Tackle the soulslike genre with a party-based dynamic you’ve never seen before. Developer Trialforge Studio and publisher Tate Multimedia’s upcoming game Deathbound has a demo available to play now. The game features fun combat on an intriguing medieval backdrop. With mechanics old and new introduced alongside the party-based twist, it’s easy to imagine this game being a real hit once it’s fully polished.
Credit: Trialforge StudioUnique Party-Based Dynamic
The primary feature Deathbound brings to the table is the party dynamic. Technically speaking, the player character is an “Essencemancer”, and the party members you can swap between are the “Essences” of fallen foes. Each of these playable characters is split into one of Deathbound’s two major factions: The Church of Life and The Cult of Death. In the demo, players start with three Essences, and can gain two more throughout its runtime. Each Essence oozes cool from the moment they’re introduced. For one, there’s the “Paladin, Wizard, Rogue” trio you start with. However, the party is made even more appealing when you receive Therone. He’s on the game’s cover art for a reason and introduces a fun combat style focused on counterattacks. This combat style is shown even better by the Essence you find soon after, a Capoeira inspired fighter who rounds out the demo’s roster.
Deathbound deepens this mechanic in a pretty fun way. If an Essence allied with The Church of Life is adjacent in the party to one allied with The Cult of Death, players will receive a debuff. Likewise, if an Essence is adjacent to another Essence with shared ideals, they gain a buff.
Credit: Trialforge StudioHow Does Deathbound Handle Soulslike Genre Tropes?
Soulslike games have two main claims to fame. The forefront of the two is difficult and (usually) defensive combat. The other most prominent element in the genre is esoteric lore that replaces a more straightforward story. Players who are familiar with this genre will naturally ask the question then: How does Deathbound handle soulslike genre tropes?
The mere premise of “It’s Dark Souls, but you can freely switch between four characters with separate health bars” presents a large share of difficult balancing questions. Thankfully, Deathbound came packed with its fair share of answers. The first answer is “It really feels closer to Bloodborne, not Dark Souls”, but there’s a whole other host of examples for how Deathbound balances its core mechanics. For starters, if one Essence dies, the player goes down for good. This way, even though their health bars are separate, their health isn’t easily expendable. Mechanics like these are crucial to keeping the sense of difficulty that’s so necessary for a soulslike game.
Deathbound seems to take the “similar, but very different” approach to its storytelling as well. The demo features narrative elements that are a lot more straightforward than the usual approach of soulslike games. Besides cutscenes, you can only obtain background lore about the world you’re exploring once. The aforementioned Therone is a character, not an avatar with a role to play. You can even waltz through his memories to directly observe how he wound up in the spot he’s in. Other Essences aren’t fleshed out as much, but this may change in the full version of the game. This direct approach to storytelling is usually to the game’s benefit, which will prove doubly true to players with less experience in the genre.
Credit: Trialforge StudioTime for a Boss Fight
Transparently, the final boss of the demo could use some work. “Impending Truth” is certainly a great name, with a great design to boot. Throw in a couple of phases, and you’re in for a classic soulslike boss fight. However, he exposed something that was already becoming clear by that point in the demo. Combat is very focused on offense, and players can leverage this for an uneven advantage.
A game where you have four different characters in this genre of game is going to trend combat towards offense. There’s no easy way around that. A player could find themselves at risk of dying, try to switch out, and find themselves the victim of a barrage of attacks anyways. Then comes the counterbalance, the “Morphstrike”. If players switch while attacking, they deal massive damage.
Morphstrike is without a doubt one of the most fun and inspired mechanics in Deathbound. It’s the very engine behind the party-based combat. However, Impending Truth is simply not built to withstand it. In the demo, you can run back, wait behind him, and pile on damage without leaving much room to get hit yourself. If the player does get hit, it will be by a boatload of damage appropriate for the genre. However, after withstanding this, players can hit back with Morphstrike again and again. After doing this in Impending Truth’s blind spot during that rinse and repeat cycle, the demo reaches its end.
This wasn’t a huge concern at face value. This and other bosses are sure to be more challenging once the game progresses past its current stage of development. As it stands, the demo simply presents a question: How will enemies continue to challenge the player in fair and interesting ways, when the odds are already stacked against them?
Credit: Trialforge StudioFinal Thoughts
Deathbound is an extremely promising concept. The Essences are each designed with unique and fun playstyles. They bounce off each other enough to make them each worth using. If they’re properly fleshed out, they could prove a real highlight to the story as well. In fact, the Essencemancer possessing them inspires even more intrigue. Polish is the name of the game here. That’s no surprise from an early access demo, but it bears repeating. With a few balance tweaks, the combat will shine. With a little extra detail, the story will sing.
Players can try out the Deathbound demo for themselves on Steam now, and leave their own feedback for the developers to enjoy.
