Iratus: Lord of the Dead

Gameplay wise very very similar to Darkest Dungeon but somehow less fun. The visuals are great but the gameplay itself too shallow. It's also way too long with little to no variation or anything to look forward to. I got bored right in the middle and don't see the point of finishing it. It's a shame because everything is well put together, it's just missing something. Maybe fun if you play it on the highest difficulty and take it more seriously? Then again, why not just play Darkest Dungeon instead? Wasted potential.

A "Bad Guy" version of Darkest Dungeon this is not.
Badly balanced, not well thought through. Many enemies have hundreds and hundreds of sanity points for example, are straight up immune to stress attacks, can never be debuffed etc. etc., having the attributes of the bad guys from darkest dungeon more than the good guys, it's just a worse darkest dungeon with different aesthetics.

full of "there are lots of options but one viable method" type traps, making most of the game dead content.
99% of the effort went into the aesthetics rather than the gameplay, as a turn based strategy, balance is everything and that isn't implemented (at all)

A fun game that scratches that itch of being a proper necromancer. Its a half step between Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire, Combat style, squad management, and base building feel very much like Darkest Dungeon, and the runs have a Slay the Spire style rouge approach with interesting paths and choices to be made. (So very similar to Darkest Dungeon 2, which I honestly enjoyed more than the original anyways.)

It is a challenging game, but perfectly manageable for Veterans of the genre, although the end game is extra tough if you don't figure out the right combination, I think I was lucky that my preferred play style was a good match up. Even without any losses, I still got a good 80 hours going through each difficulty (including the cool expansion).

Without an ascension style scaling at the end game there is limited replay-ability after that point, although there are quite a few different combinations of squads you could try if you wanted a few more runs.

While it is a little easy to miss, on the last difficulty option there are some arrows that you can use to amp up the difficulty even further Ascension style giving some extremely challenging end game to try and get through. I breezed through the base difficulties, but now am struggling (Just the way I like it!)

The game has a fun story with some cool lore, great atmosphere, and voice acting. I quite enjoyed the game and will certainly check out any more content that is produced. Not many games have hooked me this hard for awhile.

6/10. If you've ever dreamed of having a personal army of the dead

General impression

The game is 100% completed and all achievements are obtained. I can recommend the game if you are a fan of the genre or want to subjugate the bodies of your enemies.

If you plan to get 100% of the achievements, then I definitely do not recommend it.

Plot (no spoilers)

The story of how you, a necromancer who wanted to destroy all living things, were locked in a dungeon. You don't like it and you try to get out, trying to turn as many pathetic people into furniture as possible along the way (you'll understand when you play)

Gameplay

A turn-based game in the style of dark fantasy, where you form several squads of up to 4 units during the game. Each unit can be tailored to specific tasks using their personal builds. One squad can participate in the battle at a time. But in case of defeat, you can assemble a new one and try again. Units are the undead that you create (from flesh parts) and against various types of heroes, not so heroes, random workers and prisoners (source of flesh parts). You will terrify the living, drive them crazy. Enemies will die of a heart attack, shitting their pants, or run away shamefully. And those who do not run away will join your army.
You move along a map with several paths, where there are battles, RPG moments, and various kinds of events for support (loot, healing, or random units) The goal is to pass all the floors.
The game ends either when you run out of flesh parts to create new undead and your army is destroyed, or the undead win.

Positive:

• The main character is not the golden boy that he usually is;
  
• Game mechanics and stylization complement each other very well in terms of meaning;
  
• The large number of unit types allows you to try out different builds and metas;
  
• Destroying all living things is fun.
  

Negative:

• The bad protagonist doesn't do any bad things that he could. There's no sense that he's a monster. Not counting his professional activities. You know, doesn't eat babies for resources or anything;
  
• It seems that the variety is in width, not depth. And for this reason the gameplay can be routine At low levels you get one squad that doesn't feel resistance and with it you can reach the end without adjusting in any way;
  
• At high levels, on the contrary, you can lose your entire army to a random dwarf;
  
• To unlock higher difficulty levels where you have to think, you have to play the same thing several times (literally) on lower difficulty levels. And once you unlock them, there is no point in playing anymore, because you have tried absolutely all the content in the game;
  
[*]Achievements. More details in the block below

Achievements

Most of them are related to the story and game mechanics. But about 20% are related to horrible, disgusting grinding. You will be required to play through the game about 10-12 times to get them. Let me remind you, there is enough content in the game for 3 playthroughs.
DLC required for 100%

4/10. DLC: Wrath of the Necromancer

In fact, I didn't even know that the game had DLC until I started writing the review. It adds a couple of new units, skins for existing ones and a "true" ending. In my opinion, all this should be in the base game. The low rating for the DLC is only because of this.

It's a great tactical game. But very adictive 

Boring. Not engaging. Fails to excite or provide any kind of hook that would make you want to keep playing. Just a strictly worse version of Darkest Dungeon.

Quite a slog.

Not at all what I expected. Boring and dull, gameplay loop is short and gets old fast.

LOVED IT! purchased this game because I knew Unfrozen was working on the new Heroes Of Might And Magic and I enjoyed every second of it. Looking forward to play the new Heroes

Fun little hero collector with unique twists

Great turn-based strategy game. Resource management, levelling, various classes; all the usual fun components of a turn based strategy combat game.

The gameplay is really fun and approachable (similar to DD) with different options for difficulty so I'd say it is really forgiving.
The main 2 points where the game shines for me are:
- the power-fantasy of playing as the evil necromancer fighting the good guys
- the amount of possible builds that you can create is super immersive (and addictive). There are builds that rely solely on stress damage making the enemies insane; builds where the enemy takes damage for attacking your tank in the party; poison builds, magic damage builds, pure critical damage builds...
I am eager to see the next project from these developers

Solid play as the bad guy tactical game.

A rather fun, incredibly well stylized strategic game, basically a much simpler, less rng-containing Darkest Dungeon game where you play as the bad guy.
It is still fairly challenging and it offers a tremendous amount of ways to play, was a fun journey through and through.

fun

pile of garbage

Cute indie game, good mechanics, nice skins, funni narrative

To be fair, its pretty much a bare-bones DD. The difficutly is not even close and the builds are much more simple. Took me four stagers (levels) to lose a battle, BUT, the game was made with love and is an absolute blast.

Drives me crazy and i love it

Hot take: I actually enjoyed this more than Darkest Dungeon.

good way to spend a quick 15 to 25 min at a time

Excellent Darkest Dungeon style Roguelike.

Highly recommended, stands on its own merits.

Comparing this directly to Darkest Dungeon (not DD2) since that's what most players will be doing.

Iratus:
Far less RNG
No grinding, less time wasted on leveling new units
More flexible for build experimentation
Play as the bad guy
Token system similar to Darkest Dungeon 2
Runs on potato PCs

Darkest Dungeon:
Much more depth
Unparalleled atmosphere
Iconic artstyle and aesthetic
Also runs on potato PCs

Final verdict:
Iratus is the best $4 I've ever spent on a game

A hidden gem and my new favourite game!

Nice twist on Darkest Dungeon.

love the game, but after some time i couldnt start my game anymore without getting a bluescreen of death.

"Rogue-like" does not describe the game well. Create minions from multiple types, and unlock more types. Each has 6 basic powers. Including, melee, various magic, ranged, defense, buff, de-buff, etc... Powers can be tweaked. Minions can be equipped (a little). Pick 4 you have developed, and lead them into a battle. You will mostly be casting spells in the battle. Battles are 4 on 4 (mostly) and tactically simple. Battles provide the rewards for minions and their boss (you). Boss development includes potions, spells, alchemy, etc. Simple to grasp, but lots of options and layers. Once you unlock something it remains unlocked, both good things and bad things, in subsequent play throughs. Minions will die. Just as you can critical your opponents, they can critical you. Plan to replace folks. But you won't have to start your new folks @ level 1, the game keeps you in the flow. The mix and match options to create various teams with different strengths and vulnerabilities, and finding the tweaks and gear to make a sweet team is the core challenge. Sadly, there are some weak types and it would be better if some rewards tied back to more of the stats and skills, e.g. potion making. The artifact system is weak. It needs some sort of player driven growth, level savvy rewards, or both. The things that do grow are good, but almost everything SHOULD progress, many things don't. Still, it is very much a, "just one more battle" game. Pro's 65% Cons 35%
(Play hours are inflated by me having the game on in the background, I have played through twice prior to this review.)

this game delivers a fresh twist on the tactical roguelike, making it a blast for strategy enthusiasts who enjoy a darker aesthetic. One of the game's most commendable aspects is its reverse dungeon-crawling approach, which puts players in the shoes of the undead, commanded by the nefarious necromancer Iratus. This innovative perspective allows for engaging gameplay mechanics, such as managing various minions and utilizing a plethora of unique abilities to conquer foes. However, despite its intriguing premise and artistic charm, the game can feel somewhat repetitive over extended play sessions. The difficulty curve is also quite steep, which might get on the nerves of casual players. Nonetheless, for those willing to embrace its challenges, it really offers a fun experience that stands out in the crowded landscape of strategy games.

This game crash my PC

This was is great. I had a lot of fun playing it, but forgot to leave a review. The game balance feels right, and if you plan your strategies with your units, you should prevail. Really nice look and feel. The developers obviously cared about their game, and it shows. Looking forward to the release of their next game.

4 years since release and the game still feels unfinished. It's a like Darkest Dungeon clone that was put into an Easy-Bake Oven but someone forgot to plug it in.

It has a lot of cool ideas, decent designs, items, etc. But it all just ends up feeling unpolished and copypasta'd.

Gameplay feels bloated. Artificial complexity.

yeah man all good I like killing the guys and watching them turn to dust Its dope

Un autre jeu à mettre dans votre collection. Superbe visuellement, intuitif, atmosphère glauque, bien structuré et plusieurs façon de progresser. Et en plus !!!!! *** ENTIÈREMENT EN FRANÇAIS ***

I really liked this one, it's a good contrast to darkest dungeon

You travel through randomly-generated maps that remind one of Slay the Spire - a few different paths with different basic encounter types along each path you can see before you choose a direction.
Each encounter is like a battle in Darkest Dungeon, where your forces fight the good guys.

The game is a fun Darkest-Dungeon-like, but it is ultimately too slow and repetitive for its own good. In darkest dungeon, you're characters only ever level up 6 times. That makes each time they level up feel super valuable. In this game, your characters level up constantly and because of that, each level isn't nearly as impactful. So you spend a lot of time looking at stats and adjusting them slightly, especially once you unlock the building to help level characters which you aren't sending into battle.

Not only that, but some of the characters are just straight up way more useful than others. As the game progresses, it tries to introduce more risk reward mechanics. Characters hurting themselves or buffing the enemy to deal extra damage and such. But in a game where losing one character means losing so much progress, you never want to hurt your own minions or buff the enemy, because it is just more effective to use minions which deal damage consistently (or have AoE effects which just make every other ability inefficient). So you end up alternating between maybe two-thirds of the minions you have and trying to avoid using the rest as much as possible. Because this game isn't as complex as Darkest Dungeon, where some heroes really shine in specific encounters but are terrible in others, these kinds of mechanics just end up feeling more frustrating than anything else. It also takes so long to unlock new kinds of minions, because instead of them having a chance to randomly encounter them, you have to meet certain thresholds to do so.

The number of trinkets available to place on your minions is also criminally low and many of the mechanics, like building your own trinkets or going on quests feel under baked. They don't adjust relative to everything else as you and your minions level up, so they end up feeling obsolete relatively early in the game. Maybe if I played the game longer and got into those really difficult later levels, I would feel some sense of scarcity and appreciation for these mechanics. But as it is, I don't have the patience to keep grinding that long.

Finally, the "hardcore tactical rogue-like" gameplay contrasts heavily with the "boobs and blood" aesthetic of the game. I wouldn't mind the weird objectification of what are essentially dead bodies so much if the game just committed to being a cheesy romp. But the crypt-keeper puns and juvenile visuals don't complement the tactical decision making. The main voice actor does a great job, but the material he's working with doesn't do him any favors. In Darkest Dungeon, you want to hear Wayne June's little comments about the game. The timber of his voice and the quality of his dialogue adds to the game, it doesn't become an annoying detraction after a few hours.

So, yeah, it's fun and tense when you first start out, but as it unfortunately becomes a slog. If you can get it on sale, it's got a few hours of discovery and enjoyment before the cracks start to show.

Loved this game had a blast playing through it even more than darkest dungeon. Would love a sequel, its been 5 years.

love

Good game if on sale. Variety of minions and builds along with several difficulty settings give the game some decent replay value as well.

Reverse Darkest Dungeon!

You essentially are the bad guys causing insanity on the good guys, instead of going insane yourself.

This game is definitely a mixed bag. I got it on heavy discount (3$) And it was well worth my 15 hours for one run. The definite problem is that I have no drive to go back in for another run. As others have mentioned, it does tend to lose its luster after a while and get samey, especially as you start to see the finish line of all the things unlocked. After hour 12 I think I just wanted to finish one run and be done.

If you're a Darkest Dungeon fan and you want something that scratches that itch with a spin on it, this is well worth below 10$. Anything above, I'd wait for a sale.

its okay sweetie we have darkest dungeon at home

Great Turn based game.
Pretty simple design but there are lots of things to unlock along the way. keeping it interesting.
great art style and design too

Really fun and challenging

So you have seen the pictures and thought... hmmm.... This looks just like Darkest Dungeon.

So they took the look and feel of Darkest Dungeon then for the gameplay they based it on, well, Darkest Dungeon.

Jokes aside. It a DD Like game yet there is enough here to have a lot of fun with and find the team meta etc. In the sales it is worth a look.

Update: Almost through first play through that it starts you on in easy mode. I can see once the difficulty ramps this could be punishing. But I like the mechanics also. Well worth the current sale price.

8/10
Not so fun as Darkest Dungeon

Great game to play

Fun until the end, starts using OP mechanics and its just a dead end until it forgives the players

I really wanted to like this Darkest Dungeon spinoff but its just so.. meh.

i mean, its just been 12 hours since I started and I already see it as a big chore to continue, maybe Im missing something because the game is alright, its decent. Sound, music, art, story, mechanics.. everything is.. alright but.. its just.. like.. being on a diet and eating the same things for weeks, its ok but theres no excitement or fun or anything, its just a time sink.

Im supposed to be curious about new team builds and do research on the most effective way and quickest way to deal with enemies but somehow, im not. Its like, there is no good incentive to pour brainpower on the game, something is missing and I cant quite put my finger on it, maybe the reward isnt worth the efforts?

As achievements go, most are easy to get with a few tricky exceptions but I already see that the grind achievements are horrible and it will take me tedious weeks to complete.. kill 1000 enemies in a zone? with 4 enemies per battle and the battle taking from 2 to 6 minutes.. thats a lot of time wasted grinding.. well, whatever.

I might update the review after I hit hour 100 to see if I was able to find fun in the game, as for now, I cant really recommend this grindy mess. Its not a bad game, its just.. one more in the pile... very meh.

This game is strategy great. You have to plan and battle. The game looks good too. The audio will have you wanting the soundtrack and the vocal quips and dialogue toasts are great too. There are different difficulties so you can play easy and win or fight losing battle and have to restart.