Bleak Faith: Forsaken

A great soulslike game that manages to capture the feeling of the early Souls games.

While it certainly had a rough start, it's impressive how much the game has improved since its initial release, with massive overhauls to combat and progression that did away with most of the early problems the game had.

As far as combat and gameplay goes, it's slower, it's a little janky, but that's if you're comparing it to Elden Ring, it still works well, and giving player the option to animation cancel and not having input queuing puts it a step above some of the earlier Souls Games for me.

The environments are vast, hauntingly empty at times, but not barren in terms of content, there's plenty to do, and a great deal of enemy diversity, each zone have distinct themes and atmospheres while still retaining the feeling of being stuck in a megastructure.

It's a great 15-20 hour romp and was absolutely worth the time and money invested.

Gameplay has been significantly improved since I first purchased the game in November 2023. However, pretty much all the promotional screenshots are of what the game DID *used* to look but, but does not currently look like. A seemingly quite recent update downgraded the lighting shaders in a pretty noticeable way - essentially none of the reflective surfaces you might see in promotional videos or screenshots are actually reflective in the current build of the game, which overall looks really bad, arguably worse than even unmodded Dark Souls: Remastered. No graphics settings changes this.

It's unclear why the developers chose to do this as the game was never in any way hard to run, I was getting a solid 60 FPS at max settings with 1.3x resolution scale on top of that on my GTX 1660 Ti both when I originally played it and now. I'll change this review if they either revert the shader changes or perhaps introduce some kind of toggle option to restore them, at least.

I've been addicted to Soulslike games since I first played Demon's Souls in 2009. I usually snatch up any new souls-like/light I see with eager glee. However, I recall distinctly giving Bleak Faith a hard pass upon it's release a few years back. But I always thought that the premise and setting seemed to be really appealing. Love the abandoned megastructure aesthetic and vibe, so mixing that with a Soulslike, seemed like a really great idea in concept.

Unfortunately the overwhelming negative reviews pretty much scared me off from giving this game a chance. And honestly, I'm glad I waited. Because I have a feeling I would have had a pretty poor reception to this one. But thankfully, that year or two I gave the devs to clean up and "finish" their game, was well, well worth it.

From the moment I loaded into the world, I was entranced by the environment and wanted nothing more than to explore it to its fullest. I don't really write detailed breakdowns of every facet of a game I review. But I want to point out how much I love the graphics and options the devs present the player. You can get this thing looking as good as a modern AAA title, and even on a mid-tier machine, you're going to get great performance using DLSS.

Also of note, the music, sound and atmospheric effects are very very good and really fit the mood and pacing of the game.

The combat mechanics are perfectly serviceable. I have only run into a few minor issues relating to combat (one boss for example, completely disappeared in the middle of a fight, and I had to load back to my last checkpoint to start the fight over). They are really similar to what you would expect from most soulslikes, with a few nice little QoL improvements, and some original ideas thrown in as well. Your builds are highly customizable, thanks to slotting of gems in gear. I'm still toying with a few ideas, because I'm currently totally stuck at two different bosses, and a new area I just opened called "The Desert" seems like somewhere I'm not supposed to be yet (one-shotted by trash mobs lol)!

And finally the environments, which are really the star of the show here, are very interesting and varied. The entire world feels like a mash-up of the classic Manga Blame! with OG Dark Souls and a little of The Surge. The map splinters in every direction but circles back around to create shortcuts, just as you would expect. There was one area in particular "The Deluge", that features some great underwater exploration (which I wish there was more of in that area). It has been a pretty manageable game so far, but there are a few bosses and that aforementioned Desert area that really have me on the ropes at the moment. But these are good things, for a soulslike lover. :)

I can't finish this review without at least mentioning, that despite this game having almost two years of polish and bug fixes, I'm still experiencing the odd and random issue. One bug in particular is very nasty. It makes my player character stop walking at full speed. Almost like a slow spell is on them. But none of them have been game breaking or blockers of any type. So I can live with it.

Overall if you have a love of the genre, I definitely think you'll really vibe on this game. Alternately if you are new to the genre, this one has some QoL features you may miss in other soulslikes, but it's a little obtuse as far as story and player direction (even for this genre), so keep that in mind.

If you like demon's souls you will like this game, it's kind similar to demon's souls and yet you have the demon's souls armor :) if like to get lost in a world full of secrets then this game it's for you.

I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said...

The atmosphere and sheer scale of the world is...unbelievable. A truly awe-inspiring realization of the developers' concept (I recommend watching Mista FiOth's interview with the lead designer!). And it's only a 3-man development team!! Insane what they've accomplished here.

And don't even get me started on the soundtrack (by Berlin-based artist Gabriel Martel), which adds immensely to the atmosphere. Hands down my favourite game soundtrack, and it's not even close.

If you've been waiting for patches to try this game, the time has come to play. There's still some jank, but it's absolutely playable now, and the overall experience is very worthwhile. There's also tons of scope for NG+ build-crafting, etc.

Why don't you play this game? It does everything that dark souls should do. There's more

Top level atmosphere. You will be lost.

Gameplay is better than dark souls. Weapons with variable stats.

Blame!

Same music

Indie. Few bosses. Short game time. Finished in 20 hours.

Support the producer for such quality games.

87

If you like Blame! and soulslike, this is for you. Keep in mind that this is a small dev studio and will feel clunky.

The strength of the game is the aesthetic and potential strengths it has is the the world as a whole,giants,horror elements,story,spectacle,etc. But combat isnt necessarily a part of any of this and the games combat sucks enormous dick. A huge drain that was given centre stage. me no like

Have played quite a few indie souls-likes and BF:F is definitely one of the better ones.

Enemies are a bit janky, combat is clunky (but mercifully not stiff), and the playable vs unplayable game areas aren't that well defined.

But by god, does this game have atmosphere and style. It's a thematically pleasing experience that doesn't waste its time on setting up its world, it just throws you right in and lets you explore it yourself. Most importantly, I never felt like the game was wasting my time - it ended at the right moment and didn't leave a bad taste of wanting it to be done.

A pretty fun 12-15 hour adventure.

Blame meet DS.

A must-buy if you're a fan of BLAME! manga.

Pretty good souls-like experience despite the ps2-era jank.

Might be a bit overpriced, but it definitely calmed my clunky, dark and convoluted action/rpg itch.

It's the love child of some passionate people and it shows, but if you're looking for a purely fun, responsive and engaging action/rpg, this might not be it.

Great Souls-like with an incredible visual style and atmosphere reminiscent of the manga BLAME!
If you like the aesthetics of that manga, you'll feel right at home here.
Combat and gameplay have been greatly improved in the last few months.

the graphics are not good also so many glitches but the combat system and the sound track are great. worth a try

i bought bleak faith sometime shortly after release because the souls features but mainly due to the atmosphere unfortunately at that time i didn't enjoy the game i had a rough experience due to the core mechanics that made the game what it is i wanted badly to enjoy the game but just couldn't bring myself to put more time into it and i refunded the game because i thought the core of the game wouldn't be tweaked to something that i would enjoy but i kept it on my mind and stored it away for the time being.

Fast forward to January 2nd of this year i checked back on the game and the updates the devs put out and a lot of things were tweaked and fixed as well as additions i didn't expect like i-frames on rolls as well as combat fluidity so i picked it back up hoping it might just be the updates that would really make me enjoy the game. I played a bit got a bit more used to the combat and how to fight correctly then i found the item that removes i-frames from rolls and decided i would give it a go the devs made the game without i-frames originally right? maybe i don't need them maybe i didn't give the game enough time or credit and maybe i should stop seeing this as a souls like and more of a souls inspired.

15 hours in im fighting mobs and bosses and im finding beautiful areas, hearing great music, and feeling the urge to keep moving forward even after getting destroyed by cool mechanics. this game is a crazy good time it can be as rough as any souls like\inspired game is but man the things you can do and the places you see are well worth it.

TLDR; give it a shot homie the sights and fights get so much more interesting the more you push through.

Edit: Changed it to not recommended. This game is so frustrating to try to finish and I am fed up with it. Things are so bad near the end game especially the anomaly area boss that is spamming spells. This game disrespects your time and money being advertised as a full-game with a price tag of much more polished products. I don't care if 3 people made it; this isn't a funding round for your pet project.


5/10 overall; giving it a thumbs up for support. Only recommended with a discount and if you can tolerate the bugs and atrocious gameplay, controls, physics and animations. The main selling points are exploration and atmosphere/art. I recommend using 60fps, V-sync and Lossless scaling x2/3 otherwise it is a rough experience.

Very clunky and badly designed. It doubles down on the things it does horribly like the platforming sections. Enemy design is atrocious and bosses are just terrible. I don't agree with trying to make the game a "complete" experience when its base is absolutely broken.

If you run it without V-sync and 60fps lock (which both look terrible), you get stuttery lower fps animations on 90fps preset. A lot of animations are bad. There are bugs and collision issues everywhere.

Overall, a very rough experience. I enjoyed it a bit and liked the atmosphere and bleak art direction, dystopian-futuristic-apocalyptic combination. I wouldn't recommend this game unless it is on a discount and you absolutely want a souls-like after trying everything out there because this "Game" is at the very bottom of the genre.

The only good parts of gampelay are experimenting with builds and perfect blocking attacks with the heavy attack guaranteed crit counter.

I wish the developers kept it simple as a beta or indie title with one small, very polished area with a solid gameplay, physics and animation foundation that will be expanded on. The game needs an overhaul or a more funding with a bigger team to make it a successful IP in the future.

Combat doesn't feel good and for me that the most important thing with game like this.

I hate to be the guy who leaves a negative review with barely any playtime. This game just ain't it. I had high hopes for this game based on the footage, screenshots and relatively positive reviews. It just ain't it. I don't think the promotional material reflects the game well. The environment looks bland and a lot less detailed. The combat isn't fluid like shown. The story is incoherent. This game is like if Lies of P and Mortal Shell had a baby but the baby was born with severe mental and physical disabilities. All the animations and movements just feel off. It feels clunky, sluggish and unresponsive. I rarely stop playing games this early but the gameplay is just atrocious. I'm sure some people can get past the jank and find some enjoyment in this game but this is my limit. There's several much better souls-like games out there. I'm not wasting my time and money with this one.

I watched this game grow from its days just being posts on twitter about the game's development.
Playing from day one to now is such a colossal leap in difference. I very rarely love a video game. Ocarina of TIme, Majora's Mask, and the Mega Man X series when I was a kid, but that was about it until Bloodborne.

This game for me was such a pleasure to be able to watch grow from basically nothing. It's gameplay is awesome, the graphics and world design are incredible, the weapons are all sick (though I'm partially biased in that I've always wanted a Khopesh), and even the enemy designs vary. It's such a good game.
Just buy it. Learn to love the struggle. It's worth it.

Fantastic game, mix of dungeon crawler and souls-like. Atmospheric and beautiful. Combat system is solid. Its well worth full price, on sale its a bargain.

So, this game is NOT the next Elden Ring by any means. If you want something that is spectacular and feels like an old X-Box type RPG game then this is definitely for you. The designs and concepts everywhere are beautiful and the soundtrack is perfect for the game.

This is a game where exploring is rewarded and there is nothing to help you with direction or strategy for most of the game. You need to learn to do all of it yourself. That said, nothing in this game is particularly difficult from a skill perspective. With a modicum of game sense and experience with RPG type games, you will absolutely love this. Definitely worth the price point.

they should rename it to peak faith forsaken

An amazing and atmospheric hidden gem of a souls like

Overall gameplay is fun. Fighting style and the wide arrange of enemies and bosses kept me on my toes. The story and visuals are a bit janky. Music is alright. Would recommend if on sale and need to scratch a souls-like itch.

this game is janky and overly ambitious, but it's also kinda great.

3 Dudes with a VISION came together and poured all they had into this game. And it shows. YES. This game is JANKY. But the game-play was not what made this game special in my experience. Bleak Faith is a game that exudes a STRONG sense of depth, mystery, and wonder as you play through it. The world layout fold inwards on itself, and connects in a way similar to the OG dark souls. The spectacle of a eldritch concrete world of staggering scope. I don't want to say TOO much for the sake of spoilers. So i will just say this game is worth it. Easy. You will easily know within 2 hours if you will enjoy the game or not also.

If you are patient and attentive, the type to enjoy asking questions about the world around you. Then this game will reward that. I heavily recommend you avoid any guides or walk throughs. Just enjoy getting lost to see what you find! Climb gods! Dive into a flooded city! Fall into the abyss! Crazy shit man.. Just make sure to use your movable bonfire/site of grace, And pay attention to the red lamps! And avoid spamming your attacks, as this game does penalize that.
The weapons, equipment and skills are fun and diverse too. A giant battle ax that calls down a beam of light, shredding pretty much anything i hit with it. a scythe that revives the dead, or a helmet that makes your minions fuckin' blow up. Just give it a shot!

Forgivable jank due to its pure unadulterated soul and passion.

I want more.

Graphics and atmosphere look great, but there´s something on the gameplay that does not convince me, it just feels clunky. Not for me, but can be a good game for others.

I'm not going to lie...this game plays like a watching cheap paint dries...

easiest way I can put it. Trailer had me sold...but like the Big Mac picture...when you get it it doesn't look anything like advertised. The game is very slow and slow paced. It gets stale after about 30 seconds. Let me back up and talk about it for a second. The Mutated Ghoul (the enemy that waved its arm and rocks popped up from the ground) was annoying. about 1/3 of the attacks have no audio cues and the dodge function seems like a hit or miss. Same issue I have with Elden Ring where I would hit dodge and even if the attack would miss my character wouldn't dodge...this however is worse but let me stay on the Mutated Ghoul. Dodging the rocks was a hit or miss and because Audio Cues don't exist when the camera would bug out you where eating a hit that wrecked 1/3-1/2 of your life. Now Im used to creaming a boss on my first attempt (unless my dodge wouldn't work...ER) so when I die I was like 'um...what?' I was hitting nothing on him and he would spam the rock cross and there is not quick get up feature so if you got hit by that move he would spam it until you died. Sometimes I woul dodge, sometimes 1-2 seconds after dodging and taking a step or two I would take damage and get flung up into the air even if i dodged out of range. My record is 48 eaths against all of DS3 and 53 against all of BB...that includes the entire game not just the bosses...28 times in DeS Remake. I typically do challenge runs when I play a game for the first time...So dodging is second nature...same with parrying (Sekiro was relatively easy) so I was suprised I was stuck on this boss for over an hour. Now I was lvl 2 and love playing the hardest routes first (ran Catacombs in DS1 at the beginning and cleared it first). Eventually I beat him but staying on him and essentially being at no stamina the entire time because no matter where you where after 10 feet he spammed his long range attack that had a widge you really could run out of even when you saw it an new what he was about to do. It also seemed like as long as the animation was there it was still a hit box meaning when i would dodge and stand up i would get hit be knocked own and die to his next 2 spam attacks. Even sometimes I would get knocked despite nothing touching me, so i beat him out of sheer luck. Most of the enemies by the water are beyond beefy and take about a solid 5 min per enemy and get to the point where they SPAM THE LIVING HECK OUT OF YOU WITH ENEMIES. The design of the world doesn't seem straight forward and I rerun the same areas trying to figure out where to go. Currently I am in the apartment complex area with the stairs.

Now the question, why haven't I returned it for it not playing and looking like the trailer?

Answer, I will play a game that I bought even if it is awful an damn near unplayable.

Why did I get it?

Simple it is done by 3 developers.

Let me rewind a bit as I feel I came in to hot and shouldn't be to harsh. Now I believe this game was over priced but it theme looked cool and i was hoping after a year it would have some good updates. There is a few things it has going for it...the attack mechanic for perfect attacks and parries is really unique in both aspects respectively. Despite the combat being SLOWWWWWWWWWW and the dodges not responsive and the attack animation being wildly clunky I think the aesthetics work for it. The first main story boss I fought was easy though I died, none of his attacks where really telegraphed and died when he was almost died and the second attempt I creamed him with most of my health. The Sea Leviathans and the 'stab the eye out' mini-game is cool but i either run out of air or it regens its healthy before it attacks again and you can kill it. The cyborg Super Shrimps are cools and like I said the look of the game is nice. The blood being oil and the 'Bonfires' are really cool and I like the out of combat health potion refill mechanic as well.

With all of that said I give this game a 2/10, but in hopes of something halfway decent I do recommend this game and will not refund it. I am rating this game based off the price of the game, Half the price of a AA/AAA title I expect half the game, but I got 1/4 of what i expected. I would say if this game was $5 it would be 9/10, $10 would be 6.5-7/10 and so on. I cannot give this game a free pass because of the dev team size, especially after the trailer, and everything they show frames it in the realm of a masterpiece to just catfish its customers. Now many will disagree and I honestly don't care. I am being impartial considering I finished DS2 Scholar of the First Sin....for this game however, I will finish it and I may grow to enjoy it more then I do now. I am holding out hope that they continue and don't take critics like me as an insult or distasteful. I love the game idea and hope they look at what me and other say and make steady corrections for their future games. I want their next $30 title I play to be a 4/10, then 6 or 7 and so on. Perfection isn't birthed from a single game.

Developers...if you read this, maybe you will or will not, instead of focusing on better graphics, or bigger maps, or new mechanics, focus on refinement. Continue to make better games. My hope isn't in Bleak Faith: Forsaken, it is in what comes after. I am not recommending this game, I am recommending the developers future prospects. So please...don't give up. I do dislike many of the negative reviews that don't provide substance or call it garbage. I am to diverge from them and provide awhile harsh a more constructive foundation.

Blame! souls-like, I dig

I bought this game at launch and just got around to it. It could use more polish for sure ... but everything else about it has been mind blowingly good. The world and music is just an amazing experience to behold. Top 10 for me.

I like the aesthetic and the vibes but thats about it because I'm just not having enough fun to continue playing this game. I managed to beat the first boss (Konrad) only dying two or three times, so I was familiar enough with the systems and how things work, but after the quality of many recent souls-like games Bleak Faith just wasn't working for me.

Insanely good game for a 3 people dev team. The animations are a bit janky at first, but once you get used to it, it feels great.
The eery atmosphere of the huge interconnected world is captivating.
I am on my 2nd playthrough right now. There alot of different possible/ viable playstyles like 1h, 2x1h, 1h+shield, 2h, mage, bowman or a hybrid of these. Every armor piece has sockets to specilize your build further and can be changed multiple times without farming.
Exploring gets rewarded - you will find more than mushrooms.
It is a diamond in a rough.

This is a uniquely impressive indie soulslike. It offers extensive customization to suit various playstyles. The atmosphere feels familiar yet otherworldy, reminiscent of Blame!. Fans of Hellpoint, Mortal Shell, Lords of the Fallen, and The Surge will likely enjoy this game.

If you are looking for a game with dark and eerie atmosphere and great world and level design don't look any futher, this game is for you.

The gameplay may be junky, but not to the point of it being unplayable as it was at launch. The RPG aspect of the game is another part of the game i loved, the stats represents strongly the type of playstyle you are going for, for example the agility stat gives you critical chance, attack speed, movement speed, stamina, bow drawing speed etc., while strength gives you damage and carry capacity...

I recommend this game for any atmosphere enthusiast or RPG lover

7.5 A very good game and possibly the best souls-like experience I've had from a nonFromsoft title. A lot of bugs and glitches but none too terrible. At times I found myself falling into a rock but being able to climb back out. Some areas you'll want to be careful while parkouring as there are softlocks. The giant's boss fight had a blaring sun which I'm not sure if it was intentional or not but it definitely hurt me to fight it. The water section was creepy and a bit vague but honestly, it is an exploration-based game with trial-and-error mechanics and no penalty for death so I won't hold that against it. A lot of fun and worth checking out.

This game is one of the few that made me feel that anything is possible. Like three guys meet up and say: "we will make an extraordinary adventure." And they did.

I’m a big fan of action rpgs, but I do not have a large amount of time available. Not only did I complete this game, but came back for a second play through which says a lot in my opinion.

The world is just fun to explore and the progression is paced to keep you excited for more upgrades to your build throughout. World is huge, but doesn’t overstay its welcome and build variety is what makes you want to come back for more.

Only warning I’d give is that it takes some learning/reading to understand everything mechanically, but is still very viable to do a blind run.

Overall it’s a great experience, especially if you’re into exploring. Just be prepared to not be certain where to go all the time.

best game to play when u n a bleak place

Do you like Dark Souls 1? Can you handle a little bit of insignificant jank?

If yes, GET THIS GAME WITHOUT SECOND THOUGHT.

I liked this game made by 3 people way more than other soulslikes from much bigger AA studios.
It does have some jank, graphics aren't anything special (but they serve their purpose), it's not super polished, but gosh darn it it's a great game at its core.

I had noticed the game long ago, but I did wait to get it after all these updates and I'm glad I did, I can definitely recommend it at its current state, I suppose a good amount of the negative reviews were written about older versions.

Exporation, atmosphere are definitely its greatest qualities as many have already said. I'm not big on indies, smaller games etc. and if something doesn't play well enough to satisfy me, I will drop it (I found Atlas Fallen clunky for example, a game by a much bigger studio and I dropped it after a couple of hours). I had no problem with this.

I don't want to write much, I think the best way I can sum this game up, is that it's a smaller AA Dark Souls 1, with even crazier exploration and a great sci-fi, gloomy atmosphere with huge brutalist structures. If that sounds like something you would enjoy, game is an easy recommendation.

One of the best games ive played in a while! Amazing atmosphere, awesome soundtrack, solid gameplay, spicy difficulty. Cant wait to explore more of this gem. Get it no matter what and enjoy one of the most under rated "souls-like" experiences ever and support some very talented devs.

The setting and mood in this game are very cool; like Dark Souls met Hellpoint at a bar and had a bastard child. Beyond that I have trouble recommending it.

The keybindings reset themselves every time you die, go into the menu systems, or restart the game. This is made doubly bad because the default keys were chosen by an autist.

Also for some reason the devs decided to implement some sort of combo-point combat system that requires you to do light or heavy attacks whether you want to or not just to continue the chain. So is this a Souls-like or is this a Capcom game from 1992?

I was really excited for this. It looked right up my alley with the setting being a dystopian hellscape of medieval-inspired tenements inhabited by undead and transhumanist abominations. Sadly the jank and bugs are too much.

First blamelike rpg. Love the megastructure feel and visuals. There's some clunk, but it's definetly worth checking out if you enjoy Blame! or megastructures in general.

First to say is that many reviews on youtube about this game are now a 1 Year old and counting. This game got serval updates especially targeting the combat and ui, it plays now way better as often mentioned in these reviews.
The rest of the game is more or less still the same, a indie Soulslike that take manly inspiration from Dark Souls 1 and other titles (not to mention because it would maybe spoil somethings). That means rhe combat is as slow paced as in DS 1 with a focus on exploration.
The combat is still a bit clunky but you can get used to it and will have a good time. Key is to try various weapons and playstyles on enemies and bosses.
I also like the fact that when you die you’re not losing anything, no ”souls”, no drained health bar or something like that, it’s just the runback.

Bugs are still a thing and can happen to you, personally i had an helmet disappearing from my inventory after upgrading my weapon.
Also a Boss essences disappeared in to the boss arena after i died, it should be there but it’s not.

If you can accept it’s flaws you can have an “oldschool” Soulslike experience and a ton of fun.

This game is amazing. It had a rough start and I avoided it for over a year until they released a major patch fixing a lot of issues but I kept my eye on it the whole time. The game apparently only has 3 developers. If they had a bigger team and more resources they would be rivalling the likes of From Software/Elden Ring. Not that they need to, this is a gem in itself. I haven't even completed the game yet but the world is stunning, I haven't felt this immersed in a world since Dark Souls 1 and it feels similar to that, it has a really bleak dark mysterious feeling to it.

Really fun dramatic weapons, combat feels great, the level design is amazing, bosses and enemies are well designed. Can't believe only 3 people made this. It is better than some AAA games I've played.

I've thought long and hard on what to say about this game. Its not a BAD soulslike, or a BAD adventure game, or a BAD action game, Its extremely ambitious and some of it is brilliant on paper. The end result however is a subpar game but an extremely unique experience. Let me explain.

Bleak Faith recently got an extensive overhaul that fixed alot of issues the game had on release. I bought the game recently for $5 so i can't say if the game is better or worse than it was before. What i can say, regardless of when you play it, this is a VERY VERY indie soulslike. The combat is stiff and borderline frustrating on certain bosses and enemies. The map design is like going out of bounds and exploring unfinished assets. Weapons feel decent with good feedback but fail to really capture any form of weight or strength. Bosses are interesting and some thought was put into them, but the inconsistent hitboxes and some questionable attacks make fighting some of them extremely annoying. The music is halfway decent but i bet i can find a few tracks on a royalty free website's "epic songs" page.

Despite all of this, I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. The amount of effort to make a soulslike unlike others while being familiar is 100% felt here. The gameplay is good enough, the music is good enough, the map design is good enough. The game is GOOD ENOUGH to warrant its price. The ideas here are extremely ambitious specifically for a Double A studio. Climb on the back of monsters, swim deep in monster infested oceans, ascend monolithic towers, ride on the back of serpents, cast a tornado to shred enemies, build a character to fit your playstyle. Its A LOT and the end result could have been A LOT worse.

Im not going to say the game is a hidden gem that you NEED to play, but if your looking for something different in the genre, i recommend it. $30? Ehhhhh..... $20? Sure why not. $5? 100% a buy.

Such an amazing world to explore and the soundtrack makes it so much better. Little jank and dodgey sometimes but once you see past that, its an amazing experience.

Definitely janky, definitely kinda buggy, definitely awesome. Spectacular art direction and atmosphere. More Demon's Souls with a weird dash of E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy than anything else.
Some points of criticism:
1) MUSIC. The music that this game does have is spectacular, but if you're going to be playing sad ambient for every area of the entire game, you need a larger variety of music. Area-themed songs, and a large variety of them. Maybe some adaptive-music style of construction would be good to keep it from getting repetitive. I'm barely halfway through the game and the typical ambient tracks are already burned into my mind
2) Sound effects seem to be missing for certain attacks? Particularly magic ones, which you would think would be very loud and weird sounding, but they're just missing. In fact, a lot of sound effects seem to be missing completely, and it takes me out of the game's spectacular immersion.
3) It's too easy. Unless you find yourself in an area you're not supposed to be yet, the game won't pose much of a challenge for you. In particular, once you get your build off the ground and you start to collect perks and get good armors, none of the typical enemies and even minibosses will ever pose a threat to you. I'm running a heavy armor tanky health-leech build, because I was expecting my survivability in this game to be absolute trash, but I hardly even need my health potions and when I do, I have a backup of 60+ of almost all the different types. For a game with this kind of atmosphere and tension, the difficulty needs to be ramped up a good amount.
Although I do enjoy the fact that you CAN be tanky in this game, unlike Demon's or Dark Souls. Don't change that

An amazing achievement for a small team. One of the few games where the world you traverse is the actual protagonist, and when approached with the right expectations this game will give you more than you expected. It surely has come a long way since its realease, and what I played was an approachable action RPG with world design that will amaze you you even in a post Elden Ring world. The mystery, the horror and the intrigue can be better driving forces than item or stat progression, and this is coming from someone with a brain as cooked by live service games as mine.

It's definitely art, it's definitely slow-burn, but not in a tedious way, it does never try to waste your time. The 35 hours I spent during my two runs of the game were great fun, and having paid full price was absolutely worth it.

My single major pain point with this game was audio design. I felt like the mixing was not up to par, footsteps, impacts and certain actions in cutscenes do not have sounds, and that could definitely improve. The soundtrack is a banger, though, and greatly enhances this game even more.

Also, please do not expect a souls-like in the classical sense. There is no death penalty, you have a checkpoint you can freely place, and a lot of builds will absolutely wipe everything the game throws at you, ranged builds are also actually ranged, so you can have a huge advantage.