Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona

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Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona is a single player role playing game with fantasy, dark fantasy and violence themes. It was developed by 70`Strike and was released on July 31, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

This Edition includes Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona, plus The Jewel in the Skull DLC.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona screenshot

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82%

Audience ScoreBased on 107 reviews

graphics13 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

Engaging and challenging combat system inspired by Dark Souls with varied weapons, parrying, dodging, and tactical gameplay.
Rich and atmospheric dark fantasy world with detailed 2D pixel art, excellent music/soundtrack, and rewarding exploration with many secrets and diverse bosses.
Strong Metroidvania elements featuring a large interconnected world, ability-based progression, and replayability with multiple endings.

Some technical issues including bugs, crashes, and janky animations that can impact gameplay experience.
Balancing problems such as overly difficult or unfair bosses, slow progression, no weapon upgrades, and poorly telegraphed enemy attacks leading to frustration.
Cluttered visuals and foreground obstacles sometimes obscure enemies and important environmental details, hurting visibility and combat clarity.

graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
47%
10%
The game's graphics feature a distinctive 2D pixel art style with strong dark souls and Blasphemous influences, evoking a nostalgic mid-90s aesthetic that many players appreciate for its atmosphere and artistic passion. While the art design and music receive praise for setting a compelling tone, some users find issues with cluttered foreground elements and clunky animations that can hinder gameplay visibility and responsiveness. Overall, the visuals are unique and engaging but may require an adjustment period and occasional tolerance of design flaws.
- “This game's difference is the art design, sound design and general aesthetic choices which left me feeling like I took a time machine back to the mid 90s and discovered some hidden DOS games that would shape the future of the genre.”
- “The game's art style is reminiscent of classic 2D pixel art, contributing to its nostalgic appeal.”
- “Beautiful art style and great music, which help take the game to another level.”
- “Game graphics are not good, game is short, hard to control but still worth playing.”
- “The art style is ok, but animations are junky.”
- “Decent art style with way too much clutter on foreground and clunky animations.”
music
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
28%
12%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality, atmosphere, and how well it complements the art style and gameplay, enhancing the overall immersive experience. While some note that the soundtrack could be more extensive or varied compared to similar titles like Skelethrone, most find it fitting and evocative, adding significant value to the game's old-school roguelike and soulslike vibe.
- “So far, I haven’t come across a single area or soundtrack I didn’t enjoy.”
- “Between the subtle references, (and the obvious ones), the awesome environments and music, the awesome boss designs, multiple choices and endings - this game gets a 9/10 from me.”
- “I’m a huge fan of the art style and the music helps take the game to another level.”
- “That said, SAS could’ve used more love in the soundtrack department — something Skelethrone handles better.”
- “Music is there - does not enhance nor detract from experience.”
- “As for the music, it wasn’t bad—there were a few really great tracks, but not enough of them.”
story
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The story is generally described as atmospheric and unfolding organically, set in a dark fantasy world with some intriguing backstory elements, but it remains vague and shallow for many players. While offering multiple endings and a narrative tied to the protagonist's journey, the story often lacks depth and clear exposition, leading to mixed feelings about its overall impact. Despite this, it complements the challenging gameplay and world design, though some consider it a weaker aspect compared to other game elements.
- “The story unfolds organically as you play, mirroring the protagonist's own journey.”
- “Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona follows the story of Derek Ericona, a lord who finds himself newly resurrected as an undead, awakening at the site of a huge massacre.”
- “There is a variety of weapons to use, a skill tree that feels impactful, a well-designed map with a ton of beautiful areas, a plethora of NPCs with their own roles in the story, a crazy number of bosses, and two different endings to discover.”
- “Given all this the balancing issues and bad story can be forgiven, which is why I'm giving it a thumbs up.”
- “All in all way too much attention was given to world design but in terms of gameplay, sound effects, story, NPC characters, and enemies there is very little.”
- “Story: pretty mid, there is not much depth and you are pretty much thrown into a stew full of everything.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
52%
16%
The gameplay of the game is praised for its solid metroidvania style with an emphasis on exploration, satisfying combat, and challenging, varied bosses requiring strategic approaches. It combines RPG elements like leveling and gear management with smooth traversal mechanics, offering long and engaging gameplay. However, some critiques note occasional clunky controls and a perceived lack of polish in mechanics, likening it to an amateur attempt to blend Dark Souls and Symphony of the Night.
- “If you're a fan of Metroids and older styled games with a modern take on mechanics, this game is just for you.”
- “Each boss encounter requires a unique approach, demanding mastery of the game's combat mechanics.”
- “Two huge positives for me are the combat mechanics and the traversal abilities that make not only fighting enemies fun, but dodging all the elemental dangers as well.”
- “Really wanted to like this game but it's such an amateurish attempt at being 2D Dark Souls meets Symphony of the Night that it fails in every single aspect of its mechanics.”
- “All in all way too much attention was given to world design but in terms of gameplay, sound effects, story, NPC characters, and enemies there is very little.”
- “Lost my save-file after 3 hours of progress, the controls are fine if a bit clunky, art style looks good and while the gameplay feels a bit basic it's not a bad game by any means; only real issue I have is with a certain boss that acts like a jumping puzzle but floods the arena with tons of enemies as well.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is consistently praised for its dark, foreboding, and immersive world design, effectively capturing the essence of the Souls series despite budget constraints. Players appreciate the rich, mysterious environment complemented by expressive art styles and strong audio elements, which together enhance the overall experience. While the narrative may not be the main focus, the compelling atmosphere significantly contributes to the game's appeal.
- “The visual design effectively captures the dark and foreboding atmosphere of the game's world.”
- “He perfectly captured the Souls atmosphere despite having a clearly small budget.”
- “Great atmosphere, expressive art style, and nice gameplay so far.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect tedious and time-consuming, often feeling like a chore rather than engaging gameplay. The need to repeatedly grind for resources or progress, compounded by clunky combat and inefficient healing mechanics, leads to frustration and inflated death counts.
- “There, you are expected to figure out how to even begin a horribly tedious coliseum subplot.”
- “Challenge is significant but with some grinding it's doable.”
- “Not refilling healing potion after long tedious exploration pretty much just encourages you to suicide near a lantern to refill your potion before progressing further, which is a waste of time and bloats the death count.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game runs smoothly on the Steam Deck and has seen significant bug fixes in recent updates, but it still requires further polishing to address lingering stability issues, especially in certain confusing and potentially buggy sections.
- “It starts out a little dull, then gets kinda good, then suddenly all the good parts of the game are put on hold while you are forced into a shockingly dull, confusing, and maybe buggy section called 'the abyss'.”
- “Well, the recent update fixed a lot of bugs and glitches, but the game still needs to be polished.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's branching narrative with multiple endings, combined with its blend of exploration, combat, and RPG elements, offers substantial depth and encourages repeated playthroughs.
- “The narrative unfolds through player choices, leading to multiple endings and encouraging replayability.”
- “Its combination of exploration, combat, and RPG elements provides depth and replayability.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users feel the emotional tone is overly heightened and suggest that characters or elements could be portrayed as more mature and subdued for a better experience.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features fast load times and a well-optimized file size, impressive achievements credited to the efforts of a solo developer.
- “Load times are also very fast and file size is well optimized thanks to the accomplishments of the solo developer.”

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Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona is a role playing game with fantasy, dark fantasy and violence themes.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Steam Deck and others.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona was released on July 31, 2023.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona was developed by 70`Strike.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona for its graphics but disliked it for its grinding.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona is a single player game.

Similar games include Gravethorn, Skelethrone: The Prey, Blasphemous, Vigil: The Longest Night, Elderand and others.

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