Deathbound Review

Another week, another release in the ever-popular — if slightly bloated — soulslike genre. However, it looks like the latest offering from developer Trialforge Studio, Deathbound, is a little bit different from the rest thanks to its party-based mechanic. Despite the interesting idea, does this tough title separate itself from the pack with fun gameplay and precise combat? Or is it destined to fall down the souls hole into oblivion? Let’s find out!

Starting out in the forbidden city of Akratya, a city of ruin that houses old technology, a fierce battle between the ideologies of faith and science rages. Deathbound puts you in control of Therone, a member of the Church of Death whose main goal seems to be the eradication of all things scientific. Whilst the Church is waging war within Akratya, Therone is tasked with killing a heretical scientist, although things don’t quite go as planned and… well, you die.

Fortunately, death is not the end for this warrior of faith (it’d be a very short game otherwise!) and Therone is resurrected with the ability to acquire Essence, which is basically the souls of the deceased. Using this power, you’ll control several other characters during the journey, each with their own unique abilities and play style. The back-and-forth banter between the characters not only gave context to who they were during life but also the world of Deathbound. It was a nice, refreshing take on storytelling in a genre that so often relies on player interpretation and scouring every nook and cranny for notes. Although the main plot is far from incredible, I appreciate that the developer went for a different approach.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the aesthetic of Deathbound. Seeing a city similar to our modern-day ones lying in ruin, with a mix of fantasy and mediaeval themes throughout, gives this a unique feel. Characters also look the part, with the Church of Death’s long cloaks, heavy armour, and melee weapons contrasting well with the more outlandish designs. As I said, it has a heavy dose of fantasy, but it’s also not too far removed from the real world in many aspects, and it blends together really well.

As for the sound, this isn’t quite as impressive. For one, the voice acting ranges from passable to “We’ve got 10 minutes left in the studio; just get the caretaker in the booth.” Every line delivery is a bit wooden, which is a shame because the actual dialogue is quite good, especially between the playable characters. The sound effects and music are fine, at least, so it’s not a complete disaster audio-wise!

Although Deathbound does play like a traditional soulslike; with tough enemy encounters, a stamina bar, and monstrous bosses that can one-shot you, it does do a few things differently that make the combat feel fresh. For starters, the Essences you come across during the game become new playable characters. You can have four assigned at a time and are able to switch between them instantly. Not being restricted to a single character is a genuinely unique idea for the genre, but there’s also a tactical element to swapping. If one character dies, it’s game over, so you’ll need fast reflexes to switch to a fresher party member, which can thankfully be done mid-combo for an extra damage-dealing strike!

Each playable member of the team also feels different to play as. From the slower Therone and his sword and shield melee-centric attacks to the more spell-focused Tehkri with his poison abilities. With seven characters in total, there’s a rather broad range of gameplay styles, and none of them felt useless or underpowered, as they each have their own strengths and weaknesses when facing off against certain enemy types.

Something I wasn’t a fan of, though, was the fact that health and stamina are tied to the same meter. This means that if a character has low health, then they also have low stamina and are unable to string a combo together. I can see the vision the developer had by combining the two, but unfortunately, it becomes more of a frustrating mechanic rather than an extra layer of tactical thinking mid-fight.

Combat does have a tendency to feel cheap at times, and slightly unfair. At first, I put this down to a skill issue and me just needing time to adjust to this new gameplay style. Whilst some enemies are laughably easy to dispatch, others will whittle down your health bar without giving you the chance to defend yourself, which becomes even more of an issue when engaging with multiple enemies at once. Things such as parries and dodges are imprecise, and just when you think you’ve nailed the timing for a specific attack from a boss, it decides that it’ll just make contact with you and kill you instead. Fighting often in tight corridors doesn’t help either, and you’ll know you’re doomed the instant your weapon bounces off a wall (or passes right through an enemy without harming them, on a few rage-inducing occasions!) before the enemy counters with a swift smack to the head.

Outside of the combat, Deathbound is the relatively standard soulslike affair. You’ve got “souls” to collect, Phylactery’s (aka bonfires) used to rest and level up, and bosses to accidentally run into before you have a chance to prepare. The levels themselves are relatively linear, with the odd shortcut or hidden area to explore. This is no sprawling world like ELDEN RING, but more akin to the earlier works of FromSoftware.

Overall, I really liked the direction Deathbound took to make a soulslike game with some unique mechanics. Sure, it doesn’t always work, and the imprecise, occasionally clunky combat — whilst far from terrible — is just not quite on the level of some of the more well-received titles in the genre.