Godfall
Counterplay Games / Gearbox
When I first saw Godfall announced, I thought that it looked really cool. The title’s gameplay videos looked intriguing enough and the developers (and publishers) marketed it as a different beast from other, similar, loot-based games. Whereas most looter games utilize ranged combat (i.e. looter shooters), Godfall emphasized melee combat. In a way, it seemed reminiscent of Remnant: From the Ashes by Gunfire Games, only Godfall is way more over the top.
Godfall’s story revolves around two brothers, Orin and Macros, mighty warriors who used to keep a balance of power in the world of Aperion. The opening scenes detail how Macros deposed his brother and the rest of the story centers on Orin trying to stop his brother from achieving his lust for godhood. To do so, our hero must first track down the Oracle and other allies to aid him in his quest and then take out Macros’ four lieutenants before challenging the head honcho, his brother, for ultimate control over the destiny of Aperion.
As Orin, you can build up resources until you have enough to acquire additional sets of armor. These armor sets are called Valorplates and they allow you to gain new abilities and strangely enough, personalities. For instance, there are both male and female versions of the Valorplates, and Orin’s voice will shift from male to female accordingly. Apparently, Orin is an androgynous spirit of some kind, so I’m not sure what kind of statement the developers were trying to make there.
Identity issues aside, there are a total of 12 Valorplates to unlock, and trying to acquire them all is where Godfall focuses its grind hook. Each of these suits of armor looks spectacular and makes use of various themes and designs from different real-life mythologies.
As a self-described looter-slasher in which players fight their way through four distinct lands (one for each element—fire, earth, air, and water), each end zone of the lands contains one of the four aforementioned lieutenants. Orin must use all of the skills, weapons, and Valorplate powers that he’s acquired to overcome them, only to repeat the process in the next world.
Godfall has a pretty good melee game with a few abilities thrown into the mix to offer limited ranged attacks. Gameplay-wise, this means players will spend the vast majority of their time feverishly mashing buttons to both attack, and dodge incoming attacks. You can also pull off some pretty badass finishers when an enemy is stunned.
Iinitially, I was really digging the combat system present within the game, at least for the several hours. However, by the time I was midpoint through the second land, I started getting bored by its repetitive nature.
In Godfall there are some side quests thrown in here and there which expand your opportunities to earn loot. As a matter of fact, Godfall is very generous when it comes to loot so leveling up and finding new and powerful weapons, artifacts, and other shiny baubles will occupy most of your time. The loot comes in the standard rarity scale you’ve seen in other games, such as common, rare, epic, and legendary.
The combat is somewhat Soulslike. You’ve got your standard attacking, dodging, and parrying mechanics, so they’re not exactly trying to reinvent the wheel here, which is fine. There is a nice variation of mechanics depending on what type of weapons you’re wielding, whether that be longswords, dual blades, hammers, polearms, or greatswords. For instance, the quick dual swords have fast attacks with lower damage, while the gigantic hammers are slow but powerful. Finding the weapon that fits your playstyle is part of the fun.
Overall, I’ve enjoyed playing Godfall, but in the later parts of the story, I realized that I playing not for enjoyment, but simply to collect the other suits of armor and see the story through to its end. If there is enough post-launch content and DLC that break the monotony of the game loop, I might return in the future, but in an increasingly crowded industry ripe with exciting new franchises, Godfall may have a hard time keeping people’s interest.
RATING: 7.5/10
Godfall has some pretty amazing graphics that make its grand looter slasher gameplay truly shine. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig:
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