Lead humanity’s vengeance against the gods on their own turf with Gods Will Fall from Clever Beans and Deep Silver for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
We travel to the realm of the gods in this new action RPG with touches here and there of dungeon crawler, roguelike and exploration; this is Gods Will Fall, the new from Clever Beans (creators of titles such as WipeOut Omega Collection or When Vikings Attack!) and Deep Silver for PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Stadia, an action adventure with isometric perspective that reminds to titles such as Diablo in its staging but in practice it offers sensations close to proposals such as Souls, especially in everything related to combat and how we face the different divine creatures that populate the dangerous and treacherous world of the Overworld. Let’s see in our Reviews what this original proposal offers with procedural elements so that each new game is different from the previous one. Become a legend or succumb to the power of the gods, over and over and over again …
The gods will fall, one by one
Gods Will Fall, as a concept, is straightforward and straightforward. So much so, that he does not take much trouble to present a somewhat hackneyed argument (through a curious 2D presentation based on quite striking illustrations) in which humanity has been subjected to injustices and the implacable yoke of a group of gods for too long. Very particular. That is why hundreds of ships with the bravest men and women try to reach the island of the Overworld, home of the gods; although very few succeed, since the boats are the target of the enormous divine power, sinking between gigantic waves. Of course, there are eight warriors who manage to reach the beaches of such a feared island; and it is now when our journey begins, taking on the role of a group of heroes and heroines who aim to destroy the gods that have tormented men, women, boys and girls for so many centuries.
The title is divided into two clear aspects, one of simple group exploration with which we move around the island as a hub in search of the ten dungeons of the gods (with the help of a map, yes) and another of Action in which one of the heroes or heroines must enter each of the dungeons alone to reach the deity in turn and kill it, not without first annihilating his vassals to weaken his life. The grace of the matter is that each warrior actually represents a life and if we fall into one of the dungeons we will lose it; you can get trapped or die. In the event that he is trapped, if we agree with another hero and are victorious, we will rescue him; instead, if he dies, we lose him forever. And if we run out of characters, the game ends.
It is precisely here when Gods Will Fall shows its best side, that of proposing a certain strategy when it comes to approaching each dungeon, each game itself, whether through one character or another. And it is that each warrior or female warrior has their own abilities, strengths and weaknesses, as well as a type of weapon of five types: sword, spear, ax or mace, double ax or mace and two-handed ax or mace. Mastering each weapon and its qualities will be vital for victory, in addition to having thrown weapons that defeated enemies can drop and other weapons, consumables and secondary objects that we can find in the dungeons and equip at any time. In addition, some characters show ambition, courage or friendship when rescuing a certain companion, with which their statistics will improve or deteriorate depending on the circumstances. Of course, with each victory, the characters will level up and receive more powerful skills and weapons with a maximum level of three stars.
Easy to learn, difficult to master
The handling of each hero completely changes the game experience and invites us to be very cautious with each step and with each encounter, since we can fall at any time and ruin our progress and the game itself. This is where he shyly brings out his soulslike personality, without being a nightmare at the difficulty level either. Combat requires precise timing and offers several options, from the normal hit to a more powerful one, as well as the dodge, the remove or parry to stun, the jump and the sprint; All in all, the sensations are satisfactory, although some animations and physics that can be improved somewhat can leave us sold on more than one occasion. Mastering all these aspects will be key to succeed in each fight, although the title is honored in this sense; if you die it will be because of your mistake, there is no more. And it gives a lot of anger to fall into an abyss because of confusion; you are warned.
The vitality of our warriors, on the other hand, also plays with strategy and its management by how it is spent and how it is recovered; Each character has its own health bar formed by segments of vigor that will be emptied with each hit or rival attack. To recover health we must chain several accurate blows so that the so-called bloodlust rises and, once we reach the segments that we want or can fill, make a cry of rage to recover those segments. This method brings more than meets the eye and causes moments of real anxiety at the controls, in a good way, of course; quite a challenge.
On the other hand, while the dungeons are always the same, the presence of one type or another of enemies (and their difficulty) until the final room of the god on duty is random with each game, so each trip will be different from the previous one. . Again, its tactical side benefits from the very varied situations that can arise with each new game. Of course, after several runs, Gods Will Fall clearly shows its limitations at the content level, becoming remarkably repetitive after a few games. The confrontations with the gods, meanwhile, sin of being somewhat irregular, with some very attractive combats and others somewhat more careless, with the odd boss with too elaborate mechanics for the little margin that the game leaves us at the level of vitality, something that leads to an excessive repetition of situations that do not help the general perception of the title.
Turning to the audiovisual level, the staging of Gods Will Fall gives off personality on all four sides. It is graphically competent, especially for an artistic design that embraces the cartoon style, although many of the models seem too simple, as well as the textures in general. Of course, thanks to a very special color palette and a pictorial character that simulates watercolor strokes, it offers truly beautiful prints, especially when it takes pleasure in showing landscapes in the distance, both touring the island and in certain dungeons. On a sound level it convinces in the same way thanks to a soundtrack with tribal rhythms, sometimes, achieving an atmosphere that mixes epicity and mystery in equal measure. The game comes translated into Spanish with voices that symbolize an ancestral language.
CONCLUSION
Gods Will Fall bursts into the genre of action RPG and rogue lite showing a lot of personality and an original and correctly executed proposal with ideas that even surprise, such as how it approaches combat, the management of the warrior clan or the dungeon design. Of course, the balance between direct fun and repetition of mechanics is not at the level of other aspects that do convince, causing the player to lose interest after a not very high number of runs; In this sense, some inconsistencies in the physics and an improved AI do not help the whole either. The randomness of each game itself is interesting, although it causes unfair difficulty peaks, ruining to a greater or lesser extent the first hours of surprise and fun that are more than justified.
THE BEST
- Original and fresh proposal
- Warrior clan management
- Dungeon Design
- Artistically very special
WORST
- After a few hours it becomes very repetitive
- Difficulty peaks without justification
- AI and physics with room for improvement
- Irregular boss fights
Right
It is not the latest or the most original, it does not have the best execution either, but it can be fun if you like the genre. Good, but room for improvement.
