Sundered®: Eldritch Edition

Very hard not to recommend this game. Great art style and some story behind, but core gameplay is a bit odd for a metroidvania. Enemies will randomly spawn instead of fixed position, so at times you will be running around with not much to do (which is a bit slow for my taste); while sometimes many enemies will swarm your screen so you are forced to fight them (which is not bad but can get annoying at endgame). Combat is a bit simple and spammy, movement is a bit janky and slow.

Overall not a bad game, but a bit weird to be a metroidvania. I'm sure many people will enjoy it, just not me personally.

I absolutely LOVED this game - I have nothing but good feelings towards it. Its one of those satasfying platformers that really scratched the itch for me on all levels.

The bosses were incredibly fun to fight and look at - its all so beautifully drawn and the animations, movement, combat - everything feels so smooth. You feel powerful, but it isn't easy. I feel like the scaling, perks, it feels well balanced between challenging and fun. Making some places a struggle where the win is that much more satisfying.

I also really enjoyed bits and pieces of the lore - but for me - it was just as confusing as I expected from an eldritch game. I played it blind, not knowing there was 3 endings - so I played it 3 times to perfection - 100% worth it, and I'd do it again.

I will be playing Jotun in the future, and I hope to see more like this in the future from Thunder Lotus Games!
Well done!

A very fun game with good level design. Easy to sink a few hours into this

OK game, but I will not recommend it, play at your own risks and enjoyment.


2/3 of the game it was a good experience, nothing outstanding but a solid game.

Last region and especially final boss (resist) is such a let down.

Endless swarm of enemies is so so game mechanic at best. And when they all really annoying, fill up all screen + there is environmental hazards to complement this dish = no thank you.

Final boss attacks extremely spammy and deal ridiculous amount of damage.
After I got really annoyed and lower the difficulty from normal to easy - it changed absolutely nothing (I deal and receive the same amount of damage, boss has the same extremely spammy attack patterns, what the point of easy difficulty?).

Worst part - with all this cool powers and upgrades by the end of the game you are supposed to feel like a badass, but it was completely the opposite for me.

reminds me of playing hollow knight for the first time, youre dropped into a strange place with no idea what youre doing with only this magical sword thing to fight with, gives me dead cells vibes as well with the upgrades after dying and all

You are not allowed to sleep on this game.
It's one of the most compelling and addictive metroidvanias I have ever played.
I was never bored, not once, didn't even play another game simultaneously.
It's up there in heaven with Aeterna Noctis and Hollow Knight and all the other awesome ones.

Dungeons are somewhat randomized, powers and abilities are unique, platforming and traversing is insanely fun.
Combat will grow on you.
It's quite unique with it's enemies spawning in hordes when the gong sounds.
Man, even the boss fights are unique.

There was one phase where I really was in trouble because I play on hard difficulty.
Whenever you enter a new area complex you will get rected but don't worry.
You just gotta push through and you will git gud eventually.

I am a total beast now and cannot die anymore, that's how gud I became at the end.
Get this no matter what, 100% recommend all the way.
I love everything about this game and will surely replay at some point

This game is not for everyone, that's for sure.
Still, give it a try, especially if you like the art style of this sidescrolling 2d metroidvania.

At first, I didn't get into this game, being a strange mix of metroidvania and rogue-like with unusual elements like the horde mechanic. I think it's a quite niche-targeted product, and if you don't like either of the elements, this is most likely not for you.
That said, the more I played, the more I liked it, opening up the "second" area being the definite turning point where I was hooked.
The game is very much Lovecraft Lite, if you look for cosmic horror, this isn't it: it feels very much like a polished metroidvania with none too many mechanical suprises, the story is almost hidden. The Lovecraftian elements are there, but depending on your view of view, they range somewhere between aesthetics and strong influences, although the three endings all fit quite well.
Nonetheless, it is a cool story, the Lovecraftian elements work in the context of the plot, and the exploration-focused gameplay loops nicely. The horde mechanic is definitely the biggest diversion from genre conventions, and it does help to create a certain sense of anxiety throughout the start, since you never know when the next wave hits you. And waves can be anxiety inducing, feeling like there is no end to it. As you get used to it, you start liking it more, I think, although it loses much of its initial horror, and the reshuffling of the map upon death while still staying true to the general outline is also a nice touch and adds a lot to the game's appeal. Locking parts of the talent tree and only unlocking them once you get new abilities is an interesting approach I hadn't seen hitherto. Making the majority of the perks a combination of advantages and drawbacks certainly helps working out different playstyles. An additional major nice touch is the gameplay and plot affecting decision of destroying or using Elder Shards, heavily impacting how certain abilities work (turning an air-dash into a directional releport, or turning double jump into either gliding or triple jump, for example), although the game could've included at least one sign as to how destroying elder shards will affect you.
One 100% playthrough is achievable in something between 15 and 20 hours, if you do it entirely on your own.
The story kinda requires you to look for it, you mostly need to read and piece little pieces of lore together, be they story beats in "crystal" areas, where your "guide" the Shining Trapezohedron gives some insights into the events that took place in this area, or 'flavour text' in perk and skill descriptions. I liked this approach, but it's not for everyone.
Do buy this game if: you love metroidvania (especially the exploration-part), dig the Lovecraftian plot, like trying out different combinations to fit the abilities to your own playstyle, like piecing together lore like a puzzle.
Don't buy this game if: you dislike the death-is-part-of-getting-better aspects of souls-likes, dislike the horde mechanic, dislike metroidvania or non-linear exploration-focused games, want more unusual game mechanics, expect the story to be laid out normally.

In just a short time, Sundered has thrown me into a chaotic, hand-drawn nightmare where the enemies are endless, the upgrades are confusing, and the map hates me more than the monsters do. The combat is thrilling, but every battle feels like I've signed up for a marathon I didn't train for. Dramatic and relentless, it's less about victory and more about screaming, "Please stop spawning!" while embracing my inevitable doom.

Well-animated and fun Metroidvania. Navigation can be difficult at times and the beginning is slow going but if you stick with it this is a decent play. I don't remember much of the story, though.

Amazing metroidvania with great movement

XEAFGSJCHTULABACTJHDJDL (screams in eldritch)

If your playing on a 4K monitor, an absolute treat.

Developed by Thunder Lotus Games and released in 2017, Sundered is a side scrolling, hand drawn Eldrich inspired metroidvania. Will you choose to embrace the darkness or use technology to banish it?

In a desolate desert, the main character Eshe explores until shadowy arms rise from the sands and tentacles engulf her while dragging her to unknown depths. After a short tutorial, Eshe meets the Shining Trapezohedron, that speaking in a forgotten language, grants her the power to defend herself.

While exploring the ever-changing corridors, you’ll face strange creatures, robots, and even giant bosses, whereby defeating them you’ll gain new powers that will allow to visit places once out of reach.

With a stupendous art style complemented by a foreboding soundtrack and ambient noises, exploration becomes a reward on itself, since like most games on this genre, exploration and backtracking are essential.

Depending on choices made during the game, the story may lead you to different results, presenting the game’s main replay value.

This game can be controlled by either keyboard or controller, having the option of local multiplayer up to 4 players.

As a choice for an incredibly well written Eldrich story, fluid movement, and impressive graphics, Sundered is a game I highly recommend.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for more recommendations and reviews.

[08.12.2024 - 13.12.2024]
So, to start off, I have got mixed feelings. I love the art, the smoothness of animations, fights and gameplay, but it gets kind of annoying, especially on harder difficulties, it's not for me, the pacing feels lacking in the area of smoothness they fought. There are just better games similar to this one, like.. Dust an elysian tail, eh.
However, love that it has 3 endings and to get the platinum, you'd need to at least make a copy of your save, and keep those shards, finish it without doing anything, finish it then with destroying it, finish it with corrupting it, a spoiler for those who want or would ever platinum or see all of those endings without repeating the game over and over. Or just make a 2nd playthrough with 2 endings.
The story is sublime, there is none basically, just a bit to make you go through the world, nothing else, but voices, sounds are quite amazing.
Still I know it's an indie game studio, so I'll give them some credit there.
I'll give it 7, I've mastered almost every perk out there, got bored of it, so rushed through the final as I could, tho it took for my save around 17 hours with grinding, could easily finish this in under 10 hours, so keep that in mind. I've just wasted time nonetheless.
If you love handrawn games like the Sundered is, give it a try. But don't expect a ground breaking game of the genre, because it's not this one, not even close.
I'll give it a go to platinum, even tho I got kinda bored, exhausted.
Have fun, enjoy!

PS. Played and Finished it on the Steam Deck OLED.

Great game, solid lore, can recommend.

It's tough but it feels so good to learn what you gotta do to defeat each boss and figure out where to go
The graphics are also awesome and the music is so so good, really makes the enviroment feel real and beautiful but at the same time unreal and mysterious, I can't quite explain it
I uh couldn't beat the final boss neither have I gotten to the other two but I enjoyed the game regardless, will get back to it and finish it someday when I have more free time :3

Few games get me addicted nowadays, and this is one of them!

It was fun.... right up until the final boss. Then it just become BS.
So, the good. While I prefer games that focus on the skill you defeat enemies with, this game has a good premise of navigating the horde rather than defeating it. In other words, you gotta have a good kill/run ratio. Know when to stand and fight, know when to juke them. MOST bosses are pretty good, I don't have much to say on them. The platforming and metroidvania aspects are fairly satisfying, and I like how if you now what you're doing, you can basically fly.

The bad. Skill doesn't seem to factor much, and a lot of the time I felt like I clutched through sheer luck rather than skill. Par for the course when theres so many enemies, but you win some you lose some, luck has its own thrill after all. The rebirth perk which revives you doesn't provide invincibility, so it's way too possible to have your shields taken out before you can even move when you use it in a boss room. The late game bosses go from L&S being annoying but not too bad too the final boss (Which I will label N), resist final boss (Which I will label N&T), and dlc boss being outright bs, which is the main reason I thumbs downed this game. the DLC boss is straight up bs, only have a few attacks but having so little opening as to make it almost a "Can you tank as much as he can tank?"

The final bosses in particular are annoying as hell. First, N has a lot of area denial, and REALLY likes using them around the only spots you can do damage. That would be fine if they didn't A; keep the weak spots up in the air, meaning your fighting gravity just to hit them once, let alone navigate the attacks, and B; they move too, often forcing you to hit the ground again and waste time. N&T is worse than that, because not only does it have the exact same moveset as N, but it strips you of all but one move (That I rarely used) to fight him with, and adds so many suicide bomb enemies that towards the end of it, I literally cannot see, let alone aim my attack. The best part? If you die, you have to fight N first, again.

It left such a bitter taste that I've just given up on the game after about 8 tries. I was so angry that even if I beat it, no matter how good the ending was I would just sit there fuming.

It's a satisfying game because eventhough it has a roguelite feature, it doesn't take away your treasures and skills everytime you die. You could also kill the boss over and over while the game still confirming your triumphancy against the boss by giving a certain artifact exchangeable for a new skill.

I love the graphic design and the large bosses. If there's one thing that doesn't match the atmosphere of the game will be the pop graphic for Lovecraftian theme.

Still enjoy the game tho.

I absolutely love the style and ideas behind this game.

A sci-fi post-apocalypse wherein the Valkyries (human survivors equipped with mechs, advanced gear and weapons) stumble upon a Lovecraftian cult of epic proportions is the awesome backdrop, where you, a scavenger named "Eshe" fall prey to.
You encounter the Shining Trapezohedron (a staple in Lovecraftian lore), who will be the only NPC you interact with, and by god, he sounds amazing (he speaks in a language made specifically for this game which is absolutely amazing imo).

The story is mostly surface level, but with hidden details in perk and skill descriptions, ala Dark Souls.
The gameplay is fun, but sometimes overwhelming.
To counteract this, you have a skill tree with lots of branching options but which can be maxed out, making you good at everything eventually.

The choices in how you play come mostly from perks you select (which often have a downside), and what you do with "Elder Shards", which are special relics you get from killing bosses.
That's where the "Resist or Embrace" slogan for this game comes from.

You can destroy "Elder Shards" to get special skills and lots of currency, or you can use those Elder Shards to "corrupt" the Valkyrie equipment you find.
This corruption makes said items MUCH more useful and/or powerful.

Aside from that the soundtrack, which is stellar, the enemies are cool, and the animations are gloriously fluid. All of these factors are at their best during the boss fights.

Since the Eldritch Edition dropped you can now use Finishers which are a special, rechargeable ability that has many different animations depending on where you aim them and makes combat more fluid.

Only issue I have with combat is a lack of special combos to juggle enemies.

It's a neat little game that I reccomend to fans of the Lovecraftian and Metroidvania games.

Strange, but very nice game.
I've died a million times.
Quite difficult especially at the beginning, but you'll enjoy it.

General

So, this game took me around 10 hours to complete one of the endings, and I can confidently say this game is worth your time. The artwork and everything in the game is absolutely beautiful, the gameplay is great feeling with all sorts of awesome and fun abilities. The game can be pretty difficult at times, but makes up for that with a big skill tree and perks that make your time through the game easier. I'd say my only gripes with the game is the fact that a lot of times you will have to end up farming for shards to level up, a lot of games have that, but for some reason, farming in this game feels very boring. Luckily you don't have to farm for hours, just a few minutes to get your levels up a few. The only other gripe I have is the fact that areas feel a little repetitive with enemies after awhile. either way, the game is a great, "shorter", metroidvania experience that I thing people should give a try

Definitely one of the best games I've played in a while. Plenty of callbacks to appreciate, the artwork is superb, and the amount of content and replayability is amazing at this price point.

The music is amazing and the animations are all incredible. I love the fighting style and premise as well. 10/10

Like everyone else is saying, the art and sound design is pretty good, but that's where the positives end.

Why should I play this game? What is the incentive for me to keep playing? I'm simply moving from 1 area to the next, collecting every ability, and then moving on. In Hollow Knight or Ori, there are story beats inbetween gathering abilities that make your time worthwhile, in Sundered, there is no story.

Combat is highly repetitive, and the runbacks to each boss/new area/anywhere are frustrating due to the constant bombardment of enemies. It feels like an incremental Roguelite but the increments are so small I don't want to see how high they can get. Wow, I just spent 30 minutes walking through useless connecting rooms to fight a boss and for my reward I get... +12 base damage on my sword...

The Elder Shard mechanic is a neat idea, corrupting abilities to make them serve a new or upgraded purpose at the cost of your humanity sounds very cool in concept, until you realize there's no reason to care for getting the "good" ending. I forgot my character's name for about 8 hours until the guide character happened to say it. Not to mention that the corruptions themselves don't do anything anyway, more often than not letting you down.

Overall this game falls flat, even as a gameplay first story last player, there is nothing to motivate you to keep playing. You don't unlock any new moves for combat, not that they matter since the most effective tactic is to spam, main bosses are few and far between and (from what I gather) very samey, and there is no character motivation for Eshe (the girl you play as) OR the Trapezohedron (the guide) to go anywhere.

Don't waste your time, if you want to see the art just watch a video or something.

For those who just lost their job and feel like smashing some stuff.

This is honestly a below-the-radar gem! A metrodvania with actually 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 procedurally generated maps and much more freedom to explore than what you're usually served in the genre. You still have enough set markers and rooms on your map to not feel totally lost any time you die, and the resource gathering and unlocks give a sense of progress even if you haven't managed to find a big "freeze beam" upgrade yet.
The graphics, art style and animations are absolutely great, as well as the music which is quite subtle and atmospheric! I also appreciate it not overstaying its welcome, which made it even it easier to give it a second go to see one of the other endings: It's just that much of a fun, solid game!

it have a mystery which give me a passion to know more . i can enjoy the process when l was fighting with them . although l die again and again , l began to have a smooth control . and with the development of my ability , l get to understand the real meaning of this game , the key of this game . you will know what is the sense of achievement .

This game was dirt cheap on sale so I didn't have high expectations, but I was blown away. I also probably wouldn't have given it a chance if I realized in advance that it had roguelike elements, but they're done just right IMO. The pacing is perfect, the difficulty is perfect, the combat is so fluid, the upgrades seem basic on paper but wind up adding so much to the combat, the perks allow some interesting build variety, and it's just the right length. You always feel like you're moving forward and getting stronger. I really have nothing bad to say about it.

recommend, very artistic. controls feel sluggish at times but i think that adds its own challenge and charm

The combat is so repetitive and it seems like enemies spawn without any rhyme or reason.

A beautiful roguelite with good controls hampered by awful design decisions and repetitive combat.

PROS:
-Art
-Combat controls

NEUTRALS:
-Not really a metroidvania. The entire world is randomized and resets each time you die. Its a roguelite.

CONS:
-"Swarm" combat is very repetitive and uninspired. More random generated garbage.
-Off-screen enemies snipe you constantly (combined with...)
-Limited dodge roll means you're constantly out of stamina
-Very grindy "bigger numbers" skill tree for no reason ("skills" are just +health, +armor, +dmg)

I finished the game on Xbox some time ago and it was so good that I bought it again on PC and went for a different skills and ending. It's fast, responsive, has really cool enemy designs and what is most important dying isn’t annoying thanks to fluid movement and very good map design. But the thing that makes it stand out is the mood. Game feels raw and primordial. You feel you are stuck in some forgotten old eldritch world that people tell weird stories about only when they get really drunk in bars. Everytime I play this game it gives me a weird unsettling vibe that I’m being constantly watched, tested, and judged. I highly recommend it.

Things good to know (no spoilers):
- If you know you will play only once go for the embrace path. Some skills are crazy fun.
- You can lower difficulty but not raise it.
- With proper build Normal isn't a problem and there's always Easy.
- I recommend playing on Hard. Minibosses are way better and game is far from being really hard.

tl;dr Not actually any better than Hollow Knight, so there's no way you should pick it up at full price when HK is only $15, but it WAS a great time, so get it on sale for less than that if you like the genre.

So, I just finished my first playthrough of S:EE, completing the "Resist" side of the coin, and especially for the sale I got this game on (less than $5) I would recc the hecc out of it, though I'm not sure I will seek to do 100% completion unless it's while dragging some friends along with me for the second ride.
S:EE brings many of the tried-and-true elements of metriod-vanias to the table with a bit of eldritch flair and handles the rogue elements quite well for the style they present, imo: you don't lose the game's equivalent of "souls" when you die, so accumulating them to unlock upgrades so you can go back and beat the tar out of whatever just killed you means you hop right back into the action immediately instead of having to worry about retrieving said "souls" before actually progressing further. This does make death a bit of a non-issue, though, as excepting for making your way back to where you died to keep going, there's not much punishment except for the time it takes to do so.
And if you're more so a fan of a bit more hack and slash than precision-based combat, then this is a game that is not afraid of making you feel like a badass almost immediately. And then repeatedly so as the game continues on. The MC Eshe does have an aversion to grabbing onto ledges for some reason, so be prepared for that. Speaking of which, 10/10 female protag. Always appreciate a game starring a woman that isn't terribly over-sexualized (except for that splash art, guys: there is no way a woman doing the sort of athleticism we see Eshe exhibiting would do so without proper support, so get out of here with that wildly ridiculous up-boob shot lawl) I personally found Normal difficulty to be way too easy--beat aforementioned playthrough in ~15 hours--and on a second go-round would likely try Hard just to see how it tracks.
My only--minuscule--complaint is that, if it WAS possible, I never figured out how to zoom out on the map function on a controller. It'd be more helpful to be able to take a birds-eye view of the map and maybe it had something to do with my resolution, as there were other moments on the upgrade screen where I couldn't quite read the quotes/flavor text on the bottom right. I also ran into a glitch when I killed the final boss the first time (I waited to destroy the final shard until after I killed it so I could get 2 for 1 on the achievements without 3 playthroughs) where the final cut-scene never played and I had to altF4 and go look it up on youtube.
Solidly beautiful artwork throughout. Good at making the player feel small but mighty. Excellent controls and amazing music and sound work. And that VO/language stuff?? Amazing. Fantastic. 11/10. Couldn't get enough/more plz.

So, here's the take you've been waiting for: is it better than Hollow Knight?
Well...no. I got a ton more hours out of HK and this game touts a price point higher than HK. HK also has a world that is much more fleshed out and vibrant, though admittedly with the route the story went in S:EE, I'm not sure exactly how you'd meet that expectation, so I won't hold that against it too hard. While S:EE also has fantastically smooth response/controls, I'll reference back to the hack-and-slash feel to the game where it's just not quite as satisfying as it is in HK to learn enemy patterns and respond accordingly when for the most part in S:EE you can easily just get up into the enemy's business and mash the buttons in quick succession #neverpunished. And that's coming from someone who INTENTIONALLY avoided the health upgrades in S:EE to test the limits. My death count was not nearly high enough for how ridiculous my build was.

EDIT: AH, I forgot my one other complaint as I was reading through the other reviews, so here it is: the camera absolutely NEEDS work. I want it centered on the character 99% of the time (the zoom out shots at stationary points are great, but even then at similar places where I'm starting a fight to get a perk or something, you could easily put an indicator on the screen of where the big enemy is coming from). If I'm running from a horde (because, really devs, you can't HONESTLY expect me to always immediately stop what I'm doing and blast them all) I don't want the camera to be trying to move willy-nilly behind and around me as if to attempt to strike fear in my heart of what's coming. I want to be able to SEE WHERE I AM GOING cuz like I dunno, that seems kinda important, yah know? I definitely lost track of myself or took unnecessary damage most often due to poor camera positioning. I like the idea, but it needed to cook a bit more.

Great art style, voice acting, and sound track. The controls are terribly floaty for a Metroidvania. You're essentially a bubble floating through a tornado surrounded by wind turbines, sliding on ice. But if you put this on an easier difficulty (less damage sponge-y enemies/bosses) and soak up the atmosphere, it's definitely worth a playthrough.

I could have beaten the game in 9 hours time, but I wanted to spend some more time getting to know the bosses through the "Eradicator" perk challenge. I **highly** recommend not doing it. It's not worth it at all and shows just how shitty the movement in this game is and how poorly thought out the bosses were; think of a bullet hell on ice skates, but you don't shoot, you have ... a knife! Bosses throw tons of enemies at you and have stupid weak spots you are forced to hit, and run away when you get close. When they're almost dead, every pixel of your screen will turn into hitboxes that can insta-down you. How are you supposed to beat it? Random dumb luck ... It single-handedly almost made me not recommend the game, until I realized it's all optional content and challenges.

A "freestyle" metroidvania. Some refreshing ideas, awesome art, cool build variety. I dig.

fun coop metroidvania

Very nice :3

Very good game! Its has very fun game play and the story is also really good. It seems like there could be multiple endings but I only did one play through.

This game seemed somewhat interesting at first. Then you get spammed with a dozen sniping enemies that spawn off screen, annoying. It doesn't feel like your exploration is rewarded when you're just swarmed with an HP inflated mob of enemies that just kick you back to the spawn area.

Game play is great. Wiki is helpful.

fun solo game

Absolutely stunning. This game is definitely not easy, but boy is it hella fun
10/10 :D

A very interesting take on the metroidvania genre with a touch of rogue-lite, I'd blindly recommend to anyone.

Graphics are very unique and blend together quite nicely, putting together with the music and effect a cool mood to the game
Gameplay is very fast paced and fun, and you can really feel like you're getting stronger as the game unfolds. the difficulty can be rather harsh at the end of the game, challenging the more seasoned players

Overall a top game in its genre, I will come back for the other ending at some point :)

An amazing cooperative experience with my daughter that taught us how to slowly level up and adapt with our new abilities and skills. HIGHLY recommend!

felt like "not as interesting Metroid."

and although the pictures on teh store page look cool, nothing in the first 30 min of the game looks that interesting. just really bland areas.

Gave up on game first time around.. and just picked it back up.. almost gave up again, but finally getting somewhere with it. Takes some patience

shit game

Randomness meets metroidvania done well

Combat

Story/worldbuilding