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video game reviews

Is Netherworld Covenant Worth Playing?

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I was sent a free copy of Netherworld Covenant to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinion. This will be my honest review.

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Table of Contents

What is Netherworld Covenant?

Netherworld Covenant is a topdown souls-like out now on steam. If you are a fan of games like Diablo or Path of Exile but always wanted them to be a little more roguelike, you definitely need to check out the demo.

Hook

The world has ended. The demons who have caused the world ending catastrophe still roam free. You are the only survivor, and it is up to you to take them down and avenge you fallen comrades. Make your way through procedurally generated dungeons and defeat its endless waves of guardians. But you are not alone. The spirits of your fallen comrades will come to your aid in battle. Do you have what it takes to avenge everything, or will you be another lost soul in this cold unforgiving world?

Gameplay Loop

Netherworld Covenant is your typical dungeon crawler roguelike with a few souls-like mechanics to help it set it apart from the rest of the genre.

Dungeon Crawl

Players choose one of the game’s unique dungeon and jumps into the dungeon. They must clear each room to earn a reward as they build up to a floor boss. Players are rewarded after clearing each room, and get to choose the type of reward. The run ends when the player dies or beats the floor boss.

Combat

Players will have a primary attack and a few lantern abilities to help them fight off enemies. They’ll have a primary attack they can spam or a strong attack they can charge that is based on their class. For example, the mage class will shoot a volley of magic arrows or charge it for a powerful blast. The lantern will give players additional abilities. Players can summon a ghost to help them in battle or use a secondary weapon. These abilities can be customized and upgraded between runs.

Gearing and Upgrades

In between runs, players will return to a hub where they can upgrade their character. They can craft different weapons and armor and upgrade their ghost’s abilities. This costs currency that the player will earn throughout a run. Some weapons and upgrades will need to be picked up as drops from the dungeon. Players also have the chance to buy levels off their skill tree. I am sure there is a way to minmax builds, but players have a general freedom for building their characters. As simple as the game may seem, it does offer a bit of customization for a bit of variety.

Review

Netherworld Covenant attempts an interesting twist to the genre, but it didn’t really vibe with me. While the game will earn a few hours of fun, I can’t see myself picking this over Void Souls.

Aesthetic

The game is fine if you enjoy dark fantasy, but it doesn’t have enough to make it stand out against the genre. Monster and character design is decent, but the maps feel repetitive and dull. Changing to a different realm didn’t change enough to be impactful. It all felt like I was slogging through the same rooms facing off against the same wave of enemies and it got old fast.

Gameplay

The game is a little buggy. There were noticeable frame drops and combat doesn’t feel as smooth as it needs to be for the genre. The combat system is interesting for the first few minutes. Unfortunately, when the novelty wears off, it starts to feel repetitive. This makes the grind feel worse than it is.

One of the issues I have with the game is with the RNG. The procedural generated dungeons aren’t very interesting and they start to look the same after a while. In addition, the upgrades you have access can ruin a run. On the time I beat the boss, it felt like I didn’t do anything because the buffs I got made me broken. The game needs a bit of rebalancing, and a few patches for smoothness.

Combat

The combat system is a little too simple. This makes it fine for a casual souls-like, but you have better options. The idea of summoning a ghost of a fallen comrade to fight with you seems cool, but it feels a little clunky in practice. Worst of all, the meta seems solvable. It feels like there is a right answer when it comes to the class you play and the choices you make, and I felt like I figured it early on into my my playthrough. The fun bit about roguelike for me is the ability to find random dumb builds that will take me to legendhood. Here it felt like if I didn’t choose optimally, I was going to have a bad time. Bosses are kind of interesting, but if you get the right build and grind long enough, it doesn’t matter.

Conclusion

Netherworld Covenant isn’t a bad game. I respect the attempt at freshening up the genre, but there are simply better options. If you are looking for a topdown souls like, Void Souls has better combat system. Or you can try Dethbound for something more unique. If you are looking for an ARPG, checkout Striving for Light. I have a soft spot for Liberte.

I can respect the game for trying to blend all these interesting ideas together, but it just doesn’t do them well enough to justify the price. If you really want to check it out, try the demo and I would argue to wait for the sale. Especially when you have better options.

You can pick up Netherworld Covenant on Steam.

video game reviews

First Impressions of Bygone Dreams: Prophecy’s Gameplay

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Disclaimer

I was asked to cover Bygone Dreams: Prophecy, which is the free to play demo of the games initial level. I understand the game is still a demo and will be a bit more lenient. That said, these will still be my honest opinions of the game.

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What is Bygone Dreams: Prophecy?

Bygone Dreams is a souls-like that is scheduled to release in June 2025. In preparation, the developers have released the game’s prologue to generate some hype around the game. My review will be on the prologue.

A terrible nightmare threatens the peace known to Lume. One spirit alone hears the call to action and rises against the encroaching darkness. As Wa, travel across Lume’s surreal landscape, solve its many puzzles, collect its many powers, and defeat anything that threatens its peace. Do you wield the power to save Lume from this nightmare?

Gameplay

The demo acts as a tutorial for the game. It introduces a few essential mechanics for combat and exploration, and players get to experience a bit of the story and world. If you’ve played a souls-like, this game doesn’t veer too much from the path. What makes the game unique is the colorful world players get to explore on the rail-road the devs designed for them.

Impressions

Bygone Dreams: Prophesy didn’t do enough to excite me for the full game. The game has an interesting artstyle, but world is far too busy. There is a lot crammed to fill the spaces that become the walls for a rail road. Having a built in track for players to follow isn’t an issue. I understand the limitations of a demo, and I’ve played games where it works. It works here, but everything is so busy it distracts from how unique the world is. I don’t mind invisible walls or railroads if the gameplay is fun.

I found the gameplay in the demo to be a bit lacking. I can see bones with potential, but the game needs a lot more polish to be fun. Combat doesn’t feel smooth enough when compared to other games in the genre, and it was often a little boring. Enemies all felt the same and offered nothing interesting, and the combos weren’t fun to watch. The full version might have the polished combat the game needs and the enemies to make it fun, but I need to see it to get excited. The whole time I played the demo, I wanted to be playing something else and that’s a problem.

In its current state, this is one of those games I’ll play and forget it exists. Unless the full game gets a major performance polish, I think it will be one of those games you forget too. I’ll be trying to get a copy of the full version for an update, so stay tuned for that. In the mean time, check out Bygone Dreams: Prophesy and see for your self.

video game reviews

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona is Hard, but is it Fun?

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I was sent a free copy of Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

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What is Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona?

Skelethrone is a difficult by design 2D metroidvania soulslike for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via Steam, GoG, and Itch.io.

You wake up in a strange place full of death, despair, and monsters. Armed with only your fists, you must travel through this nightmare and stay alive. But your journey won’t be easy. Powerful monsters hunt you down relentlessly, and although you will find weapons to help you on your journey, you will die. Luckily, death isn’t permanent, and your flame continues to burn. Will this newly found immortality be a blessing or your curse?

Gameplay

This game is difficult by design, but there is an easier setting players can choose from the start. Players start with nothing and collect gear as they progress through the adventure. Players are meant to die a lot and do better with each subsequent life as they gain levels. Players level by buying upgrades from a diverse skill tree. You should probably look up a guide if you’re not playing on easy. You are essentially grinding out XP until you’re strong enough to beat the boss so that you can move onto the next one.

Review

I have trouble recommending Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona because of its controls. A game this difficult needs to have fluid and responsive controls, but the game feels clunky. Sometimes the inputs don’t register, and sometimes you’ll die because of the coding. Better players will probably be able to excuse the game’s clunkiness, but they also have better options in the genre.

Aside from feeling clunky, combat is boring. While you can find different weapons, it seems the right answer is two-handed weapons. The shield felt useless, one-handed weapons didn’t do anything, and I couldn’t get the bow to work properly. Even if you get the perfect weapon and build, the game is unbalanced. I get that the game is meant to be difficult, but there are rooms where there are too many enemies and traps. A skilled player might not have issues, but the controls and coding make these rooms extremely frustrating.  

The art style is fine, but some areas are too dark. There is a story, but it isn’t good enough to earn a recommendation. The only real reason to buy Skelethrone is because you want a challenging Metroidvania game and enjoy the flavor, and even then, you have better options. If you can get past the game’s issues, the game is still rather boring.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona is difficult to recommend because of how niche the game is. There are better metroidvanias. But if you don’t mind the roughness and want to play something that is hard by design, there are worse ways to spend $14.99.

You can pick up Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via Steam, GoG, and Itch.io, but I would wait for a sale.

video game reviews

Deathbound is a Solid Soulslike for Your Collection

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I was sent a free copy of Deathbound to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming/streaming setup, check out my reviews for Fifine H9 Gaming Headset, the AM8 Streaming Microphone, and the SC3 Gaming Mixer for high-quality, budget-friendly peripherals.

What is Deathbound

Deathbound is a party-based soulslike coming to Deathbound releases on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via Steam, Epic Games, and GoG on August 8. Make sure you add Deathbound to your wishlist and join the official Discord.

Long ago, the Goddess of Life tricked the Goddess of Death, stealing her power and creating a race of immortal men. From these men, an advanced and powerful civilization Zieminal formed. For a while, the Zieminal thrived in their immortality. But the Goddess of Death did not sit idly by while her sister made a fool of her. Slowly, she seduced the Zieminal to give up their immortality. Her seduction worked, and the civilization crumbled overnight.

Centuries pass, and a new civilization rises from the wreckage, one hungry for the immortality they once had. A zealot group of scholars work tirelessly to perfect the ritual for immortality but at a terrible cost. You are a result of these experiments.

Awakened by strange forces, you find yourself as one conflicting soul in a body. Now you must fight your way through the city of Akratya discover the truth of your existence, and put an end to the heresy. What secrets will you uncover?

Gameplay

Deathbound plays like Dark Souls, but with a well-implemented and unique party system to spice things up. The game features the same attack, parry, dodge, and item mechanics to make even the most casual Souls’ fan comfortable. There is a campfire mechanic for rest and leveling, and players drop their experience when they die. The party mechanic is what keeps Deathbound from being a soulless clone.

Players have access to four characters with unique abilities and values that they can swap between freely. Party placement gives characters buffs and debuffs based on their personal beliefs. Each character has a unique set of combat skills and utility. Switching between characters is not only circumstantial but also an important combat mechanic. Players can switch to a character with higher hp to heal an injured one, or they can use the switch to trigger powerful attacks and combos. It gives combat its unique flavor, and it felt more engaging than the traditional soulslike.

I particularly liked how stamina was tied to health. stamina is the energy a character uses to perform his or her actions. Running, attacking, dodging, and blocking all use stamina. A character who runs out of stamina can’t perform an action. Characters have as much stamina as they do health. stamina refills over time, but a damaged character has access to a smaller pool of stamina. Health becomes the most important resource because it keeps a character alive and allows him to do stuff.

It wouldn’t be an RPG without a skill tree, and Deathbound has an expansive one. There is probably a right way to build, but I had fun building to my tastes. I felt like I had enough choices without the experience become overwhelming. Filling the skill tree is a grind, but it is expected for the genre.

Impressions

Deathbound is a fantastic soulslike with a solid story, amazing flavor, and a cool mechanic. I love its dark atmosphere, and the story was a good watch. Combat felt wonderful, but it is easier than Dark Souls. At least I found it a lot more forgiving, and that isn’t a bad thing.

Deathbound‘s combat system is so much fun. I am a huge fan of the party system, and the switching mechanic made for some satisfying combos. My only complaint is with the health/stamina system. I think the system is brilliant, but there is one annoying issue. Sometimes, an enemy will push you into a crate, wall, or other artifact. There isn’t enough room to perform actions either because your weapon gets stuck on a wall or the enemy keeps pushing you into it, and then you run out of stamina to attempt your escape. It didn’t happen often, but it happened enough to be worth mentioning.

Aside from that, the game is a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a casual soulslike with unique flavor, you’re going to want Deathbound. Deathbound releases on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via Steam, Epic Games, and GoG on August 8, so make sure its on your wishlist!