Curse of the Dead Gods often tests the mettle of players, shrouding them in darkness and overwhelming odds. But its complex systems and stylish world make for an intense roguelite with an inviting challenge.
Curse of the Dead Gods‘ labyrinthine temple is an oppressive, hopeless place. Constructed of intricate traps and endless danger, it festers with death. What better place for a dungeon crawler?
Through the numerous runs players will conduct to fell the God of Death, PassTech Games’ stab at a roguelike will instill that daunting sense of dread, only to occasionally soothe it with a sense of accomplishment. At its core, Curse of the Dead Gods is about players venturing deeper and deeper into random banquet halls and throne rooms of death. Any number of helpful and harmful assistance can be collected or bargained for to complicate matters.
Where Curse of the Dead Gods evolves itself beyond average comes from its unique way in punishing players and rewarding those who adapt to its numerous complex mechanics, ensuring almost every room can become a newer, deadlier challenge.
Darkness pervades this cursed temple. Strategically placed braziers will infrequently provide scant illumination to a room otherwise absent of light. Players’ constant tool is a torch. This one piece of equipment is always there but not always reliable. In Curse of the Dead Gods darkness, like so many other mechanics, is a double-edged sword. In the darkness, players take increased damage–but not always. In the darkness, players may not be able to see traps and enemies–but not always.
Once a weapon is drawn, the torch is put away, that warm flame no longer surrounds the player in mild safety. Early on, Curse of the Dead Gods suggests that players should enter a room and immediately search for a brazier or anything else that will hold a flame. Naturally, the desire to rush to each potential source of light and smack it with a torch is impossible to satisfy. With limited visibility, players will be able to see faint traces of enemies and the dull glow of walls and other objects. But there is that tangible fear of a monster getting the jump on you in the dark and slashing at you for increased damage.
Fighting in the light feels necessary, soothing. PassTech Games teaches that to players almost immediately. But it only takes a few deaths for that simple feeling to become as fleeting as the flame itself. Standing too close to a brazier during combat opens up the chance that a player or enemy attack could destroy it, crumbling the flame into nonexistence. It’s a chink in the armor that most won’t realize until it has already happened and they’re swarmed by numerous enemies.
In the HUD, there’s an indication of whether you are in light or darkness at the bottom center. But often your eyes are too busy focusing on the action to notice. Soon enough, players will encounter enemies that snuff out flame from a distance. Or you might become cursed and unable to use the torch. Other times, you might simply forget about light in the heat of battle. Who knows?
Yet Curse of the Dead Gods can be benevolent and intelligent as well. While that torch may barely harm a hovering Death Wife, it will set her on fire. Monsters are easily caustic and when set ablaze will provide a mobile source of light, helpful when engaging in proximity battles and not having to be concerned with the torch and stationary light sources. In a pinch, environmental drapery like vines and mummified bodies that cling to the walls of rooms provide small sources of light. Other rooms may be laced with cobwebs that can be set ablaze and engulf the entire screen with fire, damaging monsters and the player.
Using light as a mechanic is increasingly clever as players progress deeper into the temple and after new runs. A weapon may provide passive illumination slightly negating one of the uses of the torch. A perk can be unlocked that expands the range of light and reduces damage taken inside of it. Eventually, players may realize that focusing on constant light is a fool’s errand.
At times the odds are too overwhelming and the enemies are spread across a room that simply doesn’t provide enough light. In the heat of combat, being concerned about a fire means less time to worry about doling out damage. But there are other considerations as well. Weapons can be imbued with fire attacks, serving the same purpose as hitting a monster with a torch. Lightning is a form of light and one section of the temple features this phenomenon throughout. Find a weapon that deals lightning attacks and watch as the screen frequently bursts with light. A great deal of attention has been paid to this mechanic, from the visual indications of a flame’s glow to how light works in the real world.
Curse of the Dead Gods‘ implementation of light as a traversal and combat mechanic is fascinating for a roguelike. While its use in a dungeon may be random, players will get to a point where there are no longer surprised or left to question how to use light to succeed.
Combat is a variation on hacking and slashing from an isometric perspective. From the opening tutorial, it’s obvious that players have a tool set beyond just mashing buttons. Melee and ranged weapons blend together in a delicate dance that provides a wild degree of customization. Swords do slightly less damage than maces but attack faster but not as fast as claws, while throwing daggers focus on distance. Acting as secondary weapons are pistols, whips, shields, and daggers. Two-handed weapons include bows, spears, and heavy clubs.
In a way, these are typical weapon archetypes that perform how a player may expect them to. Whips can spin around and do damage in an area around a player. Pistols can shoot enemies from a distance and heavy clubs to massive damage and can break down weakened walls. Each weapon has a charge attack that is unleashed after holding down the button for that specific weapon and each weapon also has a specific combo that ends in a finisher. Players can interrupt a primary weapon combo with a secondary weapon attack, creating a different combo.
Players are also capable of parrying attacks. When a monster is parried, they become weakened and can take more damage. If a shield is equipped as a secondary weapon, the window for a parry is increased. Dodging is a crucial tool in Curse of the Dead Gods that is a noble crutch to stand on. But players constantly need to keep their stamina in mind, represented by blue diamonds below the player character.
Deeper into the temple, dodging constantly out of the way of attacks becomes a necessity. Yet using weapon finishers and two-handed weapon attacks chip away at the stamina meter. Relentlessly attacking and mindlessly dodging feels good but will leave players without the stamina required to attack or get away when it really counts. That’s why parrying and perfect dodging to restore a stamina chunk increase the flow of combat and allow players to survive a lot longer.
Over the course of the game, players will come across higher tiers of weapons that have intrinsic perks which may have elemental damage or increase their base damage if equipped with another weapon type. I immediately felt comfortable with all the weapons in Curse of the Dead Gods, understanding how they operated after only a few minutes of use. After a point, I knew when to parry and when to execute a combo to deal out the most damage to the enemies surrounding me.
The journey through the cursed temple starts with players being allowed to select the path they want to take through the temple. Do you want to start with a room that rewards gold, a weapon, or a new perk? PassTech Games’ clever use of this predetermined path allows players the opportunity to focus on how to build out a specific aspect of a run. Low on gold or in need of a weapon upgrade? Players will be able to work towards that goal by identifying which path to take.
Along the way, players will find relics and stat boosting treasures meant to increase their survivability. These benefits range from increasing critical damage, reducing damage output in the darkness, or increasing the base stats of Constitution (max health), Perception (treasure find), and Dexterity (weapon damage). Weapons and relics may have passive increases to the base stats or amplify effectiveness based on the totals invested in them. Players can equip three weapons and six relics and swap them out when deemed necessary.
Two currencies are of use in paying tribute to the altars that give these items and upgrades. Gold is a common resource but are relatively quite costly. More gold is rewarded when players string together kills–called Greed Kills–but considering how dangerous the game can be, these are not easy to pull off. Don’t have enough gold? Why not make a blood sacrifice at the cost of your humanity?
As an alternative, players can corrupt themselves rather than spending gold. However, the more and more players corrupt themselves, the more they will be cursed. At the beginning of Curse of the Dead Gods, walking through a door raises corruption by 20, meaning that after five levels players will hit the cap of 100 corruption and become cursed upon entering a new path.
Curses are the other pivotal mechanic of Curse of the Dead Gods, acting as gameplay modifiers that last through the run or unless they are removed after beating a boss. Five curses can be put upon the player with the fifth being particularly inhibiting–usually constantly melting away health until reaching 1 HP. Across my time in Curse of the Dead Gods, I encountered a number of tricky and interesting curses. Several are specific to the biomes/paths players take, triggering traps early or concealing them from view.
Players can have a relic slot locked, have damage received also be taken away in gold, take away the light from the torch, enemies may be concealed in the shadows or explode after dying, and more. A couple dozen curses are available in the game and when up to five pile up, it can make the temple a death trap for players. Certain enemies can blast the player and raise their corruption level making combat even more harrowing.
Later runs see players defeating multiple bosses and traveling through several doors, creating a cascading difficulty that can be hard to overcome without the right amount of luck and pre-run perks. Bosses are tough but have patterns that are quite easy to memorize, sometimes making them endurance runs at managing stamina when dodging large area of effect attacks. But when taking into consideration the multiple rooms and bosses, players hoping to reach the end of the temple will have to properly plan out their journey.
To soothe the difficulty, players collect Jade Rings and Crystal Skulls that offer permanent unlocks. Jade Rings unlock weaponry to be found during runs or at weapon slabs before the beginning of one. Crystal Skulls are used for everything else. Crystal Skulls can unlock more Divine Favors, which allow players to re-roll the choices of perks and weapons they can purchase at altars. Skulls are also used to improve the rarity and amount of weapons that are offered at the slabs before a run starts. I wouldn’t sit on these upgrades because they mean starting with an advantageous weapon that can have perks that amplify a build.
Crystal Skulls are also used to unlock Blessings, permanent buffs that can be applied to any run. Up to three Blessings can be added and the cost for many will require a significant amount of Crystal Skulls. Players are allowed to see what a Blessing does before unlocking it, meaning they can focus their Crystal Skull distribution based on an ideal playstyle or what may become most beneficial. At the start, players will find the cheapest Blessings boost Perception, Dexterity, and Constitution out of the gate while granting bonus gold or stamina. More advanced Blessings build on base stats for going through a room unharmed or having your health 50 percent below the maximum. Specific Blessings that add effects to parrying or damage dealing may be for more confident players while boosts to treasure acquisition may be best for those wishing to persist longer in the temple.
Curse of the Dead Gods is by no means an easy roguelike. It is often brutal, punishing, and hopeless. The game flings curses at the player meant to transform how they adjust to established mechanics by throwing in new gameplay wrenches that can potentially drown the unprepared in obstacles. It’s up to the player to decide how to adapt and persevere. A wealth of tools makes combat difficult, yet exciting and varied. Using light as a boon to further test your mettle allows an outpouring of creativity in how a potentially terrifying or simplistic room can be turned on its head. Curse of the Dead Gods is a stylish, confident dungeon crawler that incorporates the right amount of reward into its teeth. Rarely did I feel absolutely overwhelmed, punished by the gods who tested me. Eventually, with a firm grasp on my torch, I burned them all down with ease.
