Gods Will Fall Review

Announced in November 2020, Gods Will Fall is a game finding its style between dungeon-RPG and Roguelike. Developed by Clever Beans and edited by Deep Silver, the title arrived in our hands a few days ago, inviting us to take on the destiny of humanity against a series of particularly cruel gods. After many hours of play, we are now in a position to give you our complete review. Does Gods Will Fall propose something original and engaging enough? That’s what we’re going to find out!

A LEGACY READY TO FALL

Gods Will Fall is the story of a group of humans who, tired of the oppressive attitude of the gods, and decided to do something about it. Stranded on a Hub territory called Overworld, our friends set out to eliminate the ten gods that were hidden in their dungeons one by one. We will have understood it, the title asks us to traverse these lands, and to succeed in eliminating all the tyrants, while avoiding losing the whole group, which is far from being something easy. In fact, the players will soon realize that each game is different. The gods to defeat and the number of characters available remain the same, but with each run, the power of the gods will be drawn at random, and the composition of the group will be different. The developers wanted the experience to be difficult, and it is.

Therefore, it is possible to choose the order in which you face the gods yourself, but in any case, we can send only one warrior at a time, knowing that the power of the divinity will not be revealed until then. In case of failure, it is possible to send another companion to try his luck again, hoping to save the characters who have gone before. However, there is no obligation for players to do this right away, as they are free to go elsewhere to try their luck and come back stronger. On this point, Gods Will Fall succeeds, since there is a sense of discovery in every game. On the other hand, this random management of the difficulty and the composition of the group is sometimes frustrating, and you can quickly know if a run is doomed or not.

To enhance this adventure, the developers have created a central hub, very nice, with many elements participating in the immersion, with ruins, strange artifacts, and panoramas that work. In the same way, each dungeon has received special care and it is impossible to confuse them. A sea universe, a forest of bones and strings, poisoned swamps, a gigantic forge, a purified temple, or even cliffside constructions, everything is pretty, colorful, efficient. Each place also hides secrets and unpublished mechanics, forcing learning and curiosity. In terms of artistic direction, Gods Will Fall is a success, even if the design of the different characters, drawn from a list of archetypes, contrasts with the environment, which is a bit of a pity, without spoiling everything.

BY THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP

To distinguish Gods Will Fall from other games of its type, Children of Morta comes to mind to a certain extent, Clever Beans came up with a particularly clever system, even if it deserved a little more depth. For every game you play, you discover eight new characters, but also the different links between them and their relationship to certain gods. Therefore, when a character enters a dungeon and doesn’t come out, some of his companions, saddened, you can see their statistics of vigor (the points of life) and forced to fall, or, on the contrary, to soar by the pure spirit of revenge. Similarly, some characters may benefit from a buff when approaching a particular dungeon, or be terrified to go there.

Also, when a character is left trapped in a dungeon, some characters may become weaker, marked by guilt. On the other hand, when one comes out victorious, most statistics can rise, except for those of the victorious warrior, which can be reached in the flesh, and those of the liberated characters, marked by their detention. This system works quite well and adds an extra touch of the challenge to each game. However, we would have liked it to go further, and for the characters to develop a deeper story, even if it means creating it from scratch from a predefined selection.

For each god defeated, players will collect a number of items that can help them, ranging from consumables to improve strength or speed, to traps to set, shields, ingots to forge, throwing knives, and even better weapons. In addition, characters will be able to make slight progress using passive skills, which appear after victories. These skills can offer greater strength recovery in dungeons, the ability to knock down enemies after a counterattack, and most importantly, they can be shared between related characters. Players will be able to discover and choose the order in which to complete the dungeons to go to the most difficult ones being more powerful and better equipped, although developers have explained that using the fittest character is not always the best option. Again, Gods Will Fall could have gone further by providing more passive skills and items to use.

A GAMEPLAY THAT REMAINS ON THE HOLD

Gods Will Fall offers many confrontations and has varied warriors with successful designs. Each dungeon features various types of light and heavy creatures, armed with axes, swords, picks, spears, and torches. To balance the battles, the group of characters controlled by the player is randomly created in the same way. For each run, there are light or heavy warriors with sledgehammers and simple, war or double axes, spears, hammers, and swords. Swords and small axes are fast, large weapons are heavier and require more anticipation, while spears allow you to play a little more at a distance.

In any case, it will be possible, with the right timing, to perform counter-attacks, to strike with a powerful or heavy blow to the ground, or even to project an enemy far away and send his own weapon back to him. With each strike and counter-strike, a rage gauge fills up, allowing players to shout a cry, capable of regenerating health, ringing an enemy, or triggering events. The more the gauge is loaded, the more powerful the scream. Unfortunately, there is no magic or anything like that to bring variations in the fighting, and the actions to be performed to strike are always the same. Thus, fights end up repeating themselves very quickly, and while the mistake is always severely punished, it is difficult to feel the power gained by the warriors. However, there is a certain dynamism when we chain an enemy with our weapon and eliminate him by throwing the one we have picked up.

On their side, boss fights are always events. The creatures are very different from each other, their design is very successful, and they all have a unique ability. Unfortunately, as with classic enemies, their patterns repeat themselves quite often, and one can quickly figure out how to defeat them. The main obstacle to victory will be their initial power and the power of the characters with whom they are confronted. Note however that it is possible to weaken them beforehand, by eliminating the minions present in the dungeon, by destroying specific elements, or by performing certain actions. We will also regret a grip on the pad that sometimes lacks precision and hitboxes that can make the player default.

Conclusion

Gods Will Fall is full of good ideas but would have gained a lot by taking them further. With effective art direction, unique bosses and dungeons, and a bond mechanic that works, the game manages to make us want to play and replay in order to take up the challenge and defeat the ten gods in the game. The experience is therefore enjoyable, and the studio really has something to offer. Unfortunately, Gods Will Fall seems constantly on hold, leaving a tenacious impression of shallowness and repetitiveness. So it lacks that little something that can make this title climb to the top of the cart. The fact remains that Clever Beans has put an interesting game in our hands, which is worth the effort if we are sensitive to what it offers.