"Go through the portal, when you die, return, and we can talk" when these are the first words you hear upon breaking out of your tomb you know Perish is going to be a wild ride.

I find the concept of Roguelikes interesting, as I hate dying repeatedly, and as I discovered very early on Item 42's take on the genre is no different.

Perish has you take control of an Amyete or "˜Pariah' who has failed their duty in life so is condemned to spend eternity trapped in purgatory. However, there is hope, you can attempt to preform the Orphic Rites, please Orpheus and be granted entry to Elysium. When you first wake you are confronted with walls and walls of coffins, making you realize you are not the first and will defiantly not be the last to attempt these trials.

The combat is first person and very fast. Your first "˜run' is a rude awakening. The enemies you are pit against are not the run of the mill fodder. They carry an array of weapons from swords to spears, each one with different attacks, some of them have armor and shields, you have a broken dagger a couple of throwing knives and a dream. There is a get out of jail free card in the form of a kick, it doesn't do much damage but timed well and you can spartan kick an enemy off a ledge or into a spike trap. At the start you are limited to 3 hits before its lights out, there is a dodge, but it's on a cool down so you must use it wisely. I found myself back in the Pantheon faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.

OK let's try that again, each level has a random objective, like kill a champion, light a brazier, stand in a glowing circle or my personal favorite escort an "object" all while fighting off scores of enemies. Once you complete the objective you are awarded a choice between 3 perk cards, which has become a staple in the genre. These range from exploding throwing knives, chances to petrify you enemies with a glance or even spawning puddles of oil that will cause enemies to slip causing mortal damage. It seemed like there were not very many cards to choose from. I found I was choosing the same ones over and over; I would love to see the addition of more cards so I can customize my build. You are also awarded some currency in the form of Danake. You will also collect Danake from defeating enemies. In-between levels there is a safe room where you can choose to continue or return to the Pantheon. If you die you lose half of your Danake so it's up to you.

The Pantheon is your HUB between attempts. Here you can spend your Danake on acquiring new weapon, rings and crowns the help with your journey.

Not everything is available straight away though, some are unlocked through progression and others are found in chests hidden around the arenas which when opened allow you to buy said item. The weapons range from Swords and Axes to Shotguns, Semi auto rifles and even flame throwers. Each weapon has both a passive and an active upgrade that can be unlocked by completing a challenge like hitting multiple enemies with 1 swing or killing a certain number of enemies point blank to unlock them. Some of my favorites weapons were the 8 barreled shotgun where you can unload the full magazine of the shotgun like a gatling gun or The Axe, which you can throw like an axe throwing maniac.

Your journey through Purgatory takes you to some gorgeous locations like the halls of a great palace, or the shores of rugged coast. There is even a temple with blood raining from the sky, each of these areas has unique enemies and Bosses. The bosses are very well designed, from Giant crabs to Phobos and Deimos (luckily you don't have to fight them at the same time) they don't have any crazy mechanics, just hit them until they die.

Solo, Perish is devastatingly hard, I never even came close to finishing it even on easy. You can join 3 others and try for a mass escape. This made the game a lot more enjoyable. Each player builds their perks around the weapons and items they have, there is no crazy cross character powers or anything like that. If you die you just respawn after the objective has been completed. If everybody falls its back to the Pantheon

As you progress through the story you unlock crowns that allow you to skip to a certain part of the escape attempt, so you don't have to start from the beginning every time. I did this once, as you are starting from scratch but mid-way through a run I felt underpowered and I didn't last long.

I am having loads of fun with Perish, especially with friends. I have completed a few runs now, and plan to do a lot more and hopefully escape purgatory, one day...

Perish was reviewed on the Xbox Series X, but is also available on PlayStation 4 & 5, PC, Xbox One and the Xbox Series X/S.