Not even the time to shout “Next Gen” to the world and we are already faced with titles that, probably, to express their true potential must look to the future. Self Demon's Souls in addition to his great previous fame, he managed to shine also thanks to the once again impeccable guys of Bluepoint Games, the other exclusive console of PlayStation 5 she presented herself to the public between lights and shadows, leaving some doubts in more than one area. We are clearly talking about Godfall, the looter slasher created by Counterplay Games which in recent months has fascinated players with its spectacularity and with a decidedly "pumped" graphics (compared to what we have been used to seeing in the last generation). But what are we really facing? Certainly an immature title, pleasant to play once you have warmed up, but which currently has several gaps that jam and weigh down the dynamics (on and off the battlefield). Are you ready to block the ascent of a God? Here is Godfall.
Ambition and ascension
Narratively speaking, Godfall doesn't offer much more than what was leaked before the release. The opening video gives us a brief introduction to the laws that apply in this world, but above all it shows us the fight to the death between two brothers: Orin, our protagonist, and Macros, the bad guy on duty who will get the better of the top of the tower, knocking down - literally - his brother and starting the plan to realize his megalomaniacal ambition to become a God. However, despite the fall Orin managed to survive, but devoid of powers to the point of being a fly compared to his brother. From here on, guided by the Seventh Sanctum (an ethereal-like construct) we will begin our power growth work on a journey through the Three Realms to defeat Macros' lieutenants, get to him, and put an end to his plan of ascension ... in the world. Nothing extremely original therefore, a basic and tremendously linear plot that simply acts as a pretext to kick off the action.
During our journey, as a good looter slasher, we will have to make sure to get more and more powerful weapons, and in the meantime unlock the various armor (the Plate Valor, in total 12) by forging them with the materials that we will find around the game maps or as a reward for the missions completed. However, the construction of our build will not only rely on our blades and hammers, but also on various side accessories such as amulets, pendants, rings and banners, and on another type of equipment called "Increases". All these nice little things can be found once again as a reward for missions, but also as drops from enemies or loot from the numerous chests scattered throughout the maps. The equipment is divided into the classic levels of rarity - common, uncommon, rare, epic and legendary - and will not only serve to increase your basic parameters of Force, Spirit e Vitality, but also to improve the chances of inflicting altered status and other combat incentives. This variegated system of construction and customization finally ends with the stitches ability, which we will earn as we level up and that we can spend in a special skill tree in the character screen (clearly with the possibility of restoring and redistributing them as you see fit). And again, after a couple of missions the option will unlock upgrade weapons through the forge (maximum 5 times per weapon), and in certain levels also to enhance some of their secondary effects.
Kingdoms and hunts
The game progression in Godfall, unfortunately, is quite unbalanced. Up to 3 or 4 missions from the end, simply by equipping the weapons you will find and without giving too much weight to the totality of the build you have developed, you can proceed shipped in the game without finding great difficulties waiting for you, if not those imposed by the gameplay itself (and which we will talk about later). If on the one hand this is pleasantly positive, avoiding grinding and a more linear savoring of the story, on the other hand it largely takes away the taste of the experience, especially if we count the lack of variety within missions and in the enemies you can face (except for mini bosses of the hunts). Arriving instead towards the final part, the curve sharply rises upwards, putting you in front of fights where you will often die, especially in the great bossfights with the Macros lieutenants, and with Macros himself. The loot system, which will see us receive, is also complicit in all this a disproportionate amount of objects that will help us grow in power. The duration of the game suffers not a little, since you can complete it in less than 9 hours.
The adventure will start from the realm of Land (the element), and then rise to that ofAcqua, and finally to that ofAria. There is also a later kingdom, that of the dream stones, which will only be unlocked in the endgame. In each kingdom three types of missions will be available, which are those of the history (some of which can only be unlocked by obtaining seals in the others, and which also include Boss missions), the Hunts, timed missions to track down tough mini bosses, e exploration of the kingdom, which will see us spin freely to complete secondary objectives and gradually accumulate experience and objects. However, exploring Godfall is not very pleasant, partly due to the lack of clarity in the search for game elements, partly for the lack of a map of the area, a bit 'for the level design not really inspired, which is limited to corridors alternating with slightly wider open locations which act as arenas (but definitely beautiful to see).
An endless challenge?
There is also another type of challenge, which will consist in facing the waves of enemies in the elevator tower to test ourselves, but where we will only be able to "resurrect" 3 times. As you will have understood from this last sentence, within Godfall you will have an unlimited number of re-enters the game if you face the challenges on a normal level, but there is also the possibility to raise the level of difficulty to make everything much more difficult and with the possibility of obtaining more juicy loot. The difficulty level is selectable before each mission. But if you decide to tackle everything with a standard approach, dying will simply mean being reborn next to the area where you died, with all life and healing stones charged, and with enemies that will restart with the life they had when you died (like, if it misses a shot to take him out, you will give it and best regards). This feature is definitely user friendly and limits anger, but without a doubt it takes away that irrepressible taste of try and error and improving from time to time. Know that this also applies to bosses, who have their lives divided into three or four "notches", and that if you die you will pick up not exactly where you left off, but the complete damage notches you took from them will remain empty. The game turns out then easily terminable in single player, and does not require the support of a partner (although it is more than welcome, and playing together is definitely more fun than doing it alone).
A combat system… tied up
If such defects can be glossed over thanks to the difficulty selection, there are some basic criticalities that unfortunately make Godfall an edgy, heavy game. let's talk about the gameplay and combat modes. Learning to play and understand the mechanics is not an immediate thing, but once we have found the meaning of the actions we can take the combat system by the horns, but cursing for the lightness that reminds us of the old gen: we are talking first of all about woodiness and the heaviness of the movements and combos. In such a title the dynamicity is everything, as well as the timing, and knowing the location of enemies. Well, Godfall doesn't do well in any of these things.
Let's proceed step by step: the dynamism and timing of this slasher are undermined by characteristics that if taken individually would only turn up your nose, but which if taken all together create a highly unnerving mix. Let's talk about the combo, that they cannot be interrupted until the end of the shot animation, and therefore prevent us from dodging or defending with the shield when needed (that is suddenly, suddenly), not to mention that even the activation of the shield itself requires a timing that is not immediate. We then add the fact that due to this defect, anticipate the pressure of a key by a few milliseconds before the end of an animation causes the input to not even be recognized, without proceeding with the requested action (and they really are too many the cases in which it happens), and with the input lag present to remedy it is often too late. It doesn't end there: what would be the best way to make up for the lack of combo interruption? Clearly changing the direction of the attack to hit other enemies or dodge with the movement… and obviously it's not possible, because once you have undertaken a combo, it will always continue forward, without the possibility of changing direction. Then the target lock on enemies, to attack specific ones and make everything very dynamic ... were it not for the fact that once an enemy has been selected, the possibility of using the analog stick to select different ones is completely absent: you will remain locked on the same enemy until they die or you do not unlock manually. Needless to say, everything (once again including the slowness with which the pointer appears on the screen) makes the game slow, cumbersome and anti-dynamic. The jump? Completely absent. We also remember that, adding all these very serious defects, it will be practically impossible to realize the enemies that surround us, and their actual positions or distances while they are not attacking (and the camera very close to the protagonist is a further obstacle in this sense).
The substantial doubt that therefore arises is whether these choices were made consciously to make the game more difficult, or whether they are actual lightness. In any case, it is a crippled gameplay, where the difficulty lies not in the concept of the game itself, but in the attempt to dribble the aforementioned defects. A pity, because some mechanics like the Soul crumbling and Breach they have great potential, but only partially exploited.
Godfall: not just coal
Removed the extreme heaviness of the gameplay (which unfortunately had to be the flagship of the experience), we can say that the technical sector of Godfall is appreciable, with Counterplay Games having played a job that is nothing short of excellent from a graphic point of view, with PlayStation 5 which holds up well despite some sporadic drop in frames. We are not yet faced with a product capable of leaving us speechless in all respects, but the detachment from the average level of the graphics of the last generation can be seen a lot. The audio sector is promoted without infamy and without praise, even if from the interpretation of the actors in the dubbing in the original language (it is not present in other languages) we could have expected a little more, especially as regards Orin. Even the DualSense and its features seem to have been exploited only in part, just enough to reach sufficiency, another real pity. The big question is: Will Godfall be appreciated enough by players to create a community that requires continuity in content? And most importantly, will Counterplay be able to provide them with what they want with future support? We will be ready.
