Deathbound

“Deathbound could have certainly been a successful standalone Soulslike title, but poor implementation decisions in some of the core gameplay elements have squandered that potential. Ultimately, if you're a die-hard Soulslike fan and are bored with the genre after playing many titles and are looking for a new Soulslike experience, regardless of quality, then you can give Deathbound a try. Otherwise, you can go for other similar titles and not be fooled by the game's innovative party system.”

“Deathbound shines with ambition and innovative ideas, but stumbles in execution. Its unique party system and fascinating setting clash with technical issues and weak narrative, with the result of an imperfect but intriguing experience for Soulslike fans.”

“A unique soulslike that offers to play not as one character, but as several at once. Unfortunately, the quality of execution of many of its components leaves much to be desired.”

“Deathbound is such a mixed bag! It offers a daring and imaginative concept, but it falls short of providing a smooth and consistent experience. If you’re a fan of Souls-likes and like to try out new systems and mechanics, you might want to give this one a shot. Personally, I can’t give it my full recommendation because of the frustrating combat that makes up the core of the gameplay here. If you can get past Deathbound’s flaws, there is a great story to unravel, but the game doesn’t live up to its potential and makes you wonder what could have been if developers had worked harder on making combat more enjoyable. Great concepts, poorly executed!”

“Deathbound is an extremely valid title with intricate, customizable gameplay and many rules to learn and apply to overcome the game's challenge. Despite not having excellent level design, this action souls-like still manages to be interesting and entertaining, bringing fresh air to the genre. Recommended.”

“Deathbound manages to differentiate itself in an already inundated genre, offering engaging, fast-paced combat and intriguing lore in a world where the forces of life and death have gone awry.”

“Deathbound is a fairly mediocre title in terms of visuals and sound, and the conceptual art is not particularly impressive either.”

“Some of the difficulty is good, and some of it is bad. If you’re into games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, you will probably have a good time with this. But if you’re new to the “Soulslike” genre and looking for a challenge, you might want to start with one of those games first, lest you be frustrated too easily by the unfortunately fairly numerous stumbles Deathbound takes. It leans more good than bad, with a creative party system and mostly satisfying combat, but ultimately, I think only existing fans of the genre are going to last long enough to complete it.”

“A party-based Souls-like is an inventive idea, but Deathbound can’t meet its lofty ambitions.”

“Releasing an appropriate amount of time after Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was the right move, as Deathbound can't really go toe-to-toe with the greats. Still, anyone with a tolerance for jank and an interest in the game’s new ideas should come away satisfied, even while recognizing that this pluckiness only takes it so far. Deathbound is an indie soulslike through and through, a scrappy moonshot with some interesting tweaks on the genre, and a satisfying depth of lore to boot. Its flaws hold it back, but that shouldn’t distract from its enjoyable character-switching combat and overall gumption.”

“Deathbound is a fresh new Souls-styled action RPG with rewarding combat that might have too steep of a learning curve for some players out there.”

“Deathbound offers some interesting ideas for soulslikes. However, design and technical issues prevent it from reaching a more prominent place in a genre where these concepts are key to determining what is really good.”

“Deathbound is a soulslike game with a unique atmosphere and a gameplay whose mechanics make it a very different title from what we are used to seeing in the genre. Finding a soulslike that offers something new and fun is a challenge. In addition, the message of growth and transformation that seeks to convey is evident, addressing serious issues such as religious fanaticism, the ephemeral nature of life and the horrors of war.”

“Deathbound is a failed experiment. The morph system is its one saving grace and truly does differentiate the game from others in the genre. Weaving together morphs into combo attacks and dodges is exciting and fun. The rest of the game just does not back it up. A forgettable story, comical voice acting, missed opportunities, frustrating level design, and unfair enemies push Deathbound away from the echelons of greatness in the soulslike genre. Perhaps with this experience under their belts, Trialforge Studio can learn from the missteps of Deathbound and come out of the other side with a new vision and a more realized adventure.”

“Deathbound, like many other Soulslike games before it, brings a few neat ideas to the table. While they are certainly nice to sample and play around with, a lot of the surrounding elements are sluggish and bland. It’s still great to see developers have a go at joining the pantheon of games in the genre, but Deathbound didn’t leave me wanting to come back for more.”

“Deathbound feels like an early access game at times, with ponderous, imprecise combat and a world that simply struggles to find its way.”

“It's not going to be the next Soulslike hit, but Deathbound has unique ideas and solid execution that genre fans can appreciate.”

“Deathbound is a game that has a lot of great ideas that seem amazing on paper, but few of them actually end up hitting the mark. The clear high points of this game pretty much all relate to the setting, the story, and the characters presented, but even this is marred by the goofy vocal performances and the frequency of the swearing in a bid to seem edgy and cool. But in the end, the game is dragged down by a wonky multi-character combat system, a messy health system, an all-round unresponsiveness, which is a death warrant in a Souls-like such as this, and the fact that the game's performance is enough to make you throw in the towel before you even have a good reason to write the game off. It feels like a game that would have benefited from pivoting to an all-out hack-and-slash format because, despite labeling itself as one, Deathbound simply doesn't have the polish or the attention to detail needed to truly call itself a Souls game.”

“Deathbound is a product with an original idea at its base that has a bivalent function. On the one hand it characterizes the narrative quite effectively. On the other it allows for an original combat system. It is a pity, however, that between the idea and the merely playful realization the right synergy was not found.”