Deathbound Reviews

Nice!

I really liked it!

This is one of the harder soulslikes. The unique mechanic of 'morphing' between characters as you play is initially very confusing and I fumbled with the controls quite a bit before I got used to it. But by the end it was very rewarding as I became a killing machine. There is a story here and it's pretty good. Level design is well done and the graphics are fine. It's not very long and I highly recommend playing some other souls games to get you used to the genre before diving into this one. 8/10

Unplayable because of unskippable cringe story sections that can last over 10+ minutes, by that I don't mean cutscenes. I barely care about the story in heavy hitters such as Elden Ring, Sekiro, BloodBorne and you (developers) have the audacity to think that give a crap about your characters, world? I don't care about your stereotypical 40k space marine in knights armor that obsesses about heresy or that assassin with the annoying arrogant British accent. I actually like the gameplay, mechanics but I don't have the patience to sit through and watch character backstories. I want the torture and challenge to be the gameplay not your forgettable story and dialogues.

I wanted to like this game and the progression feels great but the execution is poor, bosses are too simple and you can easily outscale the game. The level ups need to be toned waaay down to feel like a soulsgame. You get overpowered way too fast. I also hated the crossbow girl because you can't cancel her reload. A huge update or a sequel would have potential but this ain't it in this state and it isn't in early access. Too bad.

The game crashed multiple times, so I ended up requesting a refund—despite it being a good game for its level.

There is a good idea here with the character switching and the relationships they have, but it's all very undercooked and marred by poor level design and mostly horrible voice acting. Combat itself is pretty good and initially was able to carry the game. The problem is that it's all happening in very confined, samey-looking areas. Deathbound is also too keen to use the color green on everything—enemies, environments; the overall color palette is dominated by green, and it just doesn't work. I gave this game a fair shake, but after 2.5 hours, I just couldn't force myself through it. It pains me to say this since some of the ideas with character switching and the usage of this mechanic to create combos are good. Giving characters unique interactions makes you strategize more. Unfortunately, they sabotaged this system by giving you very few options to customize characters. You will be using the same armors and weapons for everyone throughout the entire game, where one of the greatest joys in Soulslike games is finding new gear. I really hope these developers will be able to develop and polish their ideas further. There is potential here; it just needs better execution and much, much better level and enemy designs.

I am on the cusp of finishing this, but really felt like it was an easy recommend. I picked this game up on launch, thinking the premise was neat with the character-switching, but haven't gotten around to playing it until now. I regret sleeping on it for so long. It's a souls-like, for sure, but the difficulty is somewhere around just below Souls in the beginning, and ramps up to being a decent challenge with bosses toward the end. It has an interesting setting and story, which is more than I can say for a lot of souls-like games, and I love the character-switching-focused combat. It makes everything feel meaty and epic. I'd normally go for a more detailed breakdown or analysis, but this game really doesn't need it. It's just fun and good. Surprising amount of story and intrigue to follow, lots of voice acting, and solid execution of your standard souls-style gameplay but with the major change of how your weapons and lack of stamina/health per character force you to adapt. Strong recommend for fans of souls-style games, soft recommend for people interested in the story and setting (the game's first two zones aren't too difficult, but after that, it definitely ramps up and requires a bit more effort; so, beware if you aren't into challenging games. Overall, the challenge felt manageable and much easier to enjoy and overcome compared to many souls-likes).