Morbid: The Seven Acolytes

So I might be a bit more reluctant to go wade back in, but if you like yourself some Souls-like action and fancy something novel, you should definitely give this a shot. And if you like buckets of blood and body horror, you might get a kick out of it too.

70%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

grinding, replayability

68% User Score Based on 568 reviews

Critic Score 77%Based on 3 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $3.74

Buy NowGet on Steam $3.74 Buy NowGet on Xbox Games Store

About

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a single player role playing game with horror and fantasy themes. It was developed by Still Running and was released on December 3, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a Horrorpunk Action RPG filled with Lovecraftian horrors and Cronenbergian gore, making it the most gruesome take on the isometric Souls-like genre yet!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 568 reviews

gameplay54 positive mentions

grinding26 negative mentions

Stunning pixel art, grotesque enemy and boss designs, and a well-crafted Lovecraftian horror atmosphere.
Engaging and methodical combat with a unique parry system, stamina management, and satisfying boss encounters.
Innovative character progression through blessings and rune systems, offering build variety and encouraging exploration.

Clunky and sluggish combat with inconsistent hitboxes, limited attack animations, and awkward enemy AI exploitable by positioning.
Poor level design with confusing, maze-like areas, lack of in-game map except at save points, and frustrating navigation.
Limited UI and quality-of-life features including small inventory and stash space, no remappable controls, and lackluster weapon variety.

gameplay
228 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
65%
11%
The gameplay offers a blend of souls-like combat and RPG elements with responsive controls, diverse weapons, and an interesting sanity mechanic, but is often criticized for clunky mechanics, underexplained features, and inconsistent enemy AI. While combat and boss variety provide some challenge and fun, repetitive, shallow, and occasionally broken systems—such as stealth and hitboxes—hamper engagement, making the experience feel unfinished and less satisfying despite strong art and atmosphere. Overall, it’s a short, moderately enjoyable game that struggles to fully realize its ambitious mechanics.
- “The art and world are just fun to look at, gameplay is a good time with some nice variation from different types of weapons and character customization and for the most part the game was just a good time.”
- “Controls are fluid and responsive, and the gameplay is fun, with a bunch of different valid play styles depending on the weapons and buffs you prefer.”
- “The gameplay was good if you played games like Bloodborne or a classic handheld Zelda game then you've played this kind of game before, but there are tough enemies and bosses that keep you on your toes, an expansive world that you must explore in order to find weapons or items to help you progress, there's also these blessings that give your character certain abilities like to run longer, hit harder and runes that give a weapon different attributes like fire damage attributes, you also have to balance your sanity like if you have no sanity you can hit harder and gain more XP, but at the cost of having your character fight more monsters.”
- “Some mechanics are somewhat broken, like stealth where enemies are literally blind and deaf, and hitboxes are off — a melee long reach weapon makes the early stages a breeze.”
- “The game is very short (8-9 hours for a €25 game), explains basically none of its mechanics (weapon damage types, runes), and has a bland combat system with mostly swings, parry, and dodge; only one weapon had a special skill, which was average at best.”
- “There are a lot of issues with the core gameplay, including poor fight mechanics, weapons/upgrades, map design, and enemy/boss design.”
graphics
158 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
43%
4%
The graphics of "Morbid: The Seven Acolytes" feature a distinctive, painterly pixel art style that effectively creates a dark, grotesque, and atmospheric world inspired by Lovecraftian horror. While the visuals are praised for their detailed enemy designs, consistent aesthetic, and strong thematic cohesion, some find the retro pixel look less polished compared to modern graphics, and certain elements like map clarity and UI can be problematic. Overall, the unique and moody art style is a key strength that immerses players despite some graphical limitations.
- “While the art style is not hyper-realistic, its painterly, exaggerated aesthetic reinforces the game’s identity and helps distinguish it from more conventional dark fantasy settings.”
- “"morbid: the seven acolytes" is a 2d-top-down souls-like in a grimdark-lovecraftian steampunk-fantasy-setting with gorgeously gory pixel-visuals and visceral animation.”
- “The pixel art-style is excellent, with dozens of evocative enemies culminating in some truly excellent boss designs.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel "art" as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lacklustre 2D visuals.”
story
127 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
68%
7%
The story in this game is primarily delivered through environmental storytelling, item descriptions, and cryptic dialogue, offering a dark, Lovecraftian-inspired atmosphere reminiscent of Souls-like titles. While some players find the lore and worldbuilding intriguing and well-crafted, many consider the plot straightforward, vague, or underdeveloped, with side quests often seen as uninspired and poorly integrated. Overall, the narrative adds ambiance but is not a major draw, appealing more to those who appreciate subtle, atmospheric storytelling rather than a deep or compelling plot.
- “The story is great and is well made for leading you through the bosses, the side quests are enjoyable, and the upgrades are well placed forcing you to explore.”
- “So then the likes, the story is really good like any souls game the story is told through item and note descriptions, it's quite well written and paints quite a gruesome and tragic picture sort of like bloodborne and like bloodborne the story also takes some good inspiration from lovecraft with its gods and even certain enemy types, if you're a fan of lovecraft and read his work you'll definitely get some of the references.”
- “I’ve really appreciated that game, I started to play in the morning and I’ve completed the game by the end of the night, vibrant story, the lore is unique, original and captivating bosses, the fight style is very smooth, nice one!”
- “The story is not anything special; it doesn't add any thrill to the whole experience.”
- “Maybe something like an icon on each map if there were any quests to complete to tell me at least which map to return to.”
- “The quest system is insufficiently implemented to easily know where to go or what to do or who asked for what.”
music
77 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
33%
5%
The game’s music is widely praised for its atmospheric, eldritch-horror and steampunk-inspired soundtrack that enhances the dark, grim ambiance and complements the pixel art style. While many find the boss themes and overall soundtrack fitting, immersive, and sometimes standout, a few note the music can be repetitive, sparse, or less impactful, with some players preferring to mute it. Overall, the soundtrack substantially contributes to the game's mood and presentation, often regarded as one of its strongest elements.
- “The music is very good with plenty of great tracks that just fit with this type of game. Probably my favorite soundtrack is during the boss fight with Maestro Bibe, the Anxious Prodigy, as you are fighting his servants he's playing on his piano.”
- “The levels were beautiful, the music made the whole ambience and filled up the world with a sense of mystery and dread.”
- “The accompanying music and visual presentation elevate these encounters, making them feel like grim rituals rather than simple tests of skill.”
- “The soundtrack can be basically just a single song that keeps playing in the background for most of the game.”
- “Story is nonexistent and OST is forgettable as soon as you are done playing.”
- “Unfortunately, outside of a nice end-credits theme and some good tracks for the bosses, the music is largely ambient, repetitive, and forgettable.”
atmosphere
57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
42%
5%
The game is widely praised for its dark, grim, and oppressive atmosphere, heavily supported by its Lovecraftian and grotesque pixel art style, as well as an effective, immersive soundtrack. This strong atmospheric identity often carries the experience, creating a chilling and unsettling world that resonates with players despite some criticisms of combat and pacing. Overall, the mood and visual design are standout elements that define the game's unique vibe, even if other aspects fall short.
- “The isometric camera allows players to absorb this atmosphere constantly, ensuring that the horror is not confined to cutscenes but embedded in moment-to-moment play.”
- “[Atmosphere & aesthetic:] The Lovecraftian horror and grotesque visuals are striking, creating an oppressive and unsettling world.”
- “The grotesque world that somehow still has colors, the monstrous creatures, the areas that have thick atmosphere.”
- “Not sure what to make of it but it removes a bit of its dark atmosphere.”
- “It is like fools shushing the air which kills any atmosphere the game world and lore would have built otherwise.”
- “Pretty pixel art and moody atmosphere can't save Morbid: The Seven Acolytes from the plodding combat as rotten as the world it's set in.”
grinding
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, with many players finding combat and farming mechanics monotonous and frustrating, especially in mid to late stages. While some appreciate optional farming at respawn points and occasional challenge from bosses, overall progression often requires heavy grinding due to simplistic, repetitive combat and lack of motivating exploration features. A few note that frequent save points and minimal grinding create a fair challenge, but most reviews highlight grinding as a major detractor from the gameplay experience.
- “Game is truly great, scratches that high adrenaline challenge itch, with little to no grinding, hard but fair bosses and levels.”
- “It's not hard because you can farm a ton of bullets and cheese your way through the combat, but it's tedious and boring to do that.”
- “Progression is tied to boss kills as well as general XP gain, and you likely won't be near max by the end of the game without heavy grinding.”
- “All of the above leaves you with clubbing oncoming enemies with timed heavy attacks on the verge of your range, rolling back and repeating, which gets quite tedious after a short while.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers limited replayability, with much of its appeal tied to a single playthrough. Although a new game plus mode adds some value, the lack of weapon variety and customization options limits motivation for multiple playthroughs. Consequently, its short length and low replay value may warrant waiting for a discount.
- “There is also a New Game Plus mode which allows replay value.”
- “Replayability of the game has been improved a bit by introducing a New Game Plus option, but the lack of weapon variety and limited customization means there isn't enough variety for multiple playthroughs.”
- “It was a little short but honestly a lot of fun; it doesn't seem to have much replay value, but it was really fun even for the one playthrough.”
- “Also beware that this is a short game with very low replayability, so I suggest waiting for a discount since at full price it doesn't offer enough compared to other similar titles.”
- “There isn't much in the way of replay value, currently.”
- “Replayability of the game has been improved a bit by introducing a new game plus option, but the lack of weapon variety (both melee and ranged) as well as limited customization in assigning runes (+attack speed, +fire damage, etc.) to your weapons and choosing which blessings - permanent buffs such as increased health or reduced damage - to use and level up does not support multiple playthroughs, as there isn't enough variety in how the game plays out regardless of your weapon choice.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game evokes mixed reactions, with some players appreciating the ambiguity for enhancing mystery and dread, while others find it emotionally distant or underdeveloped. Overall, the emotional impact is seen as limited or inconsistent.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is subtle and lighthearted, with small amusing touches like rewarding players with a cookie for perseverance. Some players find certain mechanics, such as the "100 deaths" achievement requiring frequent deaths, to be unintentionally funny. Overall, the humor adds charm without overshadowing the gameplay.
- “Yes, it is a little funny to give players a cookie to encourage them to keep going.”
- “The '100 deaths' achievement requires you to die, on average, over 10 times per hour if you finish under 10 hours, which I find hilarious.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game suffers from poor optimization, with stuttering frame rates, movement glitches, and a critical bug causing save corruption upon reloading. Overall, the performance issues significantly impact the gameplay experience.
- “Stuttering frame rates, movement glitches, and a recurring issue when loading that corrupted my save.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users found the character development in the game to be disappointing and unsatisfying, especially given the high expectations set by its description.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Monetization in games made with Gamemaker Studio is frequently associated with low-quality retro pixel titles that prioritize quick profits, often perceived as shovelware or cash grabs.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from stability issues including stuttering frame rates, movement glitches, and a recurring bug that can corrupt save files upon loading.
- “Stuttering frame rates, movement glitches, and a recurring error upon loading that corrupted my save file.”

Skip Critic Reviews

77%Critics’ scoreBased on 3 critic reviews

Skip Game Offers

Buy Morbid: The Seven Acolytes

5h Median play time

7h Average play time

5-9h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs

Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like Morbid: The Seven Acolytes

69%4.3kreviews

Mortal Shell

2021

Open World Role Playing

74%1.5kreviews

Eldest Souls

2021

Role Playing

78%2.1kreviews

The Last Faith

2023

Hack and Slash

66%2.7kreviews

Hellpoint

2020

Role Playing

73%1.4kreviews

Chasm

2018

Role Playing

More games like Morbid: The Seven Acolytes

Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a role playing game with horror and fantasy themes.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 7 hours playing Morbid: The Seven Acolytes.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes was released on December 3, 2020.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes was developed by Still Running.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a single player game.

Similar games include Mortal Shell, Eldest Souls, The Last Faith, Hellpoint, Chasm and others.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes

Platforms