The diversity of styles is extremely impressive. During one successful run I used a magic-casting sorcerer to rain down hellfire upon my enemies, and the next I upgraded a soldier skull to be the ultimate undead general with the ability to summon a dozen friendly underlings at a time. In games like this I usually search for a build that fits my playstyle and then stick with it as much as possible, but in Skul I found myself willing and able to play with just about anybody, no matter how wildly different they were, and have a great time. That said, it’s still always a great feeling when something amazing does drop into your lap to instantly make you a badass, especially since you can keep your favorite parts of your previous build around in that second skull slot anyway.Ĭritically, every single character is not only genuinely fun to play, but feels totally viable in the endgame. This is fantastic because it means you’re not always at the mercy of getting that lucky loot drop you can control your own destiny by building a more common skull up over the course of your run to make it every bit as viable in the endgame. Some of these options are powerful as soon as you find them, while others are weaker and need to be upgraded during your run until they reach their final, most powerful form, which means that you can either grind your way to greatness slowly as you progress or just get damn lucky and find an amazing skull that has you scrambling to adjust your entire build around it. Some skulls aren’t even usable without a second skull to rely upon, like the Bomber skull, whose sole purpose is to self-destruct as quickly and devastatingly as possible, forcing you into your alternate skull form. For example, you might want to play as one of the many slow but powerful melee classes like the Predator to brute force your way through combat, but you will likely need a fast-moving skull in your second slot to switch to when you get caught in a tight spot and need to make a quick exit. Rapidly swapping between your two heads and their skills is essential.In fact, rapidly swapping between your two equipped heads and using their skills synergistically is essential.
Each of the 30+ options that you can potentially equip come with their own speed, attack range, and abilities that give them a distinct playstyle – and since you can carry two at a time, you’re able to instantaneously change between them for maximum effect. There’s a fantastic variety of heads to find and choose from, including floating gargoyles, rampaging meat monsters, and adorable ents that are basically a pixelated Groot. The push of a button transforms your meek little skeleton adventurer into an entirely new monster and imbues you with that head’s powers, like a slightly morbid, body-snatching Kirby. But where Skul truly shines is in how its head-swapping manages to keep its grind sustainably fun even after dozens of hours of failure. And while it undoubtedly shares DNA with Dead Cells (so much so, in fact, that The Prisoner is actually a playable cameo character) Skul is by no means a copycat, rivaling its inspiration in the quality of its chaotic combat while standing out with plenty of interesting new ideas.Īs with all rogue-lite games, the key to getting better is in both learning the areas, enemy types, and bosses you might face in any given randomized run, as well as permanently upgrading your character’s base stats and gaining perks that make you a bit stronger with each attempt. Like the bizarre offspring of Dead Cells and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask that it is, this undead adventure combines fast-paced 2D platforming and combat with the ceaselessly amusing ability to swap your hero’s skull, and with it your playstyle, at will.
This metaphor might be a little on the nose, but Skul: The Hero Slayer brings a fresh new face to the now overflowing rogue-lite genre by literally giving you lots of faces.
0 kommentar(er)
