those buildings and create defenses, etc., and build resource generators, there is not a lot of building in this game. You generally have a headquarters that populates on a map at a certain point and then you can create towers on top of certain areas of the map that are either defensive or generate resources. Forces are coming at you and you’re sending forces out and it’s kind of this seesaw tug-of-war battle pretty much through any map you’re doing.

Even campaigns feel like they are dictated by this mechanic and it seems like they built the campaign around MOBA mechanics rather than created a separate mode of game mode for multiplayer and created the campaign separately. They’re sort of weaved together in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin campaign. I’m not a huge fan of MOBAs in general and if you played Dawn of War 3 then you know that that’s kind of the direction Dawn of War 3 went.

This game doesn’t feel exactly like Dawn of War I in my opinion, but it does kind of have that MOBA concept mixed into it that I’m not really a fan of. I prefer the base building, I prefer that sort of element of the game. But if you’re someone who doesn’t mind not having base building and your sole focus is tactical combat, then that won’t be an issue for you.

Factions and Units

Another issue that I found that I had problems with was that there’s only four factions available in this game at launch and there is not a ton of units per faction. I found myself, you know, six seven missions into the campaign like already starting to feel like, ‘Is this it? Like, when are the cool things going to happen?’ and it felt like I’d already unlocked most of the stuff that I would be using throughout the campaign.

I just thought Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin doesn’t feel like it was fully done. It feels like it needs another four factions or so, or three, you know, somewhere to have a good seven or eight factions, especially since there’s a huge multiplayer element of this game where they’re really encouraging people to play one-on-one or 2v2 in terms of multiplayer modes to have more selection of units and more variety of gameplay.

I know they are planning to add more factions to this game in the future and I don’t know whether those will be paid or not. I highly suspect they will if you’re familiar with any of Warhammer business models. They typically have factions added as an expansion of some kind that then cost you money. I’d expect that to be the case here as well, so it’ll probably cost you more money than the $54 or whatever it is right now on Steam for this game. Probably what should have been charged $54. I don’t think that playing, paying $54 or $59.99 or whatever it is locally for you is a good value for what you’re getting from this game unless you plan to play multiplayer a lot.

I would personally recommend waiting for those factions to get added to the game and then buying like a Gold Edition or sort of bundle that comes at a similar price it is now to really get that value out of it. And again, that’s only if you’re probably going to play a lot of multiplayer and you like MOBA gameplay. If you’re someone who really likes Dawn of War or you like RTSs in general and you like that sort of base building and then fighting mix, this doesn’t really have that in this game.

Realms of Ruin is Challenging

One thing that I will add is that Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin is quite challenging, even on like normal game mode. There’s four difficulties, even on like normal I was getting my butt whooped pretty good at the beginning. Admittedly, I’m a little bit rusty at RTSs. You know, there are not a lot of RTSs out these days, there’s not a lot to choose from and that’s one of the reasons I was very interested in this game.

I love, love RTSs. They’ve kind of gone by the wayside in the last decade or two and every time a new RTS comes out I get excited because I’m like, ‘Oo, I love Starcraft, I love Warcraft, I love some of these games, Age of Empires.’ I love these sort of real-time strategy games and I really wanted to see how this one was. I’m a huge fan of Warhammer and frankly, it’s fun but it’s just not quite right up my alley.

I definitely finished the campaign of this game because I like Warhammer so much but I don’t think if I had to buy this game, which I got the code for free, I don’t think I would have paid full price for it and would have been happy with the price for one playthrough because I probably won’t play multiplayer. But if you plan to play multiplayer and you’re like a big PVP Warhammer person, you might really appreciate this game a lot more.

So that kind of wraps up my first impressions of the game. What do you guys think so far? For those of you who played, there was like a demo or a beta I think back in July of this year. For those of you who played it then or who played the game, what do you guys think? Let me know in the comments.

Want more Reviews? Be sure to not miss out on Remnant II The Awakened King DLC Review and Lords of The Fallen Review 2023.

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It’s been almost three months since Remnant II was released and Gunfire Games has been working tirelessly to provide an even better experience to their player base. Not only have they pushed a couple of balance patches and improvements over the past few months, but they also put together a brand new DLC.

The Awakened King is the highly anticipated DLC and serves as the first of three DLCs that Gunfire Games has promised to their fans, with the later two coming out sometime next year. In this in-depth review, we will be covering The Awakened King’s story and setting, the latest additions, and more. Most importantly, is it worth picking up? Let’s find out.

Remnant II The Awakened King DLC Review

Story and Setting

The Awakened King DLC builds upon the existing lore of the biome of Losomn where the worlds of the Fae and Dran merged, throwing both sides into an ever-growing disastrous conflict. In the past, the Dran were peaceful creatures. However, they have now evolved into group-minded creatures that can be easily provoked into madness and they are willing to do anything to protect their kind.

On the other hand, The Fae, once an organized and highly respected race, have lost their sense of direction. They are now tormented by an insatiable craving for the life force of the Dran, which has made them hostile towards them, seeing them as inferior beings.

In the base game, the Traveler was involved in the Fae’s internal conflict where the One True King had been forced into a long slumber by traitors. He has now been awakened, angry and violent, and threatens to bring chaos and destruction to the already ravaged world.

You as the Traveler will return to Losomn to determine the situations of both sides and unravel the deeper mysteries revolving around the One True King’s purpose and rampage of revenge. As a player who loves the world of Losomn in general, my curiosity about how the events would unfold was extremely high.

The moment I set foot into the new area, I found myself eagerly wanting to explore my surroundings and determine the situation of the land. Right off the bat, I met new NPCs who provided me with useful information about what was happening or how to progress. Eventually, I met returning NPCs as well.

My first few hours in the DLC were filled with excitement, as I was eager to know the answers to my questions regarding the story. As I dived deeper and ultimately reached the ending of the DLC, I found the conclusions a little bit underwhelming, even after exploring both outcomes.

Gameplay

One of the highlights of Remnant II: The Awakened King is the introduction of new items, Weapons, Armor, Mutators, and Trinkets. Players can expect to find powerful new weapons and gear that will aid them in their fight against The Awakened King. Each of these newly added items is worth checking as they offer unique effects that can further bolster existing builds.

Not only do we have a lot of new toys to play with, but the greatest addition that the DLC provided is a new archetype, the Ritualist, offering a new playstyle and abilities to experiment and tinker with. A DPS Archetype that mainly relies on status effects infliction, I can already see the potential of it just by looking at its kit.

Additionally, the DLC raises the Trait cap to 85, allowing players to further customize their builds that strengthen their overall prowess. This adds another layer of progression and depth to the game, giving players more reasons to continue playing and exploring.

Players can now expect a static overworld or general area that is full of secrets. During the player’s first playthrough, the DLC will set itself to a One Shot Mode. This mode will let players undergo a pre-determined layout and set of dungeons, intended for a first playthrough. The caveat is, that it can only be accessed once. Hence the name.

The developers were clear about this as they wanted to experiment and effectively convey the story through having a static-level design. I for one love this feature, as they can freely give their efforts and focus on improving certain levels in a much more detailed way. Also, I love the fact that I can remember the locations of the available dungeon openings in the overworld. Looking for an unexplored dungeon in a randomized space felt like a chore in the base game.

On the flip side of things, players who love to have a randomized experience can still enjoy the DLC. After clearing the first playthrough, the overworld will remain the same however, the contents of the optional dungeons will be randomized. After the One Shot Mode, expect to have previously explored optional dungeons in Losomn appear in the DLC area.

Along with new areas, a new set of enemies and bosses has been introduced in the DLC. Although there are only a handful of new enemies added to Remnant II, each of them is distinct and they should not be taken lightly. Each new enemy type has its own strengths and weaknesses for you to figure out and during my time, every enemy kept me on my toes, and letting my guard down in most cases resulted in my imminent death, especially when playing on Apocalypse.

As expected, I found the major Bosses interesting and well thought out. I was given the opportunity to fight two of them and they rewarded me with shiny items and a satisfying experience. There were lots of exciting mechanics for me to figure out which led to engaging and fun encounters.

Design, Audio, and Visual

Let’s talk about Design, Audio, and Visuals. As with the base game, The Awakened King features great visuals and atmospheric-level design. Although I did not notice any improvements in its overall graphic fidelity, one can clearly see that Gunfire Games put a lot of effort into level design and progression. Especially on the DLC’s overworld or main area.

As Bloodborne fans, we all know that Losomn was somewhat inspired by it, so we can’t help but want to see more of this world. And the DLC did a great job of granting this desire, expanding my favorite biome.

Each section is distinct and intricately crafted, making exploration satisfying and immersive. I can clearly picture the sections I’ve been through during my first playthroughs. From the perilous docks of Forlorn Coast with an ominous lighthouse on it, newly designed sewers, and inner slums where danger lurks on every corner, to the city street’s plaza that will offer anyone a nice view of the towering castle.

The overall level design offers a mix of the staggering amount of open environments which I appreciate with tight corridors and spaces that keep players on their toes. Coupled with strong and immersive ambient sounds and OSTS that will set anyone’s mood to the right tone.

Voice acting on the other hand is no slouch. A high quality of voice acting can still be expected which adds life and defines the characters of the newly added NPCs in the DLC.

The developers did a great job of presenting their new world and I can’t help but think about what the next areas of the upcoming DLC look like.

Performance-wise, I have not encountered any game-breaking bugs that halted my progress or ruined my immersion. Although I experienced some stutters even with the latest drivers installed, though these subsided after a couple of game restarts, and generally the performance was pretty smooth. I played the game with the following specs, RTX 3060, 32 GB RAM, and a Ryzen 9 7950x, the game’s performance is averaging between 80 to 100 FPS at 2k resolution.

Replayability & Pricepoint

The Awakened King offers more hours of loot hunting and satisfying areas to explore which are full of secrets. Expect three to five hours on each playthrough according to the developers. But be reminded that you need to play with subsequent playthroughs to get everything that the DLC can offer.

One can easily get more than 10 hours of game time depending on your RNG. Your mileage may vary greatly because of this. Personally, my first playthrough took 6 hours and the second one took 4 hours. Having two subsequent playthroughs done, I felt that I had barely scratched the surface and wanted to dig further.

Having a price tag of $9.99, I believe players who will get the DLC will get their money’s worth if they decide to seek out everything that The Awakened King has to offer. However, players who want just buy this DLC for the story or play it as a one-time thing are encouraged to wait for a sale.

Final Thoughts

Remnant II: The Awakened King offers a substantial amount of new content and enhancements to the base game, and the new areas, items, and NPCs provide a fresh and exciting experience for players to enjoy. The increased trait cap and new archetype add reasonable depth to character progression and offer new playstyles to explore that can be enjoyed for dozens of hours. For the fans of the series, this is a slam dunk.

If you enjoyed this review be sure to check out more of our Reviews in Lords of The Fallen Review 2023 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Review. You can also check out our Remnant 2 guides.

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Granblue Fantasy Relink is a beautiful-looking upcoming Action-RPG with an anime aesthetic. But does this fast-paced combat title have enough to stand out in a crowd of JRPGs? We take a look at everything we know about the upcoming title including party combat, co-op, story, gameplay and more.

Granblue Fantasy Relink: What We Know So Far About the Action-RPG

Features

• Fast-paced Action-RPG combat with solo/AI co-op party gameplay
• Online co-op with up to four players
• Linear world with wide open spaces
• Roughly 20 hours of main quest gameplay with further hours with endgame content
• Over 100 hours in the hardest difficulty mode
• Recruitable crewmates to assist you in battle
• Fill the Link gauge to stun enemies
• Use Skybound Arts to chain damage with party members causing a Chain Burst, and emitting an aftershock.
• Each characters has unique abilities and can learn new talents with customisable weapons and sigils

Story, Setting, and the Sky Realm

Granblue Fantasy Relink is actually a spinoff of the series. Even if you haven’t played a Granblue game before you can dive right into this one as it features a brand-new story. Unlike the Granblue Fantasy mobile game, this isn’t a gacha game. It’s also different from Granblue Fantasy Versus as all characters in Relink are unlockable within the game without additional DLCs and it features a vibrant 3D world.

It takes place in the Sky realm or Skydom. These floating islands exist in the sea of clouds. This dreamy-like world hasn’t always been at peace though, as the Astrals tried to seize control of it roughly 500 years ago, but the citizens fought them back. For now, the world is tranquil, but you get a sense of “not for long”.

The Sky Realm is also home to a number of different races and civilisations. These include your usual humans but also more fantasy races such as the Erunes who have large animal-like ears. Then there are the Harvins who are smaller folk, and if you’ve played Final Fantasy XIV, they’re somewhat similar to the Lalafells. Harvins excel at business and seem to possess a lot of wisdom. Lastly, the Draphs who tower above all others, are great at labour-intensive skills such as construction and blacksmithing.

Players will start their adventure by finding a letter left behind by their father, which speaks of a legendary island. This seems to inspire the character to captain a crew and set off for this mysterious island. However, before getting the chance to do so, they meet a girl called Lyria. This meeting causes all kinds of events to unfold which is hinted to be fated. Along the way, players will meet a colourful cast of characters who can become crewmates. There are kings, misfits and more, so expect a real motley crew to join your party.

Now as I mentioned all isn’t well in this world because you have greater beings called Astral. They created the Primal Beasts, these creatures possess some extraordinary god-like powers. After the war they lay dormant, slumbering somewhere in the skies but have greatly impacted the world around them. No one else can control these mighty beings except the Astral. While awake their natural instinct seems to be to inflict destruction, and some say that this is just nature taking its path, bringing on a calamity.

From the get-go the story sounds rather sinister, hopefully there will be some lighter moments in between especially being a party-driven game. The gameplay shown shows a rather bright and airy world with floating airships and colourful picturesque backdrops. But of course, there will be some more darker areas as you encounter beasts looming in the shadows.

Gameplay

Developer Cygames has said it could take roughly 20 to 25 hours to complete the main questline. But of course, there are many side quests and further content to complete even after getting through the main story. There are over 100 quests and hours of post-endgame content. Quests don’t have different difficulty levels but rather they are organised by their difficulty mode.

According to a recent interview with Wccftech, the devs expect players to spend around 100 hours playing on the hardest difficulty. It’s not an open-world experience but rather features large areas to explore. While it does have online co-op the game is centered around its single-player experience when it comes to its main story. There won’t be any daily or focus on live service or battlepass in that sense. So if you want to play offline, you can.

It’s not that each quest has its own difficulty level but rather quests are split up by their difficulty levels. That 100-hour figure that I gave you earlier includes if you play through all of the hardest quests.

Interview with Cygames via Wcctech

Character Recruitment

This is a party-driven game so while you do play as the main character, there are additional characters that can be selected to join your party. There looks to be 17 different allies which range from more magical abilities to melee hack-and-slash combat. Bringing a different character to battle means a different approach can be taken to keep combat varied. According to an interview with RPG site and the general director Tetsuya Fukuhara, these characters can be recruited by completing quests and receiving items that will unlock characters from the main base in any order you wish.

 Actually, it’s not progressing the story that unlocks the character. By progressing the story, you’ll receive items throughout the story that will allow you to unlock a character from a facility in the base area. That’s what we meant by unlocking characters in whatever order you’d like. You’ll receive an item and then you use the item to unlock your preferred character. You’ll just get items – that same item – to do that multiple times throughout the story.

General director Tetsuya Fukuhara – via RPG site interview

Power Level

Power Level indicates the combination of the character’s level and levelled equipment. Each quest will have a recommended Power Level, of course, you can always take them on earlier for a further challenge. The devs do expect it would be quite difficult to tackle the game this way as the game is balanced with Power Level in mind.

Characters also have separate Power Levels but also have Sigil accessories which are interchangeable between characters and factor into the level. Upgrading is not just limited to levels as weapons have unique stats and traits which can be upgraded by the local blacksmith. This reminds me of how weapons are upgraded in titles such as Monster Hunter Rise, but instead in Granblue Fantasy Relink you have a party of characters.

Co-op

In Granblue Fantasty Relink you can take on the game solo, with no AI characters, or party up with characters. You can also group up with a max of four players in online mode.

How quests are handled when playing online, is that if members in your group complete the quest with you, they too will clear the quest. However, they will have needed to have unlocked the quest also. Interestingly, players can still join to help you complete a quest, even if they haven’t unlocked it themselves, but they won’t be able to progress in their quest log but you will still get rewards.

Assist Modes

If you’re not a fan of controlling every aspect of combat, or just want to concentrate on the story, there is an Assist Mode. This mode auto attacks for you, making for a less challenging experience, however, you should note that not all content can be tackled in this mode. Post main story content there are further tiers of quests, the last tier is not playable in this mode.

If you’ve played such games as Final Fantasy 7‘s Classic Mode, you may have experienced a similar mode which helps take over some of the combat. The characters will auto-attack but you can take over use abilities which is optional. Full Assist will have all actions taken on automatically. This includes healing, dashing and guarding.

Combat

The gameplay uses real-time combat with a mix of melee and special powers depending on your party members. Teaming up can also inflict further damage. Stunning enemies require filling a stun gauge which fills up as you attack them.

Once the gauge is full you can use a Link Attack which applies a full party attack for some real damage. Getting that link level to 100% and successfully pulling off a Link Attack triggers Link Time. This causes time to slow down for a short period.

Skills are unique to each character which can range from damage, to healing in more of a support role. As you’d expected, each character has their own skills and can have up to four skills at the ready. In a party you can access each talent tree to learn new abilities by unlocking mastery nodes, making numerous build options. Characters will also have certain sigils or weapons they can equip. The attacks are bright and flashy, looking very satisfying to build enough of the gauge to pull off some awesome killer moves. Attacks aren’t limited to the ground, as characters can jump high and even dive from above.

The mage character Io uses a staff to perform long-range magical attacks and can even set off an AOE to hit large groups of enemies. While Lancelot as the name suggests wields a sword, effortlessly slicing and dicing in fast succession. Siegfried on the other hand uses a great sword which relies on precision timed attacks. Getting the perfect timing means not only gaining a better combo but also granting a unique finisher for some meaty damage. You won’t be able to switch characters on the fly, but rather choose a character to main before heading into a battle. You can also prepare for battles by switching up party compositions.

Enemies are mythical-looking beasts which can come at you from all sides. While bosses are larger-than-life behemoths. There could be some really fun fights ahead not only in your own party of characters but in co-op too.

Final Thoughts

The game kind of reminds me of Tales of Arise with its soft, anime style. However, its combat gets some more dimension, especially with the option of online co-op and more open spaces. This will surely provide more fun ways to play, especially if you would rather take on quests with friends. While single-player RPGs are always great for story, sometimes it’s great to have co-op content to join in with friends or other online players especially once you’ve finished main quests like in Monster Hunter Rise.

The game is a feast for the eyes, taking the hand-drawn artstyle of the Granblue series and adding a 3D world which looks fantastic as an Action-RPG. The sheer amount of characters that can join your party and ways to customise them means there are many playstyles to adopt. You can also opt to play completely solo without AI characters if you really want to up the challenge. Having further challenging quests for endgame content will also provide some extra hours for those who want to 100% everything.

There’s a wide roster of characters in the Granblue franchise so it is a wonder if they will add further characters in the future through DLCs or later updates. Whether an expansion will later come to the game is also unknown but maybe we’ll get an answer a little closer to the game’s release next year. Adding further co-op activities or a new region could make for further hours into the game as optional additional content.

What do you think of Granblue Fantasy Relink? What do you think about the combat party system? Are you excited for its launch? Let us know in the comments below.

Granblue Fantasy Relink will be coming to PS4, PS5 and PC on February 1st 2024 with the standard edition starting at $59.99.

If you enjoyed this preview be sure to check out more in Remnant 2: The Awakened King DLC Preview.

The post Granblue Fantasy Relink: What We Know So Far About the Action-RPG appeared first on Fextralife.

It’s the start of a brand new year, meaning a whole year of games to look to forward. We are going to go over some of the most anticipated RPGs that caught our eye and titles we simply can’t wait to play in 2024. In this article, we’ll show you what awaits you in the coming year and trust us when we say there is plenty to be excited about.

Top 10 Anticipated RPGs of 2024

2023 has been a phenomenal time, especially in the RPG space. Surely how can 2024 follow such a year? Well, we still have a number of games to look forward to including some Action-RPGs, open-world games, tactical and turn-based titles. In this list we’ll be looking at some of the most highly anticipated RPGs and why they’ve caught our attention. So without further ado, let’s get into the Top 10 RPGs of 2024!

Honourable Mention: Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth

The return of the wacky turn-based RPG Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth drops the “yakuza” from the title and embraces its absolutely mad universe. In the sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Ichiban Kasuga makes his return starting from the bottom, this time gaining a new region of Hawaii. Here he will pick himself up and start anew.

While this entry continues to use turn-based RPG gameplay, there are some moments to take advantage of and just go ham on enemies. Recruit allies that take up Job-based professions that include new ones such as Pyrodancer, Samurai, Desperado, Geodancer, Action Star and Housekeeper. Gameplay looks fun, silly and just as outrageous or even more so than the first. Is that a giant shark Ichiban is taking on? And are they riding dolphins?

You can even take on a new mode called Dondoko Island full of mini-games and island management, kind of a game within a game. Here you can craft, design and manage your own holiday destination for tourists.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth releases for PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series and PC on January 26th 2024.

10. Banishers Ghosts of New Eden

If you’re familiar with Don’t Nod games, they are notorious for putting players in difficult situations where they must make decisions that affect their gameplay. Banisher Ghosts of New Eden the Action-RPG will be no different, putting players into an interesting situation as a pair of ghost hunters, who are then torn apart when one of them, Antea becomes the very thing she hunted.

If that wasn’t clear she becomes a ghost and gets some supernatural powers. Red will do anything to bring back his love from the beyond. Originally they were sent to sort out some spectres that have been haunting a town, but things take a turn. Now they will need to decide whether to banish souls or let them ascend to serenity. There’s also the factor that they will need to keep Antea sustained in her new ghostly prison, which will have some consequences.

Combat is a mix of melee and supernatural powers. Antea being a ghostly being from beyond is armed with more spiritual abilities, balancing Red’s brawn. Through perception, her powers can help enhance navigating the land with a spectral leap to get to hard-to-reach areas. There’s also burst damage, unleashing spectral energy.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden will begin hunting down spirits on February 13th 2024 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

9. Rise of the Ronin

Team Ninja are at it again with another stunningly set Action-RPG this time in with the historical backdrop of 1863 Japan. Announced in 2022 at the Playstation State of Play, a trailer was released showing a peek into the trial and tribulations of western influence during the tense times of the civil war. Set during the Edo period known as Bakumatsu. The struggles during this time were not only from oppressive leaders but deadly diseases.

The video shows a bird soaring through a city, finally sighting a lone ronin upon a hilltop. It then shows ships from the west and troubles plaguing the people being ruled by Tokugawa. The game is set to be an immersive experience with combat-focused action following the life of a Ronin. While Ninja in the past has had many historical-based games, Ronin will be combining their experience over the years and setting up for next major step for the studio.

No doubt the developer’s experience working on Nioh 2, will help in making this action combat title fluid in sword fighting while opening up the game with the use of gliding to explore.

Rise of the Ronin will rise up in 2024 for Playstation 5.

8. Granblue Fantasy Relink

A spinoff to the main title series, Granblue Fantasy Relink is Action-RPG which allows players to control a group of characters, as they adventure through the Sky Realm. Taking the lead is the character of the Captain, who will command his team as they face off against Primal Beasts. These are monstrosities created by the Astrals years ago. It isn’t going to be easy to eliminate them but there is a rich cast of characters whom players can rely on. Expect plenty of party banter in true JRPG style.

Instead of opting for an open-world environment Cygames has chosen large open areas, allowing for you to prepare for potential battles long before stepping into the next one. This means players won’t feel overwhelmed when it comes to exploration. Combat consists of flashy combat moves that can be linked up with full-party attacks. Skybound Arts deal massive aftershock damage while chaining moves with other allies, inflicting a Chain Burst.

Boasting over 100 quests, there’s plenty to do from defeating bosses to taking part in raids. This means you can solo or join a party with up to four players in an online co-op. If you’d rather enjoy the game’s story and content there’s even a Full Assist mode where actions can be performed automatically.

Granblue Fantasy Relink will be coming to PS4, PS5 and PC on February 1st 2024.

7. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

This one is a little difficult to talk about as it’s had quite a bumpy development history. Now under a new studio The Chinese Room, hopefully this means we’ll be seeing it in fall of 2024. This Action-RPG is based on the tabletop game and is a sequel. It sets to focus on storytelling described as a “dark” and “visceral” game. As the title follows a group of vampires, the studio aims to depict the complicated lives of beings who can live forever.

In case you missed it Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 is set in the city of Seattle years after the events of the first title. Set in the World of Darkness universe, it follows an elder Vampire known as Phyre reawakening in a modern world after hundreds of years of slumbering. The world has changed since they were last awake, various vampire clans are met with political factions, all fighting for control of the city.

Previously the gameplay took on stealth and first-person combat which includes some supernatural vampire powers. However recent interviews describe combat as stalking prey and being able to commit to actions without fear. Translating a TTRPG into a video game is no easy task, but we do know the developer hopes to convey a good balance between adventure and roleplaying as well as giving players plenty of agency while playing.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be coming to PS5, Xbox Series and PC in fall 2024.

6. Avowed

Set in the same universe as the Pillars of Eternity, the Action-RPG Avowed was first showcased in 2020 which showed first person, magic-wielding in one hand and using a weapon in the other. A fresh look at gameplay this year showed quite a variety of enemies, from giant bears to glowing red-eyed skeletons. Also watch out for those sentient mushrooms.

Players can use AOE-styled abilities that look to provide more strategies to fight off deadly foes. There’s a mix of elemental magic including freezing foes in place or throwing fireballs. You can even dual-wield pistols. So there does seem to be quite a variety of combat choices.

Setting out to Aedyr, players are sent to a distant land to check out rumours of an impending plague. Discovering a unique connection with the land itself, and unearthing ancient secrets that could end up destroying everything. Just like other Pillars titles, you will not be exploring alone but be accompanied by Companions to join you on your adventure. Such as Kai a Costal Aumaua who finds your powers just a bit scary.

Avowed will be released in 2024 coming to Xbox Series, PC and Xbox Game Pass on day 1.

5. Black Myth Wukong

Black Myth Wukong you might have been following since our gameplay impression video back in 2021. The title has been a while in the making but looks like it’s aiming for Summer 2024 release window. In case you missed it, it follows the mischievous Monkey King who will battle many villains in the game inspired by Journey to the West. Sun Wukong will use the Five Elements and his transformations in combat.

In the novel, he has 72 different transformations, but it’s yet to be seen whether all of them will make it into the game. The gameplay style is fast-paced, with a rich Eastern fantasy world to explore. Its action combat will really shine especially with the different staff moves that Wukong can adopt.

The visuals are jaw-dropping, with plenty of larger-than-life bosses to really test your mettle. Its solid setting with a refreshed format could really make this game shine.

Black Myth Wukong has yet to have an exact release date but is expected to launch in the summer of 2024 for PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5.

4. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Being the sequel to the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII game, Rebirth is a no-brainer for our list. Fans are eagerly awaiting the next part of the saga, and what’s been shown so far looks pretty good. Final Fantasy games are usually chocked full of story, memorable characters and some mini-games. Being a remake, the title will keep things fresh with reworked systems and beautifully updated characters.

Cloud makes his return, with the rest of his crew in Rebirth continuing exactly where players left off. We already know that this game is going to be a big one, with details that it will arrive on two discs this time around. It’s also part of a trilogy, so part 2 won’t be the end of the saga. Footage shown gives a peek into what’s in store for Cloud, as well as a returning cast of characters including Red XIII, Aeirith, Barret, Sephiroth, and some new characters come into play.

It also gave a quick glimpse at some major action boss fights and dance numbers that surely will leave a lasting impression. On the lighter side, there are also mini-games such as Chocobo racing which didn’t make it into the first and the Gold Saucer which includes a robot beat ’em up.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be leaping into the new year on February 29^th 2024 for PS5.

3. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

This title has had a bit of a rocky development time but we’re hopeful Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will come out next year. What we know so far about this upcoming game is that it has officially been called Dreadwolf. Developer Bioware has shared that it will be keeping Bioware RPG at its core, letting players be the ones to make the decisions when it comes to in-game choices. Although there won’t necessarily be a right or wrong choice.

Your favourite or maybe not so favourite antagonist Solas is back. Known as the Dreadwolf you will either love him, hate him or maybe both. The possible elven god has somewhat questionable ways to carry out his motives. Something tells us he’s going to make it an even more tumultuous experience in the upcoming entry.

Set in the vibrant world of Thedas full of wild and twisting labyrinths as well as impressive cities. This age however is full of warring nations, combat and illusive magics. Things are about to get interesting as things come to a head. Players will be able to forge friendships, experience the drama and romance in bringing together a group of adventurers. Previously the developer has teased the Antivan Crows, the Grey Wardens and even a magic archer. So far it’s mostly been teasers, concept art and some behind-the-scenes. Hopefully we’ll see some of this one soon.

Dragon Age Dreadwolf is expected to come to platform PS5, Xbox Series and PC.

2. Dragon’s Dogma 2

I know we haven’t been given an exact release date for Dragon’s Dogma 2 but hear me out, it could happen in 2024. Capcom celebrated the Action-RPGs tenth birthday this year. They have already started releasing some gameplay and we got our own hands-on experience back in September. Fans have been waiting a long time for the sequel. The game’s open world is expected to be four times bigger than the first game and so far it’s looking pretty solid.

As you’d expect, the Pawn system returns in Dragon’s Dogma 2 with three AI characters to run amok with you. The combat is fast-paced with plenty of close combat and ranged magical attacks. Players will have four starting Vocations or classes to choose from which are Fighter, Archer, Mage and Thief. Of course, you can later use advanced classes such as the new Mystic Spearhand. You can also change up your class as you wish by stopping by one of the guilds.

AI has gotten an upgrade since the first game, being far more reactive to player combat. The world seems much more alive in Dragon’s Dogma 2. You can even hitch a ride on an Oxcart. If you’re tired of walking, simply close your weary eyes to fast-travel to the destination. Just remember that the world of Dragon’s Dogma is a dangerous one, as you could be attacked by the many monsters on your travels. I once heard a wise Pawn say that wolves hunt in packs.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be coming to PS5, Xbox Series and PC.

1. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

This highly anticipated expansion cannot come soon enough, while there’s no exact release date yet it could make a 2024 appearance. Elden Ring: The Shadow of the Erdtree was originally unveiled with little fanfare. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t met with great enthusiasm from fans and of course, plenty of speculation with the image teased back in February this year.

It’s not an awful lot to go on but by looking at past DLCs or expansions from Fromsoftware games we could be gaining new weapons, new areas, dungeons, Armor, spells, Bosses and much more. The developer is meticulous when it comes to the quality of their games, but since we haven’t heard so much as a peep since the initial announcement, they could be working on something big.

Elden Ring has been very well received by fans, passing the 20 million units sold mark just in a year after its launch. Of course, we are eager for more, and hopefully, this means more of the Erdtree in 2024. In the meantime we have a whole video going over what and when we expect the DLC to drop, so go check out that video if you want to know more. Of course, we’ll be adding to the wiki with all the details released so hop on Torrent and make your way over there.

Well there we have it, our top 10 anticipated RPGs for 2024. Do you agree with our list? Which of these games are you most excited for, for 2024? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Top 10 Anticipated RPGs of 2024 appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Lies of P Review, we will share our impressions of the game after playing a complete playthrough. This soulslike has been highly anticipated by the souls community and managed to get the spotlight in Gamescom 2022, winning the “Most Wanted Sony PS Game” award. Does it live up to the intense hype? Read on to find out!

Lies of P Review – Pinoccio Souls

Genre: RPG
Developed by: NEOWIZ Games, Round8 Studio
Published by: NEOWIZ Games
Release date: September 19th, 2023
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation®5, and PlayStation®4
Price at time of review: $59.99

Lies of P Review – Story & Setting

In Lies of P, you play the role of the puppet “P” in the Belle Époque-inspired city of Krat; a once prosperous capital that has collapsed into ruin as a result of the Puppet Frenzy, leaving Krat with bloodsoaked streets, murderous puppets and a mysterious plague. In this dark and bloody re-imagining of the 1883 children’s tale, P must fight through in order to find his creator and become human. 

In order for you to fully understand the world that you play in and the characters that you meet throughout your journey, you will have to seek and read letters, notes, newspapers, posters and books scattered throughout the game. Similar to the Dark Souls Series, item descriptions and dialogue with NPCs will give more exposition behind the lore of the land. However, unlike the Souls Series, the story can be experienced and understood without having to put in the effort of reading into every description that you find. 

Krat perfectly depicts a once prosperous city that has fallen into ruin with its beautiful architecture and complete chaos layering the exterior. Debris coats every surface on the city, empty carriages and corpses litter the streets, and all kinds of bloodthirsty puppets roam around, using anything from Candelabras to Rapiers as weapons. Locations that you visit outside of Krat are not quite as memorable as the time you spend there, but all areas are connected by a sense of isolation and a desolate atmosphere, making every encounter with an NPC feel special. 

Overall, the story of Lies of P successfully engages players with a fresh take on a classic theme, but it unfortunately does not deliver completely and stumbles over the finish line, so it’s not the strongest point of the game.

Lies of P Review: Gameplay

As expected from a souls-like, Lies of P excels in its gameplay, meshing the now-familiar mechanics with different combat systems that give the gameplay further depth. But does it differ from other Souls-Likes enough to be interesting?

Level Design

Lies of P is divided into different areas with multiple checkpoints. You finish the area by killing a boss, then go back to Hotel Krat, and continue on to the next area. There are no instances where you go back to an area you already completed after unlocking something in the main quest, so the game is quite linear in this regard. However there are many times when the player will be able to choose between multiple paths. Some optional paths will lead to Items or NPCs, and other times it leads to unlocking a shortcut. I was never lost in this game, and always had a clear direction of where to go or what to do. There is also a surprising amount of verticality in this game, which is paired with Dark Souls levels of fall damage, meaning gravity will yet again be the nemesis of most players.

Combat

The basic gameplay loop inside of an area is what you would expect from any Souls-Like. You find a Stargazer checkpoint, go through the area killing Enemies and using Pulse Cells (healing potions), unlock a shortcut/find another Stargazer, go rest to get back pulse cells and repeat. Once you get to a boss, you unlock a shortcut or a Stargazer and can spam attempts as long as you like. 

Combat is meant to be aggressive and agile, with iframes on dodge, perfect parry mechanics, magic spells that enhance your attacks or actions, and health recovery from offensive actions. Your dodges are tied to your character carry weight, so you can expect to manage your equipment to avoid “fat rolling”. The controls are responsive and I felt like I had a good handle on the character, and whenever I died I felt I had made a mistake rather than it feeling cheap.

The game features Weapon swapping, but it felt somewhat clunky as it was a slow swap that didn’t make much sense during combat, and each weapon added to your total weight so it made more sense to just equip one.

Enemies

In terms of enemies, there is a decent range of enemies for you to discover and learn as you play the game, but it will sometimes feel like you face the same 3-4 “easy” enemies when you aren’t fighting minibosses or bosses. Enemies do have unique movesets and weaknesses so you can test your skills versus different kinds of foes that will attack you in different ways.

A sore point for some hardcore fans may be the encouragement of utilising Spectres in the game, which are AI that help in a Boss fight. You are never forced to use them, but 1 boss fight in particular feels impossible to beat without it. 

Overall, the combat of this game goes past what is expected of the standard souls-like formula, and gives players a huge amount of freedom to build whatever they want.

Build Customization

Lies of P has made excellent use of multiple combat systems to add spice to the soulslike combat formula. You start the game off by choosing one of three combat styles between Balanced, Strength and Dexterity, then go on to R1 spam a bit, level a bit and make the weapon stronger. This is where Lies of P applies its own twist. Not only are there 30+ weapons in the game, but most of them have “Blade” and “Handle” components, and each has a unique Fable Art (special ability) bound to them. You can disassemble these 2 parts and assemble different weapon parts together to create any weapon you want.

Weapons

The weapon’s Blade will determine its overall damage and will be upgradable, and the Handle will influence the combat pattern and stat scaling. You can make any kind of ridiculous combination, like a giant Hacksaw Blade on a tiny Rapier Handle or a Chef’s Knife on a massive Pipe Wrench. I found myself spending hours testing all different kinds of combinations to find the perfect weapon for my playstyle, which I was able to carry over for my entire playthrough. This mix-and match system is truly a lot of fun, and opens up an abundance of possibilities for builds that may feel overwhelming at first, but you will open up once you begin to understand the things you want in your weapon.

Another important but not as successful system that adds to the combat is Legion Arms. This is like Sekiro‘s prosthetic arm and it allows you to swap your arm out and gain specific combat abilities. I was honestly a bit disappointed with the options of Legion Arms, and never really found myself relying on them for anything. I tried every single one but the one that felt the most powerful ended up being the beginning arm, Puppet String, which felt anticlimactic. However, I can definitely see some players being able to master this system and utilise it much more efficiently than I did.

Lastly, build customization is wrapped up with the P-Organ System. The build depth when you combine this feature with the weapon assembling feature is amazing. The amount of upgrades P can get to his combat through this system makes you feel in full control of what kind of playstyle you want to have. You will genuinely feel a sense of progression and empowerment as you progress through the story and this system.

Design, Visual & Audio

Graphically, Lies of P delivers a polished product with solid visual fidelity, and that is pleasing to the eye. The game runs on UE4 and it had good performance on my 3090 (AMD Ryzen 9 5950X) with a solid 200 FPS at 1440P on the “Best” quality setting, that never dropped below about 150 FPS. I did have a few crashes here and there during important boss fights or cutscenes (around 5 times in the 35 hour playthrough). I also encountered no bugs.

The game’s art style is satisfying, and the design of enemies felt well-suited for the world and atmosphere. Weapons have a wide range of interesting attack patterns and animations, and the Perfect Guard mechanic feels amazing to pull off. There’s also good environmental variety and the levels take you to different biomes including, of course, a poison swamp.

The voice acting is mostly good. I really very much enjoyed most of the cast, but there was one NPC that got on my nerves and it felt off-putting. Thankfully that character has a limited a role and it won’t be disruptive to your experience.

One point I did not expect this game to excel at was music. There are some points in the game where I caught myself stopping near music sources to hear it out. Records are also available as collectibles which can change the lobby music of Hotel Krat, which was already memorable and fantastic.

Replayability & Pricepoint

In my playthrough, I combed through almost every single waypoint in the game to try and find everything, but I still managed to miss some stuff simply from the choices that you make in the game. This took about 35 hours of skilled gameplay, and I certainly can see things I have yet to discover, so of course your mileage may vary.

There is a heavy emphasis on the importance of your actions and I could definitely see myself trying out new options I hadn’t tried before in a new playthrough, but maybe only 1 or 2 more times before I exhausted all the possibilities.

The real replayability would come from the innumerable amount of builds you can make and the fun weapons you can try out. I could easily see myself sinking maybe 50 more hours into this game before I exhaust the most interesting possibilities in the story and the builds.

Given these numbers I would debate that the price point of 60 dollars is fair, but not exactly incredible value like for Elden Ring or Monster Hunter given the amount of hours the average player will play for. 

Final Thoughts 

It is unfortunate that the first impression that most people will have of this game may be tinted by the perception that it’s simply a “Dark Souls Copycat” due to its heavily inspired UI and gameplay. As a result, many will gloss over this game as just another Souls Like, when in reality Lies of P takes that inspiration and adds many layers of unique aspects that deliver a fresh and unique experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time running around the intriguing setting, fighting different puppet monsters and unveiling the mystery behind all the events that lead to this point. Exploring to find interesting things was great, and the surprisingly catchy music was a treat. NPCs were likeable and I formed some attachments to them, Bosses gave a huge adrenaline rush whenever I got close to beating them, and there were some hard choices to make in the game that pushed my brain to the limits. 

Overall, the experience is extremely solid and not just “another soulslike”, with some real passion put into it by Neowiz which makes me excited for what we will see from them in the future.

The post Lies of P Review appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Lords of the Fallen article/video I’m going to be talking about my Hands-On Gameplay Impressions of Lords of the Fallen and I got to play this game a little over a month ago when I was at Twitchcon Paris. CI Games graciously came over and showed me the game. I got to play with them and ask a lot of questions. I’ve been dying to talk about this game for over a month, so I can’t wait to discuss this game with you guys.

Lords of the Fallen Gameplay & Hands-On Impressions

So there are two things I think you’ll notice immediately when looking at the gameplay of Lords of the Fallen and the first is the distinct art style of the game it’s much darker than the original game it has more of a Dark Fantasy tone to it. It kind of reminds me of something like Dark Souls meets Diablo in terms of the brutality, the gruesomeness of the creatures and the environments that you’re in. It’s very very dark, it’s very very grim and things seem like they are going very horribly wrong for the world that you’re in.

Furthermore, it’s not that the original game didn’t have a good art style or good art direction because it did. But I feel like the direction that they’ve gone with the new title is closer to something that I think Souls fans will really really enjoy. I personally enjoy it a little bit better myself.

The Visuals – Best Looking ARPG to date?

The next thing you’re obviously going to notice is the visuals of this game, they are stunning to look at. When you look at the game it looks gorgeous, it looks beautiful the detail of the environments have all this subtle detail. You can see things in the background clearly and it’s not like blurred-out stuff like that. The character models are very very detailed. There is just so much detail. With the visuals of this game you can’t help but kind of drop your jaw a little bit.

When you look at it you’re like wow this is absolutely incredible for an Action-RPG in fact the game is so stunning to look at one can’t help but wonder if this game gonna have performance issues on PC? Is it going to have performance issues on consoles?

You’ve seen a lot of titles recently that were gorgeous to look at but they just had a lot of technical problems in terms of performance. You look at this game and you go, “Is it going to have those issues too?” Now I only got to play a couple hours of the game near the beginning and I didn’t experience technical or performance issues during that time. But it still makes me wonder because this is just a small slice of the game that I’ve seen.

I could see how this might be a concern given the things we’ve seen in the gaming industry recently. However if they can manage to pull this off without technical issues on launch, I think Lord of the Fallen will probably be the best-looking ARPG to date.

Gameplay

Talking more about the gameplay you’ll notice here that there are a lot more similarities to souls than the previous game. As well as the way combat is designed with block, parrying, and dodging. To the way the character moves through the world design of the game and how it’s kind of interconnected in their shortcuts.

Equipment

The fact that there are stats on equipment that resembles that of a souls games. Equipment typically has lore notes. Everything feels like it’s straight out of a souls game and when you look at it you’re going to see the similarities and comparisons almost immediately.

Look and Feel – A Love Letter to Souls Fans

Frankly, I actually feel like this was intentional. I feel like the developers took feedback from the first game and went you know what let’s do this in a way that the souls audience will really appreciate. I think they’ve designed their game intentionally with the souls community in mind to play. They’re going like “hey guys we can make a really good game here that’s something that you really really want to play and we’re going to do that just for you”. That’s kind of what this game feels like.

Combat

So far the combat itself feels really good in my opinion it’s very responsive and it’s probably some of the closest you’ll have to the souls games themselves but it’s not as good as souls like you’ll feel the difference immediately when you start playing. However, in my opinion, it’s not so glaring that you’re going to think it’s just not quite as good. I mean Fromsoftware has combat down to a T. Everyone else is still trying to catch up. Lords of the Fallen is as well but they did a pretty good job in my opinion.

Magic

But something that’s really caught my attention from seeing some of the gameplay that was sent over and this is not something that I got to see in my game time as I didn’t get far enough to unlock it, is the Magic in the game. The magic looks absolutely outstanding not only from a visual standpoint but also from a mechanics standpoint. It seems very creative, and very interesting. If I had one gripe about the Elden Ring and souls games it’s just that the magic isn’t as creative.

It feels like it’s just been using the same spells now for like four games mostly. I’m actually quite excited to use magic that might be a little bit different. That’s not quite the same as it’s always been in one of these types of games and to see how it interacts with the game world.

Bosses

I did get to fight one boss in my time playing the game and I will say that there is an NPC summoning system. Just like the souls games or Elden Ring where you can summon an NPC from the game world to assist you in boss fights.

I will say I really enjoyed the boss fight it was fun. The mechanics were interesting. The effects and the visual effects of the boss themselves were fantastic. The music was good so I feel like the boss fights in Lords of the Fallen are going to be more memorable than previous Souls-like games. If you look at games like Mortal Shell or The Surge and even the old Lords of the Fallen game I don’t think the boss fights in those games were particularly well-designed or memorable in a lot of cases. I think it’s something that 3D souls likes could really work on.

You look at something like Hollow Knight, or some of these other 2D side scrollers like Blasphemous. Their boss fights are phenomenal for a souls-like 2D games. However 3D souls-like games on the other hand, in my opinion have really struggled with phenomenal boss fights. I think Lords of the Fallen has a really good chance of changing that.

Realm Mechanics

Talking a little bit about the different realm mechanics right because there’s something that’s unique to Lords of the Fallen. Where you are not only moving through the game world in the land of the living (Axiom) but you also move through in the land of the dead (Umbral). It’s an interesting concept in my opinion. You can pull out your lantern and you see things that you can’t see in the other world. When you’re watching the gameplay it’s really really impressive to see how they have a world layered on a world.

The way it’s designed is actually extremely creative because they had to think in different dimensions at the same time when they were designing their game world. That has got to be extremely difficult to do. I did have several interactions with this mechanic in the time that I played where I had to pull up my Lantern to reveal a pathway that was not there otherwise.

Exploration with the Lantern

For example one time I had to go underwater but there was just like a little pond and there was nowhere for my character go. I was like where do I go? I pull up the Lantern and all of a sudden the water disappears and there’s steps going downward which was very cool from an exploration point of view. You’ll use this off and on as you traverse the world. But I didn’t get enough time to really get a sense of how much does it impact the overall gameplay loop of the game.

Fighting with the Lantern

I could give you one example that was really memorable though. I was fighting an enemy and he was completely immortal. I wondered why I couldn’t kill this guy. So then I pulled out my lantern to reveal that there was a guy from the Umbral realm, that was actually buffing him. I couldn’t kill this guy until I killed the guy in the Umbral realm. It seems really interesting when you say that. You’re like wow that’s really cool in theory but it was also kind of unwieldy. My character didn’t move very well with the lantern out.

The Realm of Umbral

There was also a bit of delay from the time you pressed the lantern button to when it actually comes out, so you couldn’t roll through the guy’s attack and then pull the lantern out at a moment’s notice. It didn’t work that fast and I wonder is it more of a gimmicky mechanic or if is it actually going to be something that sets this game apart from other RPGs in this genre. I just don’t know the answer to that yet but the Umbral realm itself is absolutely fascinating when you’re inside of it. It feels darker, it feels colder and you feel more alone. Things are more punishing. It provides a harder experience challenge-wise.

The game itself Lords of the Fallen I would say, is on par with souls games in terms of difficulty. Or at least close to it but then you go into the Umbral realm and it is no joke. In there and I think it’s really interesting because players have a lot of control over when they can go into the Umbral realm and back. So if you wanted to up the challenge of the game for instance you could actually play more in the Umbral realm and less in the regular realm. I think the fact that you have a lot of control over that will make the game a little bit more interesting in itself.

Game Length

Something that just keeps blowing my mind that I absolutely cannot wrap my head around is that Lords of the Fallen is supposed to be five times longer than the original game. If I remember correctly the original game correctly was somewhere between like 15 to 20 hours for a playthrough. That means this game could be anywhere between 50 to 100 hours. Or somewhere in that range depending on how good of a player you are. How much you explore. Whether you’re co-op or PVP etc.

I mean when you look at how incredible the game looks and the gameplay looks 50-plus hours, it just seems wow. I mean we’re talking about the size of a souls game here. Maybe bigger than a souls game not quite Elden Ring levels obviously. However, you can probably compare it to one of the games in the Dark Souls franchise. If you’re talking about that size or maybe even a little bit larger than that, that’s absolutely unheard of. How many souls-like games have come out that have been anywhere near the size of a soul game? Or even bigger? I can’t think of one. This could be the first one that’s on par with souls in terms of the scope of the game.

Co-op and PVP

As I mentioned the game has co-op and PVP. I mean these are things that were not present in the original game. How many souls-like games have co-op and PVP? It’s a very small list to say the least, I think this is something that was added specifically for the souls community. I think CI games knows what Souls player is like, and figured out a way to implement co-op and PVP. I cannot wait to play co-op through this game. I probably won’t do a ton of PVP but this is a great game to co-op in. It has that dark atmosphere where it’s lonely and you want to have a friend with you. You can play with randoms or you can play with your friends.

I assume there’s going to be a password matching or something like that since they mentioned you could specifically play with your friends. That’s fantastic too if you have either option. Having said those things I am looking forward to Lords of the Fallen more now than I ever have before. Seeing the new gameplay, adding that on top of my gameplay experience, I really enjoyed it. Thinking about playing co-op Fex, all this gets me really really excited for Lords of the Fallen in the fall and I can’t wait to play.

Final Thoughts

I would just say to those players out there that were not happy with the original title either because they didn’t like the combat. Or there was some issue with the game. Or they felt like it was too heavy. There wasn’t enoughcustomization. Or they didn’t like playing Harkyn and they wanted to make their own character. There is character creation in this game and I think you’re gonna find probably what you were looking for in this new rendition.

I mean what a year for gaming right? We’ve got Remnant 2 we’ve got Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield around the horizon. We’ve had Final Fantasy 16, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Hogwarts Legacy. We’ve had so many other games I’m forgetting. It’s been absolutely a bonkers year for action and action role-playing titles. I think this one should be on your list if you don’t already have it on there as something to be excited for. The game looks absolutely incredible and I cannot wait to see more from it.

What do you guys think after seeing the gameplay? Are you more hyped now? Are you absolutely worried about performance? Is that a consideration? Let me know in the comments below.

Lords of the Fallen will be coming Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on October 13th. Drop by our LOTF wiki for all the latest.

The post Lords of the Fallen Gameplay & Hands-On Impressions appeared first on Fextralife.

Today, we take a look at the SteamDeck. Valve’s handheld is a fantastic treasure trove of goodness, whether players enjoy playing on the go, or just sitting on their couch. Here at Fextralife, we enjoy great RPGs, so it’s a good thing that the deck has these in spades. As such, we are going to take a look at some of the Best RPGs on the SteamDeck, in no particular order. 

The SteamDeck was one of 2022’s biggest surprise hits. Since its release last year, it has consistently been in the Top 10 Sellers on Steam (as it’s part of their catalog, despite being hardware). This feat has been even more surprising as the handheld PC is unavailable in all markets, and a different company is selling it in some parts of Asia. 

Without further ado, here are some of the best RPGs on the SteamDeck. 

Persona 5 Royal

ATLUS’ enhanced version of their mega-hit life simulator JRPG, Persona 5 Royal, is a perfect candidate for the Deck. It has players follow the life of a simple student turned extraordinary as he gets entangled in a complex web of intrigue and founds The Phantom Thieves of Hearts. He and his group enter the minds of the evil and corrupt of the world (well, mostly Japan) and force them to change their hearts for the better. 

Persona 5 Royal’s daily format is quite perfect for the Steam Deck. Players need to balance their everyday life during gameplay, alternating between attending classes, making friends, training their stats, infiltrating minds, or just general goofing off. Anything and everything will have a consequence later on down the road. But since you can play at a leisurely pace, and the fact that you handle things one day at a time, means you can easily pick up and play the game. 

Persona 5 Royal was released originally way back for the PlayStation 4 but has been available on PC since October 2022. Since then, it has sold over 3.3 million units across all platforms. Its regular price of $59.99 is already a steal considering the quality and quantity you get for a purchase. It also sits at a 97% Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, with over 27,000 reviews. 

Diablo II: Resurrected

Blizzards’ resurrection of an all-time classic is one of the best RPGs available on the SteamDeck. Battle Diablo once more in fully enhanced visuals with some added QoL, just for good measure. Players can select one of the 7 classes, Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Sorceress, Paladin, Assassin, and Amazon. 

Diablo II: Resurrected is the perfect grindy game that you can play on the go in short bursts (but let’s be honest, most of us would probably end up playing for hours on end). The remaster added perfect controller support that translates well into the SteamDeck. As you can map several skills to multiple buttons, some may even argue that playing with a controller is easier than with the mouse and keyboard since you can only have one “active” skill using this control scheme. Since the handheld also has back paddles, we can add even more buttons and hotkeys for all of our deadly abilities. 

Performance Resurrected

The SteamDeck is also able to put out a respectable performance with the game. It runs beautifully on medium settings, with a locked 48 FPS framerate. The game’s text may be a bit small at times, especially during dialogue, but is otherwise perfectly playable. 

The installation of Diablo II: Resurrected isn’t as straightforward as other titles on this list, however. As the game isn’t natively sold on Steam, it doesn’t appear by default in SteamOS’ interface. This can be easily circumvented by entering the Deck’s desktop mode and adding the Battle.net installer as a non-Steam game. Once this new entry is run, you can install the client, as well as any Blizzard game without much trouble. 

Another bonus here is that we were able to test Diablo IV on the SteamDeck as well during the latest Open Beta and Server Slams. It also gets very acceptable performance, with framerates hovering between 40 to 60 fps, depending on the location. Diablo IV is thus also a candidate for one of the best RPGs on the SteamDeck. 

Divinity Original Sin 2

Moving back into the turn-based space, we have Larian’s Divinity Original Sin 2. The epic sandbox of epic proportions is a great title to play on the Deck, as we don’t need lightning-fast reflexes to keep us on our toes. Great strategy and thinking outside of the box are what matter in a Larian game, and this is highlighted to the highest degree in DOS2. 

The 2017 smash RPG hit is sure to provide players with dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of gameplay. It brings back the “roleplaying” in RPGs as it offers unparalleled freedom of choice in approaching encounters. Players can choose to blast their foes into oblivion with superior tactics, overpower them with brute force (and a ton of explosive barrels), or avoid fights entirely by finding secret passages. There is a ton of flexibility in Divinity Original Sin 2, the limits only ever being your imagination. 

Visuals can get a bit noisy on the SteamDeck, especially since the game has a lot of particle effects when fire and poison are in play (and in Divinity games, they almost always are). But since fights are purely turn-based, you can make decisions in your own time. 

Despite it being the sequel to the first Original Sin, players can also jump right into Original Sin 2 without a problem. The world is extremely detailed and explains things quite easily with its amusing writing. 

Divinity Original Sin 2, one of the best RPGs on the SteamDeck can be purchased for $44.99, though it frequently goes for a 60% cut during Steam Sales. It also sits at an Overwhelmingly Positive rating, with over 140,000 reviews as of writing. 

Elden Ring

FromSoftware’s magnum opus, Elden Ring, is one of our favorite games and one of the best RPGs on the SteamDeck. The gargantuan Souls game offers players an extremely huge and detailed world to explore at their own pace. As the Tarnished, it is your goal to reach the Erdtree that is ever present, looming over the horizon. You must do everything in your power to obtain the power of the Elden Ring and ascend to become the next Elden Lord of the Lands Between. 

Performance-wise, the game can struggle in some of the bigger areas, though it is not too frequent. Players will need to set their expectations, as FromSoftware can sometimes be considered not to be the best when it comes to PC port performance. As such, the game floats around 30 to 40 FPS with medium settings, which is a good compromise between visual fidelity and framerate. It also definitely runs much smoother when you’re indoors, which is where most of the more challenging bosses lurk.  

Elden Ring was a monumental moment in gaming when it was released in February of 2022. It received so much critical acclaim, even winning Game of the Year at The Game Awards and the Fexys. It sold over 20 million units and has an expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, on the way. FromSoftware and Bandai Namco are also working on a new project in parallel, Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon. 

Triangle Strategy

Coming in from Square Enix is one of their entries into the 2D/3D RPG Hybrid, Triangle Strategy. The RPG is inherently political, as it concerns a decades-long war between the greatest factions of the fantasy land of Norzelia. As it turns out, the disputes all basically boil down to control over precious minerals, such as iron and salt. 

Triangle Strategy is quite heavy on the choices as well. The player’s values will truly be tested, but the decisions do not only lie on their shoulders. Most of the more impactul choices that affect the land as a whole must be put to a vote, as one mere mortal isn’t deserving to decide the fate of the entire nation. Players who truly want to make a difference must gather their allies and convince them that your point of view is the best. 

The game also runs quite well on the SteamDeck, which is not surprising due to its simple art style. But when we say simple, that is in no way bad, as Square Enix has created such a charming balance between pixel art and 3D backgrounds. The game looks both nostalgic and new with its perfect medley of different elements, and is sure to evoke a swathe of emotions from any player. Perhaps the only downside for Triangle Strategy is that of its steep asking price of $60. But it does regularly go on sale for at least 50% off. 

Tales of Arise

Continuing on with the JRPGs, we have Tales of Arise as another entry of the best RPGs on the SteamDeck. It follows the tales (heh) of Alphen and Shionne, two people from literally different parts of the world. There is an ancient divide between the Renan and Dahnan peoples, and as expected there is much resentment between both races. It is up to the duo to explore the world and free it from the shackles of this hundreds of years old strife. 

Tales of Arise is an extremely visually lovely game, be it on the SteamDeck or any other platform. It makes use of what it calls an “Atmospheric Shader” to create striking graphics that take inspiration from older anime and watercolor. Everything just pops out of the background and is quite eye-catching. Similarly, combat is also just as visual. You control four characters that you can freely swap between, casting “Arts” skills that lead to devastating combos. 

There is also much to explore in Tales of Arise. Just like any good RPG, there are tons of sidequests to partake in, dungeons to explore, loot to pillage, and fights to overcome. Expect over 50 hours of gameplay with this one. It also sold extremely well, managing to get over 1 million sales in a little over a week. Unfortunately, the developers have also confirmed that there are no plans for a sequel. 

Hogwarts Legacy

Next up is a foray into the wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter in Hogwarts Legacy. This is one of the best open-world games and best RPGs on the Steam Deck. If you’ve ever grown up bitter because your Hogwarts acceptance letter got lost in the mail, then this game is the perfect title for you. 

Hogwarts Legacy excellently encapsulates what it’s like to become a student at the aforementioned school. You can become your own witch or wizard, and explore the castle grounds, discover fantastic beasts, brew bubbling potions, and more. 

You can roleplay as some of your favorite characters in the harry potter universe, such as Harry Potter, Dumbledore, or even Voldemort with his Unforgivable Curses. There are tons of spells and equipment to collect, quests to partake in, and enemies to defeat. Additionally, you have the ever-changing Room of Requirement to call your own, customizing it to your heart’s content. 

Just like Elden Ring, SteamDeck players may need to set their expectations when it comes to performance. Since Hogwarts Legacy is a AAA game released just this 2023, it is a bit demanding in terms of hardware. The game is perfectly playable at 30 FPS with medium settings and AMD’s FSR in effect. 

Hogwarts Legacy is available directly on Steam for $59.99. It sits at 92% Very Positive, across 140,000 reviews. Be sure to check out our Hogwarts Legacy Review to find out why it’s one of the best RPGs on the SteamDeck. 

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

CDProjekt Red’s grand masterpiece needs no introduction. Follow Geralt on his third major game as he explores the lands of Novigrad and Skellige and everything in between. His ultimate quest is to find and rescue his adoptive daughter, Ciri. Along the way, he takes monster-slaying contracts, explores a bunch of caves, gets in tons of fistfights, and even plays rounds and rounds of Gwent. 

The Witcher 3 features dozens of intricately woven storylines that are sure to evoke a lot of different kinds of emotions. Since there are so many sidequests, it can be easy to just take up one in a short gaming session, perfect for a handheld like the SteamDeck. You can think of one sidequest as its self-contained episode of your favorite show, played out through one session. 

CDProjekt has even included a graphics preset specifically for the SteamDeck so most players can expect a nice experience right out of the box. Even though its free next-gen update upped the ante quite a bit, The Witcher 3 is still perfectly playable on Valve’s handheld. 

The Witcher 3 just got its version 4.03 update as well, so we can be sure that the developers aren’t leaving it behind despite also working on The Witcher 4 and consulting on The Witcher Remake. 

Chained Echoes

Those on the more nostalgic side of RPGs may find Chained Echoes quite interesting. Developed by one person, this pixel-art RPG invokes memories of the 16-bit era of games, such as from the SNES. It is a turn-based JRPG wherein the player follows a charming cast of characters and their adventures throughout three different kingdoms. 

It is also heavily narrative-driven, and players can expect a playtime of about 40 hours if they try and finish everything. Player choice will also be put at the forefront, as the game’s choices will matter in the long run. 

While Chained Echoes may pay homage to JRPGs of the past, that doesn’t mean that it’s fully trapped within that era. The developer has put some quality-of-life stuff into the game. For example, there are no random battles here. Instead, enemies appear on the exploration map. When you engage them, you aren’t brought to a separate battle screen that looks only loosely like the original environment. 

Oh, and there are robots and ridable airships. What’s not to love? Chained Echoes is the perfect title to jump into while you’re waiting for another 16-bit love letter, Sea of Stars. 

Disco Elysium – The Final Cut

As we go down deeper into some story-focused games, we can’t forget about Disco Elysium. We play as an eccentric detective in the fictional town of Revachol. It is chock full of political unrest, unforgettable characters, and a healthy dose of murder. 

Just like Divinity 2, Disco Elysium brings “roleplaying” to the center stage and it does so with much gusto. Players will have a nearly limitless amount of choices on how to approach different situations. What’s further made special about the title is that it achieves this without a single bit of combat. Everything is done through dialogue, examination, and skill checks.

Speaking of skills, our detective has 24 extremely unique ones. They fall into the “usual” categories of RPGs, such as Intellect and Physique but that’s where the similarities end. For example, Intellect itself is split into 6 different skills, including Logic, Encyclopedia, Rhetoric, Drama, Conceptualization, and Visual Calculus. Each of them represents a smaller part of our mind that makes up the whole person. Sometimes we can even talk to our abilities, mimicking peoples’ internal monologues with themselves. 

The Final Cut free update was also extremely substantial, as it added new political vision quests, full controller support, and most impressive, full voice acting. This is truly a feat considering how much text there is in the game. The text on the Deck may be quite small by default, but there is a font size modifier that you can tinker with to your liking. If you’re looking for one of the best narrative RPGs out there, you can’t go wrong with Disco Elysium. 

Best RPGs on the SteamDeck Honorable Mentions:

Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet’s game, Guild Wars 2, is the only MMO on our list but it is also one of the best RPGs on the SteamDeck. While the always-online nature of the genre is not something you’d typically want for a handheld, Guild Wars 2 truly shines when you’re lounging around at home. It offers so much class diversity since each base class has distinct sub-classes available to them thanks to the many expansions. 

Guild Wars 2 also does not bombard players with too many active skill choices, compared to World of Warcraft or even Final Fantasy XIV. Instead, players have 5 skills that are defined by their weapon choices, a heal, four alternative skills, and an ultimate. Because the SteamDeck has customizable controls as well as back paddle buttons, you can assign almost everything to a simple button press. 

The MMO also focuses heavily on PVE (though there are still some PVP modes available). Players get to explore dozens of unique maps, many of which have their own “meta event” ongoing that requires the entire map’s cooperation. This makes you truly feel like the world is massive as one player alone can’t complete everything a region has to offer. 

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Bioware and EA’s Mass Effect Legendary Edition is another amazingly good RPG on the SteamDeck – when it works. It is an outstanding game in its own right, made even better by including three full-sized remastered games in one package. The only caveat here is that EA’s Origin App was overhauled into the EA App, which tends to break on the SteamDeck whenever there are major updates. Due to this, the game does take a lot of tinkering from time to time, making the experience less seamless than one may want. 

But otherwise, the Legendary Edition is an extremely satisfying space drama that encompasses the entire universe. The grand scale of things, accompanied by seeing how your choices affect the galaxy, is quite the experience. The Mass Effect games also have some of the best companions around, especially Tali and Garrus. 

Wrapping Up the Best RPGs on the SteamDeck

The SteamDeck is an impressive piece of hardware, capable of many great things. What do you think of the handheld? What’s your favorite game to play on the go? Let us know! 

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Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – In this Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review, we’ll be diving into Fatshark’s next foray into the Warhammer universe. It’s not Vermintide 3 but it’s a new beast altogether… more or less. Is the story remarkable? How different is the gameplay before and after the launch? Are there other aspects of the game that make it stand out compared to other FPS and hack-and-slash titles? We’ll answer all of these and more!

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Exceptionally Fun But Half-Baked

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Story & Setting 

In Darktide, you take on the role of one of society’s rejects to join forces with the Inquisition in the hopes of obliterating the forces of Nurgle, the Chaos God of Disease, Pestilence, and Decay. As to why they would ever want to be involved with him in the first place is anyone’s guess but you’d be surprised by the huge number of his followers. Do you and your allies have what it takes to punish these despicable heretics for their sins? Will you stand by the God-Emperor all throughout or will you consider joining Nurgle as your faith wanes?

Unfortunately, none of these questions will be answered, at least not any time soon. Fatshark’s plan is to periodically add campaigns to expand the story, much like in Destiny 2. As it stands, however, Darktide’s plot is plain and uninspired even if it’s being penned by none other than Warhammer author, Dan Abnett. For the most part, upon hitting certain “trust levels”, short cutscenes will show how the Inquisition feels about recruiting you. The confidence level of these one-dimensional characters pretty much increases the more enemies you kill and the further you progress.  It’s as simple as that.

This is such a shame and a wasted opportunity because the Warhammer universe consists of so many memorable characters and events. Not to mention the countless factions that you’ll come across like the Tech-Priests of Mars, Sisters of Battle, Space Marines, and the almighty and nearly immortal Necrons. Adding in collectibles, notes, and intelligent NPCs to tell tales about Tertium before and after its downfall would’ve changed the experience for the better.

Unlike the story that’ll leave you starving, the setting is thankfully the exact opposite. From the very first time you boot up Darktide, you’ll immediately notice how much work Fatshark has placed in creating Atoma Prime, and in particular, Tertium, which is one of the cities ruled by the Imperium of Man.

They excellently nailed the grimdark atmosphere of Warhammer 40K in ways that were once only confined to the books and tabletop. Even if some locations are as bright as day similar to the dangerous deserts of Mad Max, the overall tone of the game remains the same, and is in sync with the lore – grim and dystopian. The sprawling city complexes, especially the darker ones, are oppressive to the point that I couldn’t help but question the tyrannical methods of the God-Emperor himself. (Yes, I’ll be branded as a heretic!)

Each one of these locations is meticulously designed from tall towers adorned with skulls to Servitors whose bodies are molded into Medicae Stations. Just like us, these prisoners couldn’t escape their fate. Luckily, for us though, we still have the mental faculty to choose the weapons to wield and the missions to participate in, which brings me to my next point – the gameplay.

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Gameplay

In the Mourningstar, you’ll be choosing from several mission types, some of which have secondary objectives and special conditions that make encounters challenging and more engaging at the same time. For instance, the Power Interruption Special Condition will have you and your allies play in complete darkness, making it difficult to aim and shoot ranged foes.

After several hours of playing, however, the lack of mission variety slowly begins to creep up. Regardless of the type, their designs are fixed so sooner or later, you’ll end up memorizing the entire layout. What’s more is the repetitive objectives, which follow a similar formula for almost all of them. For instance, you’ll need to defend Interrogators while they gather data and fix them every now and then. I mean, how much data would you really need anyway? It’s as if Fatshark called it a day to simply rush this part of the game.

The same could be said for the 3 kinds of special conditions. After launch, the implementation became worse since the events were less frequent compared to the beta. Rather than having a special condition for every difficulty mode, these are now limited to say two, for all missions. As such, character progression is now more grindy than ever.

Character Progression & Rewards

Regardless of whether or not you successfully complete missions, you gain experience points. But this amount can fluctuate and increase if you also finish the associated secondary objectives and special conditions. Hitting the midway point of level 20 can take up to 20 hours and this is only for a single character. One mission takes about 25 minutes on average, which can certainly change based on group composition and skill.

But for the most part, you won’t feel strong at lower levels so you’d really need to make an effort and love the class you’re playing to push through. Additionally, there are no modifiers in the game that’ll make the experience less tedious, which means that you’re back to square one should you wish to try out a new class.

The rewards you get after every mission aren’t notable either. You basically acquire some money or Ordo Dockets, crafting materials, weapons, and curios, if you’re lucky. And I mean extremely lucky. The rewards aren’t generous enough for the amount of time you spend quelling the growing influence of Nurgle. But I guess that’s the price to pay in serving the God-Emperor. Due to the low equipment drop rate, you’re better off purchasing them at the Armoury Exchange. Here, at least, you have different weapons and curios to choose from even though the rolls are random.

Another way of gaining purple and orange gear is by finishing weekly tasks at Sire Melk’s Requisitorium. Similar to character progression, however, this is extremely grindy and costly. There are 5 tasks per week that’ll grant special currency to purchase rare items. Should you find them unreasonable such as getting 12 Scriptures, you have the option of rerolling to increase the chances of getting a better one.

Your very first roll will be free but for the rest, you’ll need to pay Ordo Dockets, which will cumulatively increase every time you change tasks. What makes it worse is that the rewards and currencies are not shared across your account, unlike in Vermintide 2. In effect, this pushes you to play the rest of your characters every time, especially if you wish to give them proper gear.

Classes, Abilities, & Loadout

Darktide features four classes and more will be added in the coming months. Each of them fulfills certain roles, which aren’t limited to the holy trifecta even if they lean toward specific playstyles such as supporting and tanking for the team. The bottom line is that all classes are effective in their own right when it comes to clearing hordes and putting down elites so they’re worth trying. Tweaking the way they work to accommodate playstyle changes is straightforward. No resources are needed to modify any of your passive feats so you can easily do as you please.

Some of the weapons you wield are dependent on the class you choose, meaning, only some things are available to everyone, thereby adding to their inherent distinctness. You definitely won’t see a Veteran wield a Psyker’s staff just because. Out of the four, however, it seems to me that the Ogryn got the short end of the stick since the number of weapon families available to them is few. This should hopefully be balanced in due time.

And finally, you have armor, which doesn’t have any bearing on the gameplay since its sole purpose is to make your characters look visually appealing… if that’s even possible.

Combat

In terms of Darktide’s combat, Fatshark delivers. Alongside the applause-worthy setting, you won’t be disappointed with how cohesive, fluid, and responsive the melee and ranged fights are. The encounters are exhilarating and highly engaging to the point that it’s really hard to stop playing. From how swift the Power Sword feels to smoothly slice the enemy’s head off to the way in which the Bolt Gun just annihilates them, it’s all so well-made to bring forth a highly impactful experience. I can’t think of any other FPS and hack-and-slash besides Destiny 2 and Vermintide 2, respectively, that comes close to Darktide.

Moreover, the implementation of ranged combat is done excellently to provide players with another option for destroying Nurgle’s followers. I just love switching between weapons and choosing from so many of them as they change the way encounters play out. For instance, if I wanted to move faster up close and personal, then using the Dueling Sword over the Force Sword as a Psyker would do wonders for me. Additionally, movement is a huge part of the game, allowing for multiple techniques to whittle enemies down. Suppressing to force them to take cover or sliding to slice them to pieces are all possible. There are basically several options available for different kinds of playstyles.

To add to the fun factor of exploring the cityscapes of Tertium and blasting away at enemies like there’s no tomorrow, every character has their witty and humorous banters based on their backgrounds chosen in Character Creation. These include your home planet, defining moments, and reasons for capture, which only affect dialogue during missions. It’s a very good approach to making light of the situation despite the inherent darkness of it all.

The Mourningstar

The last part of the gameplay is the Mourningstar or hub. Aside from purchasing items and trying them out here, you can also engage in crafting and buy cosmetics from the shop, which are some of my biggest gripes in Darktide. Aside from upgrading the rarity of weapons and curios, and gaining a few blessings or perks as part of the process, there’s not much you can do. This is because refining items, earning blessings, and rerolling blessings have yet to be implemented in the game even after its launch.

In the shop, you’ll see the best-looking cosmetics, which don’t affect gameplay and progression and can only be purchased with real money. I mind this because it’s up and running. It’s ironic to see that the story and crafting are both incomplete whereas the shop is more or less operational.

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Audio, Visuals, & Design

In terms of visuals, Darktide is an excellent-looking game, one that successfully brings forth the grimdark future of Warhammer 40K. To add to this is how repugnant Nurgle’s followers look, making the environments feel more unsettling and horrific. Although together with the locations, I would have wished for increased variety considering that players will be spending dozens of hours in the game. In Vermintide 2, for instance, there are multiple biomes including but not limited to open forests, claustrophobic caves, and dreary villages.

Next is the game’s audio, which is its most stellar aspect. The music’s rhythmic and drumming style complements the exhilarating sound effects of the actions you and your enemies make. This is especially noticeable when hordes and elites are nearby, signaling their arrival and your impending doom. The audio cues are on point with the combat encounters themselves so much so that you’ll need to pay close attention to them. I just love how impactful and influential these sounds are to help make critical decisions in Darktide to prepare for the worst.

For instance, the escalating ticking sound of the Poxburster is something to be very cautious about since it’ll suddenly jump and explode to surprise you. And what about the discordant music that accompanies the Beast of Nurgle as it trudges along the metal floors? The voice acting is equally commendable, and definitely adds to the charming banters and battle cries of characters in missions.

Darktide’s performance from the beta until after launch continues to suffer at high and low graphical settings. More often than not, I experienced framerate drops and crashes even when there was not much happening in the game. These are unfortunately random, making the circumstances tough to pinpoint. Luckily, however, I did not experience crashes while rewards were being handed out, unlike some other players.

Replayability, Multiplayer, & Pricepoint

Darktide is highly replayable, mostly due to the classes you can try out. Although I can’t help but question that the bloated mission, progression, and rewards systems have all contributed to this. Nonetheless, I admit that it continues to be a very fun teamwork game worth your time, more so when you’re playing with a good group of people and friends. It’s almost next to impossible not to clock in at least 30 hours of playtime given how addicting Darktide is. Moreover, there are various difficulty modes to further challenge yourselves. To succeed, heavy coordination as well as the best feats and gear available are an absolute must, boosting the hours you’d end up playing.

With this in mind, the standard pricepoint of USD 39.99 is a fair ask if you don’t mind missing some basic features as well as the grind of leveling up your characters. To me, the overall gameplay, combat, audio, and visuals are worth experiencing, especially if you’re new and interested in the Warhammer lore or if you’re a long-time fan. But if you’re keen on the story and you’d prefer to wait until all features have been implemented, then it’s probably best to wait for a sale.

Final Thoughts 

This hack-and-slash FPS seems to still be in Early Access, and therefore needed more time in development. Because of the lack of features, I can’t help but wonder if Fatshark was truly ready for the game’s release. The way missions are structured, which has stripped the narrative elements present in Vermintide 2, in some respects this game is a downgrade versus other Fatshark titles.

Despite the fact that it was obviously not ready for release, Darktide continues to be a feast for the eyes and ears as well as a delight when it comes to decapitating and dismembering enemies. For the most part, I wouldn’t even notice the time flying by while playing, because I was having so much fun with the game. There is definitely an addictive element to Darktide, even if there is a bunch of grindiness involved.

To sum it all up, Darktide will need several more months before it will be completely polished. Hopefully, by then, a well-thought-out story, a less tedious progression grind, and fully-functioning crafting features will be available. The game has the potential to be great but it’s not going to happen over night, even if we continue to slay heretics in the name of the God-Emperor in the meantime!

What did you think of this Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review? Have you started playing it or are you waiting for a sale? Let us know in the comments below. Be sure to drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game! If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out The Callisto Protocol Review SPOILER FREE – Exactly What You Expected! and Midnight Suns Review After 100 Hours Played.

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In this Evil West Review, I will share my impressions on what makes this over-the-top vampire-hunting action adventure worth your energy. But the main question is, should you purchase the game on day 1? Is character customization deep enough? Combat-wise, how does it compare to other shooters, beat-em-ups, and games of a similar genre like Doom? We will talk about these and more!

Evil West Review

Evil West Review – Story and Setting

Evil West is set in the Wild West where you play as an infamous Vampire Hunter named Jesse Rentier. Nobody takes slaughtering vampires more seriously than the Rentier Family with their Institute that is dedicated to decimating these creatures to save America from ultimate destruction. So much so that they decapitate, dismember, and torch these monsters unapologetically. The story revolves around stopping a group of vampires who are engaging in dangerous experiments to preserve their bloodline.

The story is told in a straightforward manner involving 2 factions who are both trying to adapt in order to survive the decimation of their species. You can think of it as a traditional battle between good and evil hoping to increase your cache of weapons to finally get rid of them once and for all. The threats that you’re confronted with just keep escalating and escalating, making the narrative’s format and the fate of the characters predictable. Don’t expect a rollercoaster of twists and turns when coming into Evil West.

When it comes to the characters themselves, I found it difficult to care about them despite the hardships they were going through. They were two-dimensional and were simply there to fill out different roles in the game. Forming strong bonds wasn’t a possibility either since interactions were limited to a select few NPCs, whom you would approach before initiating the next mission. Additionally, most of them were fleshed out with the use of notes that you pick up along the way, which left something to be desired. I would have preferred it if we could organically get to know these characters instead by giving us the option to initiate deeper conversations.

Another way that the story is told is through cinematics where we get to see the different locations that the world has to offer. I did not expect it to have this much variation in the Wild West, thereby exceeding my expectations. You’ll visit snowy mountains that feel isolating and dreadful and then make your way over to hot and arid deserts, which seem inviting despite the threats looming just over the horizon. In this regard, I was excited to move from one expansive area to the next to experience what new terrors awaited me.

Evil West Review – Gameplay and Combat

Progression

Character progression is done at a steady pace, usually midway or after completing a mission. Even if some missions took longer than others, I didn’t mind it at all because of the perks I wanted to try out, the different weapons I got to experiment with, the enemy variety, and the exhilarating and snappy combat.

Compared to upgrades, which take on a more passive approach to improve weapon functionality, perks really change the way you play. For instance, you can dash toward the enemies to stun them in the process, and then unleash and wild fury of punches until they’re beaten to a pulp. Or you can perform an uppercut and then throw them on spiked traps to make them explode. These are just some of the things you can do that improve the game’s dynamic combat more and more as you progress further. New mechanics are constantly being introduced, making encounters feel fresh at nearly every turn.

The number of moves you learn may seem daunting at first but it won’t be the case for long once you become more familiar with the game’s systems. Unlike Devil May Cry and Darksiders, Evil West will not require you to memorize a ton of combinations to throw in heavy punches or to blast a monster’s head off, making it a bit more new player friendly.

Weapons and Armor

Similar to the movesets, you get to discover new and interesting weapons to sink your teeth into during the campaign. With a wide variety of killing tools at your disposal, the game challenges you to mix things up. The traditional rock-paper-scissors counter model exists somewhat in Evil West, and this allows the player to make use of their full repertoire. Because of how different each weapon is, you’re encouraged to experiment with what works best for your playstyle. What’s also cool is the game lets you respec your upgrades for free, encouraging experimentation.

On the other hand, this approach is a double-edged sword because, by the time you obtain all of the weapons, you will likely have fallen into the trap of still using the ones you’ve discovered beforehand. This is primarily due to the time you’ve spent wielding them, as well as their inherent effectiveness in killing vampires quickly. For example, I always favored the Zapper and Rifle more than the Crossbow because of how easy and effective they are to use. These are focused more on executing quick melee actions and high damage from afar, respectively.

The Zapper will also make you look badass as you charge toward targets. In particular, it gives off a comical effect that shows enemies’ electrified skeletons flashing before our very eyes, reminiscent of old-school cartoons.

Additionally, you do have access to armor but not in the traditional sense of improving your stats. The armor system merely serves as a means of customizing your visual appearance given that there is no character creation in the game. You can change other parts of your outfit such as your scarf and suit but this isn’t as detailed or deep in any way. The color and design changes are minimal at best, without any impact on the gameplay whatsoever.

The Hub

After every mission, you’re transported back to the hub. This is pretty bare bones, and I’m not sure if it’s because the game isn’t an RPG at its core, but there really isn’t much to do here. You essentially run around and interact with certain NPCs to trigger quests and respec your upgrades and perks, but that’s about it.

There’s no way for you to upgrade sections of the hub, meaning, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to invest time and resources to make it look visually stunning. It would have been better if this was turned into an interface where you can do everything without having to run around, since this just seems to waste time, and the developers could spend that energy on other aspects of the game.

Exploration and Puzzle Design

Exploration is average at best, and an afterthought at worst. Rather than willingly exploring the caverns of the Wild West because you want to discover new places, it feels like the player needs to in order to gain more coins. This is the only currency available that is used to purchase extra upgrades to enhance your weapons.

Additionally, you’ll come across random puzzle designs, which are on the simpler side of things. For instance, you’d be shooting wooden boards situated above you or rotating valves to move to the next area. They’re effortless to do and act as a mere addition to the game in order to introduce a small bit of complexity, and not much else.

Another thing that I find odd is the save choice since you can’t manually save the game. Instead, there are milestones spread throughout the campaign that will automatically save your progress. Although there’s an indicator, these aren’t as frequent as you’d like.

Combat and Difficulty

Evil West succeeds in delivering over-the-top action featuring very responsive combat encounters that feel impactful and effective. This most certainly is the type of game you would play if you enjoy blood, gore, and good execution moves in between. It’s a fast-paced third-person shooter that will continually keep you on the edge of your seat because of the frenetic style.

One of the best mechanics in the game to keep the combat flowing is unlimited ammunition. Instead of having a finite number of shots, guns only need to wait for them to be automatically “reloaded” in order to keep firing. Jesse does not need to pick up ammo on the ground and can therefore concentrate on hitting enemies.

Speaking of enemies, you will encounter a decent variety of creatures that impacts the game’s difficulty, which escalates at a normal pace. As such, you can easily adapt to their actions by identifying and testing the best perks and weapons to use to finish them off. For those who have a fear of spiders, there is an accessibility option, which will totally disable them.

But one encounter did break the tempo of the game for me and it involved a boss fight. As mentioned previously, combat is very quick and action is derived on a moment-to-moment basis. However, for this specific encounter, I was forced into a slower combat set piece because of how spongy the boss was. While it did not grind to a halt, this was noticeably slower than the rest of the game’s pace.

Audio, Visuals & Design

Evil West’s visuals are ambitious and excessive in all the right ways. In fact, it’s far from being grim despite hunting heinous creatures. The dark subject matter is heartily light due to the absurdity of the gratuitous amounts of gore and violence. There is a ton of visual variety, which proves to be a feast for the senses. Jesse will get to explore cold, snowy mountains, wretched and toxic swamps, and even claustrophobic lairs.

However, one noticeable design flaw is in some boxed locations. While the enemies themselves are unique enough and pose different kinds of challenges, the areas in which these fights take place do not. Jesse and his prey are often trapped in what are essentially wide circular arenas that are generally flat and do not have much cover or other interactables aside from the oddly placed TNT Barrels. The game imposes this style a bit too often, making some fights feel all too familiar too often.

When it comes to the audio, the background music and sound effects of weapons and enemy attacks are outstanding. These make combat encounters much more enticing to engage in. For instance, Zappers give off a deep droning buzz when a shocked opponent thrashes about while the Rifle sounds like a very loud crack from a distance. Furthermore, the voice acting is equally excellent, especially for Jesse who often says one-liners after combat. These can be funny or cheesy at times and are usually contextually accurate. Such is the case when he exclaims that he hates spiders right after slaying a mutated bipedal arachnid.

From a technical standpoint, I did not encounter any crashes or major bugs throughout my playthrough. And generally, the framerate remained stable during this time.

Replayability and Pricepoint

Finishing Evil West can take up to 15 hours depending on how much of the world you end up exploring. This is further extended if you engage in co-op with a friend as you both experiment and try out the upgrades of every weapon. The game offers some form of replayability by allowing you to repeat missions to obtain all the bucks, unique chests, and upgrades.

Additionally, its price is steep for the playtime at 49.99 USD for PC and 59.99 USD for consoles. Because of this, I would recommend waiting for a sale until it goes down, but you will want to play Evil West for the exciting gameplay and combat pace at some point.

Final Thoughts

Evil West is an effective and exaggerated action adventure game that a lot of us have been waiting for, because it successfully features unforgettable moments of gore and destruction. More than anything, the title elevates the exciting gameplay at every turn as you progress further on in the campaign. This is due to the well-paced introduction of new weapons, which are ripe for experimentation, together with vampires who become more aggressive and menacing later on.

Combat encounters are cohesively well done because of how good weapon handling feels as well as the visual and audio feedback given off by your enemies when they’re being shot at or punched. It’ll often remind you of games from the 90s where you simply get to sit down, “relax”, and enjoy the journey of destroying and dismembering the forces of evil. You can basically turn off your brain and relish in the carnage with Evil West.

However, the game somewhat stumbles in the presentation of its story since it isn’t as deep as I would’ve liked. While the world is expanded through discovering collectibles like notes, the implementation isn’t as impactful as actually hearing things from the characters themselves. This has become a trend of many newerish games, and one that hope ends soon.

Lastly, environments are visually striking and varied enough to look unique. You’ll certainly appreciate the Wild West’s art style more even if you’re not into Western-themed settings. If you are ready to become the best vampire hunter you can be and experiment with the many upgrades, perks, and weapons available to you, then I would recommend giving this game a try when it goes on sale.

What did you think of this Evil West Review? Are you going to play the game on day 1 or wait for a sale? Let us know in the comments below. Be sure to drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game! If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out our God of War Ragnarok Review: Game of the Year? and Resident Evil Village: Winters Expansion Review – A Hauntingly Good REVisit.

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