Death's Gambit Reviews
Death's Gambit wholly embraces the Dark Souls way of giving players just enough leeway to barely survive against unrelenting adversity, for good and ill. A compelling story, smooth and frantic melee combat, and a robustly grim 2D world come together to form a game that's wholly unafraid to embrace the Souls-like moniker.
Death's Gambit had such promise. At its core, it is the blueprint to properly take risks and make attempts to improve a game design that we all take for granted. But it's just surrounded with poor quality of life choices, while missing some things it should have absolutely nailed. Weird animations, strange pacing, counter-intuitive combat, and way too many bugs holds this game back from being something truly great.
For Souls fans, there's a lot to love about Death's Gambit. There's a multitude of secrets to be found, shortcuts to be unlocked, and lore to be read from the cryptic item descriptions. When the game isn't being held back by the weird boss and level designs or technical issues, it can be charming and sincere in its own right.
For all of its striking visuals and sophisticated animation work, Death's Gambit suffers a bit of an identity crisis among fundamental control flaws.
Death's Gambit aimed to transition the Souls style of gameplay into an unforgiven 2D adventure, and for the most part, it has succeeded. I do feel that the controls aren't as smooth or fluid as they need to be. Ranged foes seem to have an unfair advantage, being able to instantly lock on to your direction in a heartbeat, which isn't fair. I also felt like I was fighting the controls every step of the way, making the experience that much harder, but I did appreciate the unique take on the genre. Dying doesn't mean the end of the world, and being able to watch new sequences and listen to additional dialogue after dying was a treat.
Death's Gambit takes a slightly less punishing approach to progress than other games in it's sub-genre and is all the better for it. While the vast majority of world building and gameplay concepts are a loving pastiche of Dark Souls, Death's Gambit's balanced challenge, sense of humour and unique visuals allow it to stand on it's own feet and earn a rightful place in the game collections of those souls who are drawn to the fire of the first flame and others who simply enjoy a challenging adventure, laden with mystery.
like. He tries to be both original and traditionalist, by scenographic map design and a great attention into bossfights, sustained by a soft soundtrack and a deep character development (both on plot and gameplay). Its will to create a different mood from the normal "2010s dark fantasy" makes this game a good starting point for both developer and publisher, but they'll have to deal with inevitabile inexperience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Death's Gambit is a decent soul-like 2D ARPG, and it has a strong art style, interesting story, and various gameplay.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Despite its flaws, I appreciate Death's Gambit and what it has accomplished. It offers a challenging, story-driven platforming experience that will reward the patient and methodical. Wrapped in a beautiful pixel art veneer and topped with a wonderful soundtrack, Death's Gambit is a treat for those willing to spend the time to master its combat and enemies. Will it appeal to everyone, absolutely no! However, much like games like Dark Souls, I don't really think that's the point.
These kinds of games are essentially love-letters to the OGs of the genre, and that sense of affection and praise is evident in the care that went into crafting Death's Gambit, and I would love to see this game become as polished as it deserves to be.
Death's Gambit shows moments of potential, but they're undercut by bad storytelling, flat combat, and a nagging sense that it's all been done better elsewhere.
Despite lagging behind in certain key areas and roughly developing others, Death's Gambit is a relatively enjoyable romp for fans of 2D Souls-like hack and slash. Siradon won't beckon you like Lothric or Yharnam anytime soon but presents some enjoyable sights and sounds otherwise.
The game is simply not finished yet, and while I can definitely see those desperately hungry for this kind of game being able to look past a fair number of its faults, I would sooner recommend the myriad of other titles which scratch the same itch, without nearly as many caveats.
Death's Gambit is a substantial entry into the souls-like genre, even if it is very derivative. Some of the ways it was "inspired" by Dark Souls feel a bit dangerously too close at times. It does enough to make itself unique, and it does bring some new ideas to the table that will absolutely tickle fans of this genre. Don't expect Hollow Knight levels of polish or content; this is more closer to Salt and Sanctuary in terms of quality, but with a more refined art style.
Death's Gambit saw the opportunity to take two genres and tweak them enough to make a new game out of it — and it worked. The core mechanics, while markedly unoriginal, are genuinely fun to play, and the stunning sound and visuals make it a treat to experience. This game is far from perfect, though, with a lacking story and unfortunately glitchy points, but is still worth the time and money to check out. While I wouldn't say that Death's Gambit is an improvement upon either Metroidvania or Souls-like games, it's a great addition to both genres.
Dark Souls mixed with 2D action platformer is a good idea. But there should be more weapons and more balanced gameplay.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Death's Gambit tries its best to be a 2D Dark Souls and it somehow succeeds half way but it fails to transfer all those elements to a new realm which is due to nature of Dark Souls itself.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Overall, Death's Gambit seems truly beautiful though the creators have surly hasted in the creation. The story, the gameplay, it's graphics and music, they all seem proper and the whole experience will be worth your time, but be aware that this isn't a flawless experience either and it requires the player adjust themself with the game's core mechanics.
Review in Persian | Read full review
That makes Death's Gambit worth seeing past through its more frustrating moments. It may not quite have the finesse of its inspirations, but it delivers a world that's no less fascinating to explore and bleak (though also hopeful, somehow) story that deserves to be uncovered.
Whether you're a masochist or a hardcore masochist, Death's Gambit might have something for you. At the very least, you can see an amazing take on the character of Death wearing an apron.