Corpse Keeper

About

Corpse Keeper is a single player hack and slash game with fantasy, medieval, historical and dark fantasy themes. It was developed by Melancholia Studio and was released on May 28, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Corpse Keeper is a very challenging action RPG with tons of strategy elements. You'll need to lead a squad of three corpses to explore the grim and dark medieval world within limited time, acquire resources and equipment, build a powerful army of the living dead with enemies' flesh and bones, and finally kill the demon lurking in the deep end of the cathedral to hunt his soul. The battles in Corp…

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73%Audience ScoreBased on 209 reviews

gameplay17 positive mentions

grinding14 negative mentions

Unique blend of 2D fighting game, roguelike elements, and strategic corpse management with a dark gothic atmosphere.
Combat system is satisfying and skill-based, featuring timing, parrying, and posture mechanics reminiscent of Souls and Sekiro games.
Strong replayability due to randomized movesets, corpse customization, resource management, and progression systems.

Combat can feel clunky, repetitive, and limited due to a simplistic attack system and inconsistent hit detection.
Game's UI, controls (especially keyboard bindings), and tutorial system are unintuitive and difficult to navigate.
Progression and resource grinding feel tedious and there are balance issues with AI and some enemies, making some fights frustrating or unfair.

gameplay
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
58%
8%
Gameplay features a unique blend of roguelike, fighting, and resource management mechanics, with a combat system inspired by titles like Dark Souls and Mortal Kombat. While some find the combat challenging and addictive once mechanics click, others criticize the complexity, repetitive loops, and occasional shallow or unenjoyable aspects. Overall, the core gameplay loop is engaging but may be hindered by overly complicated controls and pacing issues.
- “The gameplay consists of creating warriors from the bones of your enemies and then trying to defeat the various bosses.”
- “A unique, gripping experience that is only made all the more satisfying with its stylish and easy to learn/difficult to master combat mechanics.”
- “You will go through cycles of frustration and enjoyment, but at least for me, a simple fast-paced combat system with precise parry mechanics and abundant animation cancelling is enough to keep me playing again and again.”
- “Why make a fighting game with such lack of interactions/gameplay and zero added features.”
- “When three face buttons are dedicated to three different dodge mechanics, it becomes overly complicated slop garbage controls.”
- “There is hope for the gameplay loop, as the combat does work well enough and the animations look decent enough to at least entertain you a little.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The game features a distinctive gothic, dark fantasy art style that effectively sets a morbid and eerie atmosphere, though the graphics themselves are simple and sometimes blurry, lacking polish and occasional visual clarity. While the aesthetic is generally praised for its mood and nostalgia, some users find the visuals repetitive or jarring, with UI elements and hitboxes that hinder gameplay precision. Overall, the art style supports the game's tone well, but graphical improvements could enhance the experience.
- “The gothic art style gives each area this eerie, decaying vibe that fits the world perfectly.”
- “The game has a very distinct visual style that lends itself well to the gameplay and atmosphere.”
- “The graphics, while simple and understated, perfectly capture the game's dark and moody atmosphere.”
- “The graphics are horrid to look at, the UI is cumbersome, vital information like health and stagger bar are somewhat out of the way in a game that focuses very hard on precision and in-the-moment reactions.”
- “The graphics and color scheme just make it extra hard to determine that information.”
- “And also I would love to see graphical improvements, it's a little blurry even with 4K settings enabled.”
grinding
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
93%
The game features a noticeable amount of grinding, which some players find tedious and repetitive, impacting overall enjoyment. However, certain mechanics like "rot" add strategic depth, and progression feels rewarding for those willing to invest time. While grinding can be excessive at times, the variety in classes and combat challenges helps balance the experience.
- “Ultimately, the combat is too repetitive and there's a lot of grind and some RNG too that could make the grinding even worse.”
- “Clunky controls, requires a lot of grinding.”
- “One downside, the game progression is a bit too grindy.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The story is minimal and largely presented through static images and brief cinematics, providing only basic context without much depth or engagement. Many users feel it feels bare-bones and adds little to the overall experience, with suggestions for more lore, variety, and story-driven content to enhance replayability.
- “The story is very minimal, giving your playing the game a purpose and basic understanding of the world you're in.”
- “Adding additional variety to spruce up replayability such as story choices, game mods, maybe even character skins or customizability options like in games such as Hadean Tactics, this game would really shine.”
- “Smaller things that would be cool but aren't as pressing are: more story and lore stuff, less highly specific loot abilities, and a wee bit more enemy types.”
- “The story is presented through an opening cinematic and an ending, leaving the entire experience without any story.”
- “The story offers nothing more than a few images with words to read.”
- “While I understand the story in a rogue-lite can be an afterthought, what is here is extremely bare bones.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
44%
The game is praised for its dark, gothic, and moody atmosphere that complements its necromancer theme and strategic gameplay. Its distinct, understated visual style effectively enhances the immersive, morbid environment, creating an engaging and addictive experience despite some gameplay complexity.
- “I really loved the dark atmosphere and the clever twist on party management in the game.”
- “The atmosphere and presentation is great, the premise of being a necromancer controlling meat puppets is sick and the loop of preparing a run and then delving through the area has something really addicting.”
- “Also I really appreciate the moody atmosphere and the little nods to From Software's Souls games.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
20%
40%
The game is praised for its strong replayability, with varied movesets and randomized elements that keep each playthrough fresh. However, players suggest adding more features like story choices, mods, and customization to further enhance replay value. An attempt to increase replayability through a new game mode was retracted, disappointing some fans.
- “Helluva time, great game with a lot of replay value.”
- “I really enjoy how each corpse has a varied moveset and feels unique, and the fact that the moves are randomized for each new corpse adds another layer of replayability to it.”
- “Adding additional variety to spruce up replayability such as story choices, game mods, maybe even character skins or customizability options such as with games like Hadean Tactics, this game would really shine.”
- “They released an additional game mode to increase replay value and pushed a sale to celebrate the new content, but they have retracted the game mode with no plans to implement it.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music is praised for its haunting and immersive qualities that enhance the atmosphere, though some users wish there was more variety and additional tracks to enrich the experience.
- “The sound design is equally impressive, with haunting music and sound effects that will send chills down your spine.”
- “The visuals, music, and sound.”
- “My main suggestion would be more music would be nice, and more variety in rooms would also be nice.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users find the game's optimization to be compelling and effective, combining party optimization with reflex-based melee combat. While not always elegant, the performance delivers engaging and rewarding gameplay.
- “That combination isn't always elegant, but it is almost always compelling... delivering on a roguelite with party-optimization and reflex based melee combat in equal measures.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is generally well-executed with mostly well-crafted designs, though some characters appear visually uninspired despite having unique movesets.