Necropolis Reviews
While roguelike and roguelike-inspired games such as these feel like a dime a dozen in recent times, Necropolis stands out simply by being the best that it can be, with a striking visual style, great sense of humor and an enjoyable co-op mode working together with immense, randomized, yet terrifically-designed levels and some great combat.
After the relentless grimdark of FROM Software's stellar Souls and Bloodborne offerings, Necropolis feels like a breath of fresh (fetid, really) air. Hellbent on not taking itself too seriously and offering solid roguelike, dungeon crawler mechanics underpinned by a finely tuned combat system, Necropolis is not a game you want to be sleeping on.
Necropolis rewards those who put the effort into decoding the weirdness, and while some may not appreciate that, for those who do, it’s a game worth investing in
Necropolis: Brutal Edition is a successful mix of Souls inspired combat with roguelike elements. It may hit a few bumps along the road, but Harebrained Schemes’ third person action roguelike can be easily recommended to most gamers, and it’s incredibly fun in co-op.
As of the 6th of September, the Necropolis has become more Brutal. Having gone back and re-designed a variety of elements from its original debut release, Hairbrained Schemes has released a variety of updates taking into account community and reviewer feedback alike to create version 1.1 titled Brutal Edition. Not only making improvements, the Brutal Edition introduces the Brute which is very fun to play as He or She is Big, Bad, and packs one heck of an epic punch.
Necropolis is worth playing mostly because of its commitment to a fun tone, but falls short when you actually have to play.
Necropolis is a solid foundation with a really weird, questionably designed house built on top. If you're willing to take the time and try to spruce the place up, you may find it was worthwhile, but beware that it may require more work than you're willing to put in.
The premise of a procedurally generated rogue-like experience is fun, but Necropolis needs more.
Can you play Necropolis by yourself? Only if you're really dedicated to the idea of running the same series of floors over and over with the intention of making progress. Without company, the initial dungeons begin to blend together a bit, and restarting isn't so much a pain from a pure skill-based roguelike standpoint, but a crisis of variety.
The premise of Necropolis sounds fun, and it certainly starts off that way, but once things start to get repetitive the game slows down to a familiar grind.
Necropolis is destined for a lot of love/hate reactions. It’s fun, challenging, stylish and sardonically cool, but frustration is coded into its roguelike DNA. With a few tweaks and online matchmaking it could still be a minor indie classic – it’s surprising how hard it is not to go back in for another run – but it’s a game that needs some work if it's to please a wider base of fans.
It's strange to see tridimensional indie games like this one. It tries to imitate the “Souls” formula with its strategic action based combat and the unrewarding deaths. Something nice and different for rogue-like players.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Ghoulish creature design and fun combat are weakened by long boring stretches, clueless AI, and snickering obscurity.
Necropolis gets off to a good start, evoking the dark feel of the Souls games while adding in some unique roguelike elements to boot. One does not generally associate the word 'accessible' with either of those two inspirations, but by and large Necropolis actually has a surprisingly low barrier of entry. However, over time that accessibility gives way to a somewhat shallow and ultimately less satisfying experience than the games that clearly inspire it.
Necropolis pulls many ideas together to ultimately deliver a satisfactory, short dungeon-diving experience that’s best enjoyed with friends. Some of its ideas conflict with each other (such as permadeath and teammate revival), its procedural generation doesn’t offer much in the way of replayability, and its intentional vagueness can be frustrating, but it’s good for at least a few monster-smashing runs before it gets old thanks to enjoyable combat mechanics, cheeky humor, and the promise of mystery.
There were a few elements that I really enjoyed, but it wasn’t a game I personally wanted to keep playing because of the lack of satisfaction. The dialogue was hilarious, though, and the combat still very engaging, but it’s definitely an acquired taste.
Necropolis is saved by a strong sense of challenge, and by the resource management system, the only mechanism that meets happily with procedural design of the production.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Roguelike hack-and-slasher Necropolis offers intense combat and a quirky setting, along with repetition, confusion, and permadeath difficulty.
A game that tries too hard to be what it's not. A roguelike game trying to be a soulslike. Losing its identity, the result is simply a missed shot, nor good or bad enough to be worth remembering.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The stylish visuals and streamlined combat that define Necropolis slowly succumb to repetition, laying waste to this roguelike’s longevity. If you have three friends, multiplayer is the way to go.