Netherworld Covenant Review

Intro: A Bold New Undertaking in a Genre of Titans

To follow in the footsteps of a universally acclaimed game can sometimes seem like a seemingly impossible task. You have to be just the right amount of original without stepping on the toes of the developers that have come before you. Many have tried to reach the success of Supergiant Games' 2020 god-slaying roguelike adventure Hades, but few have created a game worthy to stand beside it. Enter Netherworld Covenant, an up and coming early access game developed by a team of two that surprised me with the simplicity of it's premise and the fluidity of its combat. Welcome to the tainted, demon infested abyss of Languireg.

Story: A Soul Survivor With A Fate to Change

The story of Netherworld Covenant is one that is rooted in a simple concept that really lends to the depressing world the developers have created. You are the nameless soul survivor of a group of warriors seeking the Nether Lantern. At the beginning of the game, you find yourself alone among the bodies of the dead with only a mysterious figure known at the Black Knight to drive you towards your fate of claiming the lantern and stopping the demons from taking over the land of Languireg forever.

The lantern not only allows your character to bridge the gap between the mortal realm and the netherworld, but it also allows you to cleanse the corrupted souls of your allies that were slain in the beginning of the game. The premise in as simple as any demon slaying adventure, but I will fully admit it is the perfect amount of motivation needed to push you forward as you cut your way through hordes of demons and undead alike. This journey is one firmly engrossed in the idea of chasing salvation when all hope seems lost and the developers do a great job at giving the player just the right amount of external motivation to make what you're doing seems like this journey of redemption in the face of impossible odds.

World: A Grim Plane of Existance

The world of Languireg fills the void of a roguelike, isometric in a depressingly simple way that complements the overall tone of the story. At the start of every run, you spawn in at the borderland camp, an area between the netherworld and the mortal one that allows you to gather ghostly allies, forge a huge variety of weapons that can be found throughout your journey, as well as other facets that I don't want to ruin. As with most isometric roguelikes, this is your hub where you can prepare for the run ahead in any way you want. From that point on you only have one option -pick your difficulty and head into the first dungeon.

Anyone that is familiar with this genre knows what's awaits us past those double doors. You are thrown into the first area, a dungeon filled with undead warriors and the ghosts of the fallen, and from that point on you are free to take the path you want as you carve your way towards the end goal of cleansing the land of the demons blight. The variety of areas and the bosses that call them home are a delicate mix of demonic looking amalgamations and twisted human like enemies that will both offer a challenge and sell you the depressing world that Languireg has become.

Though the areas might not be the prettiest and most flashy looking pixels put to your screens, I can't see a world where anyone is going to complain. I was getting a solid 100+ FPS in every area I visited, and didn't have any issues with the game from a performance perspective. This is after all an early access game, and if this is their baselines, I can't wait to see what the future awaits.

Gameplay: Mastery of the Basic

Now from a gameplay perspective, I think many fans of the isometric roguelike genre are in for a treat. The combat system isn't one that relies on the flashiness of what some of us have come to expect. It rather relies on a few simple aspects that make it shine in a way that makes you feel like the grandmaster of a sword, not someone just spamming inputs to progress through the dozens of locales between you and the bosses of each set zone.

Precision is the name of the game, and you will have to use all the tools at your disposal from the very unique and satisfying Soul companions, which function as allies with skills related to what class they fall under, to the variety of different weapon and artifacts you can equip that give you passive buffs and bonuses. The gameplay systems can feel a little alien at first, but within thirty minutes I was pulling off perfect dodges and parries without much of a fuss. The game shines on it's simplicity and I feel like most people will find a home in the vast number of options available to you in your armory.

From an actual gameplay perspective, it plays like a standard roguelike in that you are fighting your way from room to room trying to buff your character as much as possible. This can be aspects as simple as giving your melee weapon an on-hit bleed or fire aspect to ones as complex as buffing your armor to possibly cast a counter attack any time you get hit. And this thing about it is, you're almost always going to be on the defensive. The enemy types from the first dungeon onwards all have a certain aspects of aggressiveness that really makes it so you have to be ready at all times.

Within the first thirty minutes you'll be fighting groups of enemies with a healthy mix of basic melee soldiers, ranged casters from archers to undead mages, and fast moving ghouls whose only goal in life is to end your run early. Now what makes this all manageable is the smoothness of the dodge roll in getting you out of danger and the usefulness of the Ethereal Dash to reposition yourself in ways that get you closer to the fight or as far away as possible. Pair this whole system with larger then life boss battles that will have you standing on your heels, and I really think Netherworld Covenant is an absolute gem from a gameplay perspective. It's plays as smooth as butter and excels in the basics to give you as the player a diverse host of options to slay the demons standing between you and your fate.

Ending Thoughts: Can’t Wait To See What’s Next

Netherworld Covenant is a game that seeks to impress you. It excels at building a grim world filled to the brim with a diverse roster of bosses and enemies while also having a gameplay loop that is so painfully fun to use that I can't help but give the developers praise for it. It's just unique enough to stand out, while also feeling like it belongs with other titans in the genre. Even in Early Access, it shines in ways that some have failed to achieve after full release and I cannot see a world where most fans of the isometric action roguelike genre won't be fully engrossed by what Madgoat has achieved here.