Very solid, certainly one of the better 3D non FromSoft Souls-like games.
For those of you who don't know about the game, it changes up the Souls formula with its own gimmick of possessing different bodies (Shells) that have unique build types and abilities, so you aren't confined to one style all game long like in most of these games. You can get items that let you swap bodies on the fly too so you can switch builds often for different situations.
Combat is your standard Souls affair. Lock on, dodge roll, light attack, heavy attack, a special move unique for each weapon, a parry and counter, but instead of a block you have a feature called "harden" and it lets you turn your body into stone and a well timed harden can stagger enemies. Plus there are items that give you attack buffs or heal buffs after hardening, it's not much, but aside from the Shells, it's a cool little gimmick that sets the game apart from its contemporaries.
There's only about 4 real bosses in the game and a couple mini-bosses and honestly they're not that memorable. The final boss was cool and I liked the ice boss personally, but other than that they were pretty weak which is disappointing since bosses are usually the strong point of these games.
The level design isn't anything you haven't seen before and there's only 4 areas in the game. A hub that's like a swamp. A fire styled level, a snow level and a level where you're walking on floating pathways, so I guess it could be considered an air level, but regardless the levels are well designed, not too complex or labyrinthine yet still have many little secrets to discover and everything you'd expect from Soul-like exploration.
Music wasn't much to write home about, mostly being ambient, though there were a few more folky medieval sounding pieces with lute spread around and some more esoteric Gregorian chanting in the boss themes. Also it's worth mentioning that there's a music DLC pack of instrumental Rotting Christ (Yes, the black metal band) songs to switch the boss music to and I highly recommend that because it's a lot more epic than the base boss themes which were pretty unmemorable.
There isn't a lot to say about the story because it's mostly based on lore like almost all Souls-like games. The different Shells have back-stories and histories you can learn if you want by using Tar (this game's Souls essentially) to unlock new abilities for the Shell and also unlock a lore entry. The overall story is your standard Souls-like affair of killing immortal godlike beings and absorbing their powers to ascend to the next stage of humanity.
So all in all the game was a very solid and enjoyable time and even though it's far from amazing or the most original game ever it honestly is still pretty damn impressive all the same due to the fact the game was made by a group of only about 15 people.
I would definitely recommend it to hardcore Souls fans because there's no denying that the game is basically a huge love letter to Dark Souls in every way possible, even the load screens are a dead ringer for Souls and if you want more of that style, Mortal Shell is a good alternative, it starts out very difficult with a big learning curve, but if you stick with it you'll find a very rewarding experience, just like the games it emulates. The developers definitely have potential and I really look forward to what they do next.
For those of you who don't know about the game, it changes up the Souls formula with its own gimmick of possessing different bodies (Shells) that have unique build types and abilities, so you aren't confined to one style all game long like in most of these games. You can get items that let you swap bodies on the fly too so you can switch builds often for different situations.
Combat is your standard Souls affair. Lock on, dodge roll, light attack, heavy attack, a special move unique for each weapon, a parry and counter, but instead of a block you have a feature called "harden" and it lets you turn your body into stone and a well timed harden can stagger enemies. Plus there are items that give you attack buffs or heal buffs after hardening, it's not much, but aside from the Shells, it's a cool little gimmick that sets the game apart from its contemporaries.
There's only about 4 real bosses in the game and a couple mini-bosses and honestly they're not that memorable. The final boss was cool and I liked the ice boss personally, but other than that they were pretty weak which is disappointing since bosses are usually the strong point of these games.
The level design isn't anything you haven't seen before and there's only 4 areas in the game. A hub that's like a swamp. A fire styled level, a snow level and a level where you're walking on floating pathways, so I guess it could be considered an air level, but regardless the levels are well designed, not too complex or labyrinthine yet still have many little secrets to discover and everything you'd expect from Soul-like exploration.
Music wasn't much to write home about, mostly being ambient, though there were a few more folky medieval sounding pieces with lute spread around and some more esoteric Gregorian chanting in the boss themes. Also it's worth mentioning that there's a music DLC pack of instrumental Rotting Christ (Yes, the black metal band) songs to switch the boss music to and I highly recommend that because it's a lot more epic than the base boss themes which were pretty unmemorable.
There isn't a lot to say about the story because it's mostly based on lore like almost all Souls-like games. The different Shells have back-stories and histories you can learn if you want by using Tar (this game's Souls essentially) to unlock new abilities for the Shell and also unlock a lore entry. The overall story is your standard Souls-like affair of killing immortal godlike beings and absorbing their powers to ascend to the next stage of humanity.
So all in all the game was a very solid and enjoyable time and even though it's far from amazing or the most original game ever it honestly is still pretty damn impressive all the same due to the fact the game was made by a group of only about 15 people.
I would definitely recommend it to hardcore Souls fans because there's no denying that the game is basically a huge love letter to Dark Souls in every way possible, even the load screens are a dead ringer for Souls and if you want more of that style, Mortal Shell is a good alternative, it starts out very difficult with a big learning curve, but if you stick with it you'll find a very rewarding experience, just like the games it emulates. The developers definitely have potential and I really look forward to what they do next.