Dark Devotion is a dark, grimy and beautifully animated 2D roguelike with RPG elements and challenging Soulsian combat that sees you exploring an ancient temple full of deadly traps, grotesque monsters and dark secrets.
Previously featured on Alpha Beta Gamer back in July, Dark Devotion is an intense, addictive and challenging game that sees you taking on the role of a lone female warrior who ventures into a temple to prove her faith. This temple has stood for as long as your culture can remember and it’s believed your god commands that it be conquered to prove your devotion – but no-one has ever succeeded, no-one has ever made it back alive. There are some poor souls still alive within its walls, but the majority are broken, wounded or waiting for death.
It’s safe to say that the temple really isn’t a very pleasant place to be in then, full of pain, death and oppressive darkness. But, much like the world of Dark Souls, that’s part of the draw – its tense and foreboding atmosphere really sucks you into the game world and keeps you on edge at all times.
Also similar to Dark Souls is the challenging tactical combat that can see even the weakest of enemies send you to your grave if you’re careless. You’ll need to pay attention to your enemies movements, timing your attacks and getting ready to block or dodge when they attack – all the while being mindful of your stamina bar which can quickly deplete. You can switch between two different weapon loadouts at the touch of a button, and there’s a wide variety of different weapons to collect along the way, including swords, shields, bows, axes, rapiers, maces and huge two handed swords.
It’s a tough game, there are lots of traps, monsters and bosses to defeat, and checkpoints are few and far between. These checkpoints will allow you to jump to them after death, but you’ll lose all of the items and equipment you’ve accrued. You may want to explore each area as much as possible before you move on too as there’s no backtracking, once you go through a door it will close behind you for good – Dark Devotion is intent on pushing you onwards, towards your doom.
Even in these early stages of development the level of polish in Dark Devotion is incredible. The character designs, artwork, animation and atmosphere are all superb, the game world is full of dark delights and the combat is satisfyingly brutal. You’ll need more than prayer to make it through this temple. Highly recommended.
Check Out a Gameplay Video Here
Check Out The Kickstarter and Download The Alpha Demo Here (Windows)