Souls Like games don't always stay the same, there was a time they were considerably niche, that only major games like Dark Souls only managed to reach mainstream status. Now, with Elden Ring selling over 17 million units, think we need to acknowledge that everything about games have changed because of how From Soft has effected the landscape.
Then comes a few developers under the radar, like these Taiwanese devs making something like this, which happen to be the second Taiwanese made video game I would be playing this month. I have some disconcerting thoughts around it, and was also invested in playing it at the same time.
After looking at Gamescom 2022, I believe there are others that will be attempting their own Souls Like and with an impending saturation of the market, I want to use Thymesia as a good comparison of sorts while looking into what makes this particular game kind of stand out and acknowledge some glaring issues of it.
The story takes in a once thriving Kingdom of Hermes before a plague took over and started killing its inhabitants, so people embraced alchemy as a way to heal themselves, unfortunately as a side effect, it has created more problems by creating diseased creatures, and turning the locales violently mad. Corvus is its last hope, but he needs help by recollecting his memories of what happened before saving the realm.
A bit of renaissance and medieval era mixed with some pre-Victorian age in-between regarding both attire and architecture just tells me this is a fantasy world based with some inspirations from the bubonic plague. That's mostly it. I'll spare you the story bit, it doesn't do a good job, including with world-building.
When Elden Ring came out, some purists thought it was maybe a bit easier than the other Dark Souls game and such. Not entirely the case since that game provides way more flexibility even for players who couldn't rise up to the challenges. I think the most hardcore Souls Like out there that isn't a From Soft game is Nioh 2. So how does this game come out as?
It's not a polished game, there are problems like weird, sticky camera on walls, protagonist getting stuck on edge of rooms, A.I. can be obtuse and opposite at times, and some other odd programming bugs. This is also not a good-looking game, despite being made from Unreal Engine. It would make sense since this is a budget title, but some of the inconsistencies here are sort of inexcusable.
Despite all that, I kept going. After the displeasing first few hours, the game's combat really started to pick up, and I was starting to learn more about how the game worked. The basic gist of it, overall, is that the gameplay is heavily inspired by both Bloodborne and Sekiro, while also taking Bloodborne's aesthetic. With a progression system that allows various playstyles.
To put it in a short form possible, it's a pretty cool game that does find a way to accentuate its style with the depth of its gameplay mechanics and design. It would seem derivative at first, but the game finds a way to keep things interesting as more stuff becomes unlocked. And there's a lot to unlock here.
There's a unique aspect to the combat, and it's how you drain your enemy's health. They have wound meters, where your attacks lower down health, but they can be recoverable for a certain period of time. Which is where your claw attack comes in, acting as a siphon, and a quick way to drain enemy health.
A charged claw attack does full damage and steals their attack abilities, your plague weapon attacks use your plague meter, which you replenish every time you siphon an enemy's green health. Certain high tier enemies have critical attacks, which you can stun by throwing your shard knives at them at the right opportune time.
And the other meat of the time is the progression system. You'll unlock talents that allow you to dodge twice, increase your basic attack combos, damage, and so on. Even better, you can unselect and choose a different set one, it's not permanent. You'll be upgrading your plague weapons that'll even have unique abilities after several upgrades like being able to throw them from a distance too. Even more, you can add herbs to your healing potions for bonus attributes. There's unique depth to it all, and it's very robust as you progress through the game.
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I did say it was inspired by two From Soft games, but more specifically Sekiro. Because even if you progress enough to be stronger, the game challenges you constantly. You have to observe enemy patterns, and learn when to dodge or not. Within 3hrs of playtime, I've already died a lot, and the game had this difficult learning curve to it too. It's mostly skill based instead of using the RPG element only to progress.
And what does all great Souls Like games have that becomes the sweet cherry on top? The boss battles. Yeah, there are mini-bosses and ones that will chew you out. The game kept insulting me for not playing better, and I still kept going. Even if my progression towards the main game was slow, each moment of it was pretty rewarding.
Sadly, the same can't be said for the polish it has. The A.I. is tricky, sometimes even falling under somewhere they shouldn't and that ruins the flow. If a mini-boss leaves their level, their health bar starts replenishing fast. And for a buggy experience such as this, that can hamper the experience quite well. On top of the other problems I mentioned.
The visual presentation and linear level design don't look that unique and post Elden Ring, it doesn't exactly sing appeal either. But man, I just wanted to keep playing because of how sick this game is. Just for the unique brand of ideas alone, and how fun it is to execute them.
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