Bleak Faith: Forsaken

the aesthetic and world is cool but this game is so f'n annoying.

I really love walking through these empty dilapidated commie blocks and getting lost.
But what's the matter with the balancing of the game? I am either very over-leveled or very under-leveled almost everywhere. Enemies don't stagger and they remain aggroed forever.
And there is this one guy with a cross who can one shot kill me with an aoe while out of sight even if I am behind a building.
I feel like the game could be amazing ....

The game has some of the worst onboarding I have ever seen, but after an hour or two when you start to get it, it's pretty fun. The world is insanely big (too big at times, with lots of walking through empty spaces), but there is a ton of really cool stuff to explore and find. A lighter souls-like experience for fans of exploration. Grab it on sale.

I know the game had a bad start, but in its current state, i encountered no bugs or anything. The world is amazing and vast, beautiful sombre atmosphere and even the combat feels very good, when you get used to it.
It took me about 35hrs to finish first run and i had a great fun.
So far the best soulslike game that is not developed by Fromsoft, in my opinion, looking forward to DLC.

A fairly unique souls-like experience where the setting and exploration is definitely the star of the show

Bleak Faith: Forsaken is at it's best with its environmental design and sense of exploration as you make your way through the mega structure. The unique aesthetic mix of futuristic tech, urban cityscape, and classic fantasy buildings all wrapped in an impossibly vast and ethereal mega structure creates a wonderfully foreign world to explore. I have seen some people complain about the size of some of the areas, and although I think that's certainly a fair critique and won't make this game enjoyable for everyone, I personally think it really adds to the atmosphere of the game in a way that can't be replicated any other way. Similarly, there's a slight level of jank to exploration sometimes with how little restriction you sometimes get. There are almost no invisible walls, most of the world has collision, and you can jump, this all seems well and good, but because of this you can definitely get to some weird and janky areas you obviously aren't supposed to, and with how well hidden some secrets can be there were a few times were I was convinced I was finding an area with a secret only to find nothing, while also finding things hidden in even more obscure areas at other points. This didn't detract from the experience for me, but I would understand it not being for everyone.

The combat, while a bit clunkier than the best in the genre, is certainly still serviceable. From what I've read of patch notes, stamina has been made better since the base game, but at the beginning it doesn't exactly feel good. That being said though the game does have quite a bit of variety as far as building a play-style goes. There's a decent amount of different weapons and armor to be found and you are given the ability to craft and find gems to alter their stats and abilities. This coupled with the fact that you can craft a potion to reset your skill points makes the game way less restrictive with builds than the genre typically is. I do wish that there was an item to reset talent points though, even if it was significantly rarer and only found once or twice playthrough. Similarly I was surprised that the points to unlock abilities didn't permanently unlock the ability, so if you bought another one and swapped it out you'd have to re-buy it to equip it again, it seems unnecessarily restrictive compared to the stat reset item you can make.

There's probably more I could say, but all in all I was pleasantly surprised to be able to come back and enjoy this game after seeing it have a rough launch. I would definitely recommend if you are a fan of mega structure type aesthetics, or a unique take on the souls genre with an emphasis on the exploration and aesthetics.

I am not too big on souls games but I am big enough to know what's up with them. The soundtrack is pretty decent but I didn't end up playing through this game and beating it because I got bored. The game play isn't very solid. The biggest issue for me is the stamina bar. You have to play it for yourself to see, but the stamina mechanic is awful. It delays the charge and charges back up wayyyy too slow. The combat leaves much to be desired. Everything just feels like youre going a snails pace and I am trying to play the game. The ideas are great within this game but the execution just isn't there for me. Don't wanna spend too much time on this review currently, but the combat system needs much work.

At times, an atmospheric, dark masterpiece crafted with love. At times, a hodgepodge of ideas held together with glue and duct tape. At all times, a unique take on the Souls-like formula.

Pro:
- Atmosphere. From its soundtrack to its visuals, this game favors an atmospheric experience above all else, and dare I say it sometimes rivals that of Fromsoft's greats.

Cons:
- Bugs and lack of polish in some areas.
- Sound design. Ranges from adequate to lackluster.
- Extremely ambiguous story / lore. Fromsoft's storytelling feels on-the-nose in comparison.

with some more work and time this game could be really good, however it feels a unfinished and a little too big, almost as if a lot of the time was spent focusing on creating massive environments over other parts of the game

If you enjoyed Hellpoint, you’re in for an absolute treat. Small dev team but they nail the souls feel. Now this is only for “souls” fans, I really doubt anyone else would enjoy it. Emphasis on the level designs with this game, just incredible. Combat is way better than release but still a bit rough. I’ve been having an absolute blast traversing this vast interconnected world. This is the ultimate “piece the map together in your mind” game.

I wasn't sure about this game at first, the combat felt a little clunky and a little too easy to just get in close and spin them around. But the map is amazing. Most fun I've had exploring a map in a while. Then the end game building gets really fun. Overall a slightly slow start, but a fantastic finish.

Bleak Faith shines with its thick, oppressive atmosphere and a decayed techno-world straight out of a nightmare. Combat is a lil bit clunky, but serviceable once you adapt.

The best part? You can become overpowered. Soulslike masochists may whine, but I took great pleasure in dishing out righteous punishment later in the game. I have no desire to be gaming’s eternal punching bag.

It’s not perfect — but it’s raw, immersive, and deeply satisfying for those who enjoy oppressive sci-fi horror and hard-earned dominance.

It bears no official seal of the Imperium, yet its essence reeks of grimdark decay. Echoes of Silent Hill whisper in the rusted halls — but above all, the Omnissiah’s presence is felt. Glory to the Machine God!

One of the best souls like games I have ever played. The setting and atmosphere are out of this world being some of the best I have ever played in any game. The scale of the omnistructure and surreal visuals are just incredible with some of the best level design imaginable. The gameplay and combat could be better but I had no issues and found my crit build and huge sword made for very fun gameplay all the way through. overall 10/10 I would recommend to any fan of the original dark souls.

A decent 'souls-like' with amazing level design and stunning visuals. You are lost in a mega-structure, too big to comprehend and seemingly just as ancient. The devs did an amazing job putting it together, as it can make you feel completely lost and sometimes even worried that it might just be as never ending as in the game lore before you finally and mercifully find your way back to an area that you recognize. All while enjoying some stunningly beautiful scenery. The combat is slightly clunky but with some practice it becomes enjoyable, at least that's how it was for me. Enjoying the game a lot so far.

One of those games that you wanna like, but has too many flaws.
+ Fitting soundtrack
+ Cool armor/weapon designs
+ Interesting areas

- Sluggish combat
- Very simple AI
- Too many blank areas
- Often weird enemy/structure placements
- Many bugs, like walking out of bounds or not being able to hit enemies

Despite the rough launch of this game, bought it on sale recently and actually its very good.
They have fixed loads of past bugs, but only very few i have encountered.
Completed the game 2 times, first as a blind exploration run, and second to gather last achievements.
This game is familar with DS1 and game world is amazing.

Do I recommend this game? Yes.

Amazing game.
Be warned, it is quite janky, it has that Dark Souls 1 and 2 type of jank to it, not horrible, maybe even charming.
The world feels so gigantic, it gives a similar vibe to Shadow of the Colossus, it huge and oddly mostly empty, seemingly by design.
The combat seems fine, it's not mind blowing but it works pretty well, with all the unique weapons and their abilities it can be pretty fun.
And about the abilities, there are a couple odd things about the game, you have character Abilities and Perks, you have a total of 8 Active character abilities, and about 18 Passive Perks, which is odd, the 18 Perks are very strong build defining choices, while the Active Abilities are very minor in most cases and there's barely a choice there, you can have 2 Active Abilities which you can change with a limited "currency" and 4 Passive Perks which are completely permanent and can be enhanced once each with predetermined additional effect for each.
Now the Passives and their amount is fine, it really cool you can have that many and customize them so much, it's just odd to have so much customization for the Passives and have the Active Abilities be so limited and so mostly bland.
Of course you have all the weapons and their Abilities, but it feels like like a waste to have so very few and limited character Abilities.
The leveling is capped, which I don't know if I like that, because leveling allows people to choose their "difficulty level", it's also hampered by the enemies giving less EXP after certain levels.
Speaking of difficulty, the game is a Souls-Like, so it is obviously difficult, the level cap might make some areas feel more difficult than they really are.
The story is interesting, I love the Dark Souls style story telling of giving you enough pieces to give you a frame of reference but leave most of it open ended and with more questions, it keeps the mystery going, especially with how the game ends.

I honestly love this type of game, some people compare it to Lies of P for some odd reason, I don't understand why, Lies of P is barely a Souls-Like, it has the bare minimum aspects that make it seem like a Souls-Like, like checkpoints, difficulty, leveling and loot, but that's about it.
Unlike like Lies of P this game has the "soul" of a Souls-Like, a mysterious world that begs you to explore and find what there, where it doesn't bash you over the head with exposition and treat you like a child that can't figure things on your own.

A forewarning that the game has a MANDATORY underwater horror segment. Which I definitely could of done without.

One of those rough diamond kinda games. While this wasn't somehow the most legendary experience ever made it most certainly wont be forgettable. Also glad that I intentionally avoided the rough launch so it didnt taint my experience. I did experience a couple minor bugs but nothing significant to mention.

Its a "Souls-like" focused on Exploration. It gives you an objective and a rough way to check where to go at anytime but following a waypoint aint THE point. The enviroments and world design are enthralling in a well bleak way. I dont understand the story but it truely feels like you're some alien vessel wandering around a long gone world. The only thing left is terrifyingly monstrous creatures or what seem to be robotic humanoids that just simply exist.

The level design is a weird one. It takes sometime to get used to but theres so many branching paths everywhere it feels genuinely overwhelming but they do an extremely good job at looping everything back to a focused path or two to progress. I definetly missed some content in the game somewhere. It feels like half the game is entirely optional because bosses scale with how many you defeat in total. You could mostly ignore the side content and probably have an easier time progressing but wheres the fun in that?

Combat is pretty standard for the genre but the Gear/Customization makes for some really fun build creativity. Having 5 armor pieces with 5 slots each for additives like HP or Mana leech, Damage, Pen, Attack speed, more armor, etc. Then you take the major perk system on top of all that to make some really specialized builds. I for example went for a more generalized build with more consumables/craft more consumables, hitting enemies has a chance to spawn a phantom for ~15 seconds, and a skill that has a chance to stun on hit (then also a chance to multi hit). Then stacked damage with some minor QOL additives. Let me flex and try all the weapons out.

Took me roughly 16 hours to complete while doing some solid sidetracking. It does have NG+ which raises your level cap allowing for expanding your build more. I think the game is worth the $30 but if you're unsure on that price just wait for a sale. Itll drop to $15 easy. I really do hope the devs continue to make games like this. Quite impressive for such a small team and if they learn from this a bit and polish their next title and skills im confident they have a bright future.

My initial impression was quite negative. I kept going for about half an hour and nothing changed. It all feels so... early state.

A bit clunky but extremely nice souls-like game with a stunning soundtrack.
This is a must play for every DS fan!

The game is not optimized much, many animations are missing, but it is very engaging to play, there are many things to explore.

Bleak Faith: Forsaken is a hauntingly atmospheric blend of Souls-like gameplay and eldritch horror, wrapped in a decaying world where towering modern cityscapes crumble under the weight of cosmic dread. The game masterfully fuses brutal, deliberate combat with environments that feels both deserted and forsaken, creating a constant sense of unease and looming catastrophe. Its labyrinthine architecture and oppressive sound design immerse players in a dystopian nightmare where survival is uncertain, and the unknown is always watching. It's a bold, unsettling experience that pushes the boundaries of genre fusion.

Archangel Studios is made up of a very small team and they dumped a ton of passion into this game so even when I was at my most frustrated with this game I stuck with it and ended up beating it. Ultimately the game isn't bad but it feels very janky and unfinished. Environments are typically giant and empty with copy + pasted enemies. Combat rarely felt fluid even late game when I was geared out.

I believe in supporting passionate indie devs but if you buy this get it on sale and mentally prepare yourself for some jank - do that and you won't regret the purchase.

I was excited for this game from the trailers but the release was not received well so I passed. Fast forward a few years and it looks like the devs turned this thing around.

I just picked this up and can't play it enough!

This is a decent mix of Elden Ring mixed with Dark Souls exploration. You have a jump and areas are sprawling paths. Enemy density is inconsistent and gives the ER vibes while the looping and atmosphere is DS all day. This game lacks the From Software refinement but stands well on its own merits.

Combat has a few twists but is certainly what one expects from a souls-like. There are some supporting systems for further depth but I'm not far enough along to comment on those. But I'm not here for the combat.

If you need the exploration and atmosphere of Dark Souls, everyone suggests Hollow Knight but this game here is where it's at.

10/10

This game has a unique charm that rivals games in the souls-like genre. If you bought the game and played it 2 years ago, please give it another try. The number of options you have in the settings to customise your experience is truly helpful in making the game feel how you want and look how you want.

CONS: At times the controls feel floaty, and at the start I found myself fighting the environment and falling to my death a lot, rather than finding real challenge in the combat. There are not too many weapon options at the start and it takes a while before you actually feel rewarded and can start experimenting a little more. I felt the variations so far in the armour types a little arbitrary with damage reduction not being explained at all. There are a lot of buttons to manage, which you could probably go for hours without being forced to use them at all. Most of the enemy AI are very slow moving, at least the ones I've had to face so far and don't really present a challenge.

PROS: The bosses in contrast seem interesting enough and have a lot of attack patterns, which forces you to play in a patient and calculated way. You gain levels, like experience from hunting in an mmorpg rather than souls that you exchange to an npc which genuinely feels like it fits with the theme and increasing stats on the character actually feels very good and there are usually thresholds that you need to reach for a bonus, for example - attacking faster is effected by DEX. You can dual wield and it feels pretty good bobbing and weaving my attacks.

... The best thing about this game is the setting and style. Which sets itself apart from other souls-like games. My favourite of those being Demon Souls and Dark Souls III which I still need to beat them both one day... For the time being I'm enjoying Bleak Faith and I will update this review if I manage to beat this game.

I purchased the game on a sale, played for 2 hours, refunded the game, then decided to purchase the game again and continue playing... And I'm glad I did.

I'm not going to force myself through yet another janky af indie souls-like.
The controls feel awful.
The graphics are awful.
Attack animations look awful.
Jump animation looks awful and is actually broken - it freezes in the air.
Running animation looks awful - your legs cross behind you.
Animation sound effects are out of sync - there is a mix of both too early and too late timings.
Inventory looks awful.
All UI and HUD is tiny.
Everything is a mysterious UI icon - you have absolutely no idea what anything is.
There is jumping, which I like, but no jump attack, which is just really weird...

The trailers look amazing - they are very well edited.
Game looks nothing like in the trailers and feels really bad to play.

I loved this one. Excellent level design, great atmosphere, cool boss fights, comprehensive itemization. It's not a soul, you don't lose anything on death nor have to retrieve your money on death spot, it's OK to commit suicide to fast travel. Looking forward to playing the DLC and future projects.

This was almost a negative review, but there is a game somewhere in there. I respect the work and wish the developers all the best. Sometimes that melancholic ambience hits just right and turns going around same-looking areas multiple times only to find a path that you swear wasn't there before into an actual experience, not just a waste of time. Then you get to the bosses, some of which have fun concepts and great themes, especially Nurgei and Belisarius - those two wouldn't look out of place in an actual From Software title, with a bit more polish.

What ultimately hurts Bleak Faith are three things that make it a hard sell.

One, don't fool yourself into thinking that this is an average soulslike - (now) it's much more of a solitary Dragon's Dogma type of thing, but most of your time is spent traversing areas that look like illegal out-of-bounds locations from other games.

Two, it is VERY reference-heavy. I've never read Blame!, but it borrows from so many other works that you can't help but lose the scent of the game's own identity. Oh, this is from NieR, and that's from Berserk, and that bit is from Warhammer 40K (why? haven't you referenced enough?), and then you end up passing through locations that should belong in Silent Hill or Bloodborne, and THEN the fucking End of Evangelion ending happens, out of all things. Looking at earlier footage, I've seen thst they actually had a female Griffith at one point but chose to replace that model for some reason. Why not commit to it at this point?

Three, sometimes you just can't tell what the game wants from you. I see that they've added objective markers and put loading screens in place of lengthy transitions, but then you end up finding a subway that doesn't seem to lead anywhere, or a closed gate with an actual location behind it with no clear way around the gate and no real reason to go there in the first place. But really, what almost killed it for me is the fucking final boss. It would consistently bug out and turn into an invincible ragdoll, I actually had to look up a thread from six months ago (THREE PATCHES ago) with people describing workarounds for that specific bug. That's just embarassing, but Bleak Faith is the kind of game where you don't know if it's supposed to be like that.

All in all, it's not for everyone. Be it store-bought assets or the lack of direction despite the game telling you what to look for, there are plenty of reasons to turn away. However, it IS for someone. There's certainly a small subset of soulslike fans that would love it, even if they would have to tough it out until 2AM when it just works.

Bleak Faith is a de facto souls-like drawing directly from Dark Souls 1, especially its core game mechanics and atmosphere.

Bleak Faith is made in Montenegro, making it the first game from this small country ever, and it immediately reached global fame, in my opinion, after playing 21h (about 85% of the game completed): more deserved then undeserved. It creates a post apocalyptic, eerie world, culturally set in the Montenegro of the future, judging by the authentic Montenegrin folk music - gusle (ancient maple fiddle-like instrument accompanied by a powerful male vocal in a tribal 4-note chromatic tonality, with the traditional trochee pentameter typical of Montenegrin epic heroic poetry). Some NPC's are clad in the traditional Montenegrin clothes as well, and at certain points, general pagan Slavic culture details are visible. If you are into this kind of stuff, like me, you'll be happy to find out that Montenegrin folklore is incredibly dark, with black magic, religious complexity, strife, afterlife beliefs, mysticism, fine Balkan Gothicism and more - which is ever-present in Montenegrin art in general: literature of Danilo Kish and Branimir Miljkovic, or Gothic rock/metal bands such as Dvoeverie, Willow or Suns of Eve (some of those might have even made music for the game)... If you like this kinda stuff and are not into souls-like genre, I recommend checking Bleak Faith out regardless, it is worth the atmosphere solely.

The gameplay is a mixed bag, ranging from wow moments like the UI, item managment, versatility, enemy and environment variety, to the underwhelming moments such as (some of the) voice acting, bad hit boxes, illogical boss fight solutions, spikes in difficulty and the worst of all: STAMINA management!!!
Nevertheless, it seems that the game is still being updated and improved, as I noticed some inconveniences being fixed between my play sessions.

In conclusion: I definitely believe that this game in its current state is worth 15e on a sale and hope this messy review can help you decide whether to get it.

7,5/10

Absolute gem , dont fool by alittle jankiness . Game is Superb! Totally recommended! UPDATE: I just finished the game OMG ! What a journey was that !. Loved the every second of it , it really need an expansion /dlc .

First two hours of a game is crucial to decide whether to keep or kick it. I like that this game isn’t wasting my time during that window.

I know what to expect from indie souls-like games. Even with twists of mechanics here and there—differentiating from other games in the genre, yet somehow still familiar and immediately felt like home.

I’m aware that this game wasn’t received positively at launch, but at current state (when this review was written) this game managed to meet my expectations: new adventure in a dark post-apocalyptic world while slowly gaining power to conquer the world.

Considering only three developers managed to create such a game, I wish nothing but their best to continue making games—especially like this.

I probably played and 100% finished too many souls-and-like titles, this is definitely next on my list of completions.

If you enjoy playing souls games, you probably asked: Does it scratch the souls itch? The answer is my thumbs up with my money on it.

Really unique and quirky souls-like with some interesting ideas and immaculate vibes. So glad to see they've kept at polishing it up despite the lukewarm release. I hope they can get some more visibility on the fact that they're patching and improving the game. I came back and bought this as I'd seen the improved review scores, I really wanted to see this game succeed. Definitely worth it for me at $15.

BFF's strengths are its ambiance, visual design, and exploration. Exploration, moreso than boss fights, is the main gameplay loop. The levels are maze-like and you'll really have to work to make sense of the map layout. It's a slow-burn type of game, which takes a lot of cues from Dark Souls 1 and then proceeds to focus more on the air of mystery instead of ramping up the number of boss fights.

The amount of "tutorial" given felt good, I felt like I knew how to use the game's systems but immersion wasn't compromised.

The NPCs are quirky and super fun to encounter. I absolutely love the Slavic cultural influence.

Some suggestions to improve the game's perceived level of polish, in recommended order of priority:

1. Consider expanding environmental collision boxes for characters (these probably need to be different from the hitboxes for weapons). Enemies frequently get a bit stuck on walls, small ledges, etc. I think it's good for the player character to be able to land on very tiny ledges and whatnot so that exploration feels consistent, but it's very jarring for enemies to constantly be stuck on things.A similar improvement is likely needed for the player character and enemies, I am playing a short-range dual wield class and there is an awkwardly small distance window where my weapons connect but I am not walking through/around the enemy. It's OK for the reach to be short, but then the player movement when up against an enemy should be less fidgety.
2. Some audio sounds are not well-mixed (footsteps are often insanely loud)
3. The "medium difficulty" enemies need some tuning. I'm talking about those mobs that are clearly larger than the others and generally the player fights one-on-one. A lot of their attacks are very easy to dodge but do insane amounts of damage (e.g., 90% of my health wearing medium armor and appropriately leveled) and they have a lot of health. This leads to unsatisfying encounters wherein the main reason you die is you simply get bored/greedy. Consider cutting their damage and health moderately (e.g., by 30%) and then improving the hit tracking of their attacks so that the player dodge windows are narrower. Encounters will be more satisfying if, when a player does poorly, they see their situation worsening over ~30 seconds (e.g., they run out of flasks) as opposed to simply going from full health to dying from a normal-looking attack. In other words, instead of a fight consisting of 30 dodges, 29 of which need to be correct, let the fight consist of 15 difficult dodges, 12 of which need to be correct.

I like games that are lonely. Hellpoint, Grime, Mortal Shell, games where loneliness is almost a character in and of itself.
Bigger games in this genre easily miss that point by shoving in just enough NPCs that you are almost always bumping into some computer idiot that just kills the vibe, or by having some sort of inane multiplayer forced or mechanically jutting out at you reminding you that other people exist, and once again, killing that vibe.
If you like that lonely vibe, and enjoy truly beautiful and monolithic landscapes, you just can't go wrong here.

So, part way through the game, wandering around the Upper Blocks. Going through random buildings taking in the music, sight and atmosphere. As I'm working my way through a building, I get access to the roof of another building. Start exploring the new roof.

Get to an edge of the roof and start making my way to another edge. Boss Health Bar spawns, I fall/teleport into the boss arena I wasn't expecting. Get smacked down because I was not prepared.

11/10, Elden Ring did not get me to laugh the way I did when this happened. Love the game.

On a serious note, I have been enjoying this game when I play it. More so than my time with Elden Ring, I have the sense of wonder while exploring areas of the game. Using the Upper Blocks for example. I've been wandering through the buildings I can get in. Are they empty? Yes, very much so. But the time I spend wandering around the building on the off chance I'll find a new piece of gear is worth it to me. The vibes of scrounging through a building that is devoid of enemies on the off chance there's loot, only to not find any loot, but potential have some unintended interaction with something else is great.

An amazingly large diamond in the rough that was made by a total of 3 PEOPLE. If you rock with megastructures then this game is for you. If you like Souls-likes then prepare for some jank that gives way to some very interesting build varieties by the end-game. I only got the game this year, so I have no context with what it was like on release - but expect the combat to be a 7/10 RPG souls-like except that you can make some crazy builds that can break the game if you do a little playing around.

The story's a bit obtuse, but if you're familiar with Souls games then you know what you're in for. This one has decidedly less info for you to find out, but if anything about the world shown in the store pictures speaks to you in any way, I definitely suggest you take a look at this game -- there's everything and more if you want to do some decaying urban megacity exploring. Its environments and level design are it's star feature, and it's still insane to think that only 3 people made this entire game.

try it

This game almost ended up being personal to me for a number of reasons, so my review may be a little bias here. Regardless, I had been craving a game that gave me that Dark Souls 1 feeling. That is what I enjoy most about these games, it's the vibes. A hard boss fight is nice, and overcoming it feels good, but getting lost in a world it what I'm here for. This game absolutely delivered on that and I could not be happier. Just wandering, not even fighting any bosses just trying to find all the areas, it was an absolute joy. I would say if the exploration and atmosphere is what you enjoy most about these games, this one cannot be missed.

Was hyped about the unique looking setting: knights in cyberspace? Tried it on release, felt unfinished.

Now I'm experiencing this gem for real, and man oh man is it good. The isolation and scale in the level design, the cryptic and environmental storytelling, the depressing yet poetic pieces of lore. Overgrown broken concrete and rusted metal, forgotten civilisation. Haven't been this intrigued by a world in a long time.

Normally, I find getting lost kinda annoying in soulslikes. Yet this game most of the times keeps fascinating me as I run from corridor to staircase emerging into another awe inspiring vista. All of this packed with wonderful music that creates cinematic and immersive moments.

The combat feels somewhat floaty and clunky, but I really enjoy the slow and methodical pace of it. There's also quite the flexible options for build crafting.

The main focus is on exploration, at least that's what I enjoy the most in Bleak Faith. It's a welcome shift in an age of many fast-paced soulslikes.

At launch, I tried to love it, but couldn't. After last year's major patch, I gave it another go and couldn't take my hands off of it. Maximum Respect to the 3 Developers. The game is good - the fact that it was done in such few members is fantastic.

I played hundreds of games and thought I'd seen them all - but never have I felt such a combination of atmosphere, the immense fractalic structures that make you feel insignifiant, a sense of distopian and post-apocalypse like never seen before. And the music which acommpanies everything is spot-on.

Loved the Skull Knight ending and the ambigous nature of everything - I'm a sucker for such narratives. Show, don't tell.

Totally recommend Bleak Faith, it lives up to its name in all senses.

its hard to flat out call this a diamond in the rough, since I think it has to click with your particular interests to be engaging, its definitely not for everyone
At least for me, bleak faith is a heavily vibes driven game.
if you enjoy experiencing a vast moody world of absolutely stunning vistas, interesting creatures, a constant oppressive backtrack, and checking every nook and cranny, you'll probably like this game.

The drawbacks, however, can be pretty harsh depending on your taste, the games combat is not the most engaging and the first boss gives you a weapon that has so far basically carried me through the entire game combat-wise. There are all sorts of abilities and perks and stuff that do add some depth, but they feel far from necessary allowing for some pretty braindead gameplay.
The game doesn't respect your time at all, and you have to be ready for that. The areas consist of huge sprawling labyrinths that twist and turn into themselves with miles long hallways and bridges with no map so you'd better be ready to keep some pen and paper to keep track of stuff you have to come back for later, I will say I've only needed to look up how to proceed a couple times in 18 hours.

I learned about this game from Iron Pineapple, and while I dont think he's technically correct, I just don't see his complaints as significant problems, though thinking about it, the sources of his criticisms may have been improved since his review. This game is absolutely my jam, just living in this Blame! inspired megastructure as it fluxuates from area to area, seeing what it throws at you next, making you really feel like you're experiencing some kind of on-going process of reducing the universe back into a singularity
Even little things like the ghosts that serve as a weird nuisance tie this game together into something much greater than the sum of its parts

Horribly janky combats period.

a little janky but the world is cool and combat is mostly functional and not super hard; I liked it

One of the best games I've played and my highest recommendation for fans of mature dark fantasy. To get a few things out of the way, yes this game is totally polished in this current state, feels fantastic with a controller, and I ran into zero bugs across 60 hours having gotten all achievements. Now onto the review. I'll mention three things that really stood out to me.

I knew going in the art direction and music was going to be outstanding. As a fan of Blame! this was an instant buy. What I didn't expect is the level design which perfectly shows off the sheer scale and brutality of the omnistructure also rivals the best in the genre, at times surpassing DS1. The sprawling maze of concrete that is the central block is the best level I've played. This is as non-linear as it gets, you can get to the end game level from the start. This is a game meant to be explored. Just pick a path and follow along, and you will never be disappointed where it leads you.

The other major surprise is that the crafting system is actually fun and useful. Remember Elden Ring with its hundreds of crafting items that nobody uses? I have about 450 hours in ER and never bothered with crafting except when I ran out of glowstones. Or stuffing your inventory with junk in Skyrim and BG3? Not Bleak Faith. Each item is useful towards crafting impactful items and materials to slot into your gear. You actually look forward to new recipes.

Finally, the biggest surprise was that Bleak Faith has insane build variety. This is more of a RPG than pure action. Each piece of armor and weapon can have up to 5 sockets. You want to debuff your enemies? Put in + decay chance. You want to face tank with health leech? Put in + health leech crystals. You get the point. You also equip up to 4 perks, which features unique and game changing powers such as trading 50% health for greater technomancy penetration or summon a clone to attack your enemies when you dodge. Synergizing your gear + perk + abilities is legitimate theory crafting fun which keeps you playing hours on end.

Bleak Faith is one of the most unique and fun experiences I've had in a very long time. I recommend this thoroughly for any RPG fan or fans of mature dark fantasy. I highly look forward to future games by this dev team.

great game great art soooooooooooo sooooooooooo great soundtrack and also reminds me that strange AI dystopian videos like you see elden ring dark souls and combined with cyberpunk elements love it need some polish but after a couple hours i dived in that game let me with jaw drop and ears and eyes just stare at the screen that moment create a passion for that game

Absolutely broken, gameplay and fight logic is all over the place. Stamina takes minutes to recover, hit-boxes are random at best, super floating controls. Watch a long play and save your self money and time of your life.

It's not bad when you know that 3 people made it

I bought this game on launch and man was it rough. Coming back now is night and day, the Dev's clearly gave the game a lot of love and care. The game is a soulsborne with some very serious "Blame!" vibes. Cool atmosphere. Not nearly done finishing the game yet but will update this review when i do.

I have tried this game on and off for awhile, just tried it again, VAST improvements, and now its actually time to sit down and play it. The movement and hit recognition is way better, as well as just the general feeling of playing the game. I will update this review in future with video and or more thoughts once I play more through the game. But for now, it is definitely worth trying and picking up again.

I really loved this Game.
I first heard of this game back before release and was excited to actually play it. I never got around to it due to the bad reviews but recently i saw the game again and, due to the large amount of positive reviews here, decided to give it a shot. And i was not dissapointet

the good

The world and aesthetic in this game is by far its strongest aspect. This game looks incredibly and the feeling of getting lost in the mega structure is almost unlike anything i have ever played. The sense of exploration, the feeling of finding hidden passages that lead to new areas, and the amount of detail and love that was put into it is absolutely incredible. The sheer scale of it all also amazes me and how everything somehow links up back to each other will never not feel great.
The Score is also incredibly, it fits perfectly into the world and drastically enhances the feeling of it. All in all this map is probably one of my favourite game maps i have ever had the pleasure to explore and get lost in.
The Bosses are also deent to good, and even the worst ones never felt offending to me. The Build variety also seems incredible, and while i have only played through this game once with a pure melee and doge focused build, the perks and different weapons definitly add a lot of freedom.

the not so good

There is not a lot i disliked, but moreso things that annoyed me. while the gameplay and world was rough around the edges i never really cared because its flaws were to minor in comparison to the grand scheme of things, however i found the balancing to be really odd toward the endgame. I played this game completely blind and maybe its because i love souls likes and have played a lot of them, but the ending fourth of this game was really easy and almost went by too fast. epsecially the last two Bosses barely put up a fight due to the sheer damage i could dish out with all of the consumables i had left, and i never felt like i was in any danger, which is a shame because i belive they were some of the mechanically best the game had.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed my time with this game and it honestly feels like it was directly target to me as a consumer. It felt like a mix of Darksouls and Rainworld with the aesthetic of Blame, 3 of my personal favourite things so it was no wonder that i loved this. I also heard that a DLC is in the works / coming out soon? and i will definitly be playing it.

Great music, very atmospheric. It's like a dark souls but a bit more forgiving.

Pretty good so far... can't just "run-smash-hit", you need to take ur time and study the enemy and be calculated, like the souls' games. I like it so far -