Spiritfall
- February 28, 2024
- Gentle Giant
- 19h median play time
Good idea just not well executed, Spiritfall's attempt at the first action platformer roguelike fails to deliver.
Get on Steam"Spiritfall" is a single-player Fantasy Hack and Slash game with an intriguing story and excellent graphics. It features tight platform fighter combat, smooth movement, and roguelite mechanics, allowing for experimentation with over 150 powerful blessings and unique builds. Death is temporary, with resources gathered used for upgrades, unlocking new abilities, and awakening mighty weapons, providing lots of replayability.
Mac OS
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
Reviews
- The combat is fluid and satisfying, allowing for a variety of combos and playstyles.
- The art style and animations are beautiful, enhancing the overall experience.
- The game offers a unique blend of platform fighter mechanics and roguelike progression, making each run feel fresh.
- The game currently lacks content, with only a few weapons and areas available.
- Some players find the difficulty spikes frustrating, particularly with certain bosses.
- The meta progression can feel unimpactful, with many upgrades being minor buffs rather than game-changing abilities.
- gameplay258 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Spiritfall is widely praised for its engaging and fluid combat mechanics, which blend elements from platform fighters like Super Smash Bros. and roguelikes such as Hades. Players appreciate the satisfying combo system, diverse weapon mechanics, and the rewarding progression loop that encourages skill mastery and experimentation. While some critiques mention a lack of depth in certain areas and the need for more content, the overall consensus is that the game offers a fun, fast-paced experience with a high skill ceiling and enjoyable replayability.
“Spiritfall is honestly one of the best roguelikes I've played in a long while. The game shines both visually and in terms of gameplay with an easy-to-learn combat system that is taken from diverse smash-likes including Brawlhalla and Rivals of Aether.”
“The gameplay is incredibly satisfying. The controls are responsive and intuitive, making it easy to master the game's mechanics. As you progress through each run, you'll be rewarded with new abilities and upgrades that make the gameplay even more satisfying.”
“The fusion of roguelike elements, such as procedurally generated levels and permadeath, with the exhilarating combat mechanics of a platform fighter creates a dynamic and endlessly engaging experience.”
“The UI is rough, and the post-credits gameplay is pretty shallow.”
“It’s a really fun game with really cool combat mechanics, ruined by the fact that you can’t actually treat it like a fighting game because there are so many projectiles you have to play bullet hell instead.”
“Lastly, when you finish most of the core things you can upgrade, you run out of things to meaningfully work on, which essentially ends my motive to continue my adventures because of the things I found unpolished in the gameplay.”
- graphics90 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed feedback, with many praising its charming and unique art style that enhances the overall experience, while others note performance issues, such as frame rate drops on high-end hardware. The visuals are often described as beautiful and immersive, with detailed environments and character designs, though some players feel certain aspects, like shadows and enemy designs, could be improved. Overall, the game's aesthetic is generally well-received, contributing positively to its gameplay and atmosphere.
“The visuals are stunning, with each level and character designed with intricate detail that truly immerses you in the game's world.”
“The art style perfectly complements the game's tone, creating an environment that is both immersive and visually stunning.”
“The graphics and animations are beautiful.”
“Moreover, the performance is terrible for its graphics; the frame rate drops to even sub 20 sometimes, on a 4080 laptop, even with medium graphic settings.”
“But it is lacking in the visuals department, especially shadows on characters.”
“The battle encounters aren't all that special, and the artwork feels like something I would get in a mobile game.”
- music60 mentions
- 65 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its charm and catchiness, particularly in the boss themes and main hub, while others find it repetitive or lacking in excitement. Overall, many agree that the soundtrack complements the engaging gameplay and beautiful visuals, making it a notable aspect of the experience, even if it doesn't stand out as the game's strongest feature.
“Each zone is unique and beautifully rendered with music that ties well into each area.”
“The music is fantastic, the music that plays in the main hub is particularly beautiful.”
“Beautiful graphics, amazing soundtrack, and a great challenge.”
“The soundtrack is the part where the game shines the least as the songs are few and only half of them really struck me as interesting, but again the very fun gameplay and pretty good sound design overall really makes up for everything else.”
“If those descriptions made you want to give up and go to bed, the music will make you want to stay there.”
“The music is repetitive but works well since the gameplay tends to steal your focus and thoughts.”
- story50 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally described as simple and somewhat lacking in depth compared to other titles in the genre, such as Hades. While players appreciate the cute art style and the engaging gameplay mechanics, many feel that the narrative could benefit from more worldbuilding and character development. Overall, the story serves its purpose but is often considered secondary to the core gameplay experience, with some players expressing hope for future expansions to enhance the narrative.
“The story is cute, the art is cute, the scaling of the difficulty is clever as all hell and left me itching for another run every time I died.”
“While its story and music, while great in its own right, might not be able to compete with others in its genre, I think that the positives far outweigh where it lacks, and remains an experience I would absolutely recommend to anyone, especially those with prior experience with platform fighters or action roguelikes.”
“The story beats are there, the bosses and such, but I think the only thing missing to tie it all together right now is finding out what waits beyond that final boss.”
“The story itself is also pretty weak, and takes a bit too much of a backseat compared to Hades.”
“The story is flavorful, but anemic.”
“Runs, dying, progressing, unlocks, skill tree, etc., but those are only solid, and the storyline is completely forgettable.”
- replayability29 mentions
- 55 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate its depth, unique mechanics, and engaging combat that encourage multiple playthroughs, others feel it lacks the endless replayability found in more established roguelikes. Many highlight the enjoyable gameplay loop and variety in builds, but some note that it can become repetitive or short-lived if not explored thoroughly. Despite these criticisms, the game shows promise for future content that could enhance its replay value.
“This game has a surprising amount of depth and replayability, giving it a high replay value as opposed to other platform fighters and roguelikes that can become repetitive.”
“I had never before played a roguelike, and the unique aspect of starting each run with a new map and unique build, from the weapon to the blessing to the masks, makes the game infinitely replayable.”
“The combat is fluid and satisfying to pull off combos with; the power-up mechanics are similar to Hades, which adds to the replay value of the game.”
“Doesn’t quite have the true ‘endless replayability’ as some of the more known roguelikes like Hades or Risk of Rain, but it still stands on its own quite a bit.”
“You don't get as much replayability out of it as other roguelites, in my opinion, but it's very polished with a strong direction and does distinctly play rather differently from other roguelites with its combo-based, Smash Bros style approach to combat.”
“That dramatically reduces the replayability of this roguelite.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is a mixed bag; while some players find the early resource grind tedious and reliant on RNG, others appreciate the meta-progression system that becomes less grindy as they improve. The game requires some grinding to unlock essential abilities and weapons, but once past the initial hurdles, many players enjoy the combat and replayability. Overall, the experience can feel tedious at times, especially with boss encounters, but it can also be rewarding for those who embrace the challenge.
“The grind for resources is a little bit tedious early on, but once you've gotten past the worst of it, the game basically has no major issues with its loop.”
“The game also expects you to die a lot and restart while being slightly stronger. There are four different meta currencies to level up your characters, and it feels very uninspired as it's mostly flat updates or slight movement upgrades. You can also unlock new weapons that change the way you play, but they are costly (around an hour and a half of playtime to unlock one out of ten), and there is no way to test them before purchasing. So if you don't like the way this weapon feels, go back to grinding.”
“I have started to like the slower, more intentional gameplay, but clearing the first levels gets tedious because your damage and health scaling never really trivializes these initial stages like other games would.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews; while some players experience significant performance issues, including frame rate drops on high-end hardware, others praise its smooth performance and lack of bugs, particularly in the early access phase. Overall, it appears that while some users are frustrated with optimization, others commend the developers for their efforts in ensuring a polished experience.
“Perfect combat, awesome bosses, addictive progression, gorgeous visuals, cool designs, a banger OST, smooth performance, high polish, and an intriguing narrative.”
“It's clear that the developers put a lot of effort into testing and polishing the game, ensuring that it runs smoothly and flawlessly.”
“Moreover, the performance is terrible for its graphics; the frame rate drops to even sub 20 sometimes, on a 4080 laptop, even with medium graphic settings.”
“I like the game, but I'm going to have to wait for a performance increase.”
“Haven't had any bugs or performance issues.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its lighthearted and amusing gameplay, with players enjoying the ability to execute funny combos and interactions with enemies. While some find the humor to be a delightful addition, others note that the ease of normal enemies allows for a more casual, comedic experience rather than a challenging one. Overall, the game is appreciated for its entertaining elements, particularly in the context of its magical and whimsical themes.
“I don't even really have any funny jokes for this review; Spiritfall is a fantastic game on all fronts and is slept on so hard by pretty much everybody.”
“You can pull off some pretty funny combos on things and just watch things fly.”
“I recommend it if you like cool magic and funny spirits.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the stability of the game is mixed, with users reporting various bugs, glitches, and performance issues, particularly after unlocking additional difficulty settings. While some players experienced minor glitches, others noted more significant problems like softlocks and audio issues. However, the game has also been praised for not being as buggy as typically expected from early access titles.
“Menus are buggy with the controller, and you can get softlocked.”
“There are some things that are rough around the edges, and I've experienced a few glitches.”
“After finishing my first run and unlocking the additional difficulty settings, the game has started to perform worse, with audio glitches and frames being dropped.”
- character development5 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The character development in the game is highlighted by charming designs and intuitive leveling and skill tree systems, which enhance player engagement. The stunning visuals and fluid animations contribute to an immersive experience, making the characters feel dynamic and integral to the gameplay. Overall, the combination of great artwork and the emotional stakes of the game enriches the character development experience.
“The leveling and skill tree systems are intuitive and easy to navigate; character design is charming as well (also shout out to the composer, the soundtrack slaps).”
“The combination of great character design and the stress of losing really completes this game.”
“The visuals are stunning, with each level and character designed with intricate detail that truly immerses you in the game's world.”
- emotional3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express that the game evokes strong emotional engagement, making them feel deeply connected and invested in the experience. It has been described as transformative, allowing individuals to embrace their identity as gamers while providing a much-needed escape from reality.
“It's been quite a long time since a game has entrapped me and made me feel like I can't get enough of it.”
“What I do know is that this is the first game that ever made me feel like I could be a gamer.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its effective blend of platform fighting and roguelite elements, enhanced by a complementary art style. However, the immobility of certain mechanics, like the hammer, creates a unique dynamic that can lead to unexpected gameplay moments.
“Does a perfect job combining platform fighters with a roguelite aspect, and the atmosphere and art style complement it greatly.”
“The hammer is super immobile, creating a unique atmosphere where you'll knock an enemy super far, but then don't really have a good follow-up on them.”
