Developer: Daniel Wright
Publisher: Daniel Wright
RRP: £6.99 (Steam)
Released: 26th January 2016
Available on: Steam
Played Using: An Xbox 360
Approximate game length: 8 hours
You sit by the fire staring into the flames as they dance. Not two minutes ago you had felt a blade enter your gut and now… nothing, not even a scar. On the other side of flame you see shadows pass back and forth erratically, they look almost as if they were desperate. Beyond the circle of light you can hear beasts roaming, waiting for you.
This game has been a tough one for me to review. At first I thought I’d make it a blast review as the game is quite short and the constant comparisons to Dark Souls would become tedious. I even debating creating it’s own special style of review.
Let’s get it over with and speak about the elephant in the room. As should be readily apparent, Darkmaus has taken a very strong influence from the Dark Souls series. Anyone who is even casually familiar with Dark Souls will be able to spot the glaringly obvious similarities. Resting at campfires that reset the enemies, collecting marrow from enemies, spending said marrow to improve yourself, the list goes on. However it should be noted that it does all of these things well, even if they have been made more simplistic.
What makes a game a Soulsborne? It’s clear that merely being difficult isn’t enough, otherwise Cuphead would fall under the genre (and that’s without talking about the subjective nature of difficulty).
Many games have attempted to be a part of this genre, most of which misunderstood the key elements that are the main draw for this style of game. Of course there isn’t any universally accepted definition of what exactly a Soulsborne game actually is. I have my own ideas but I’m willing to bet quite a few people would disagree with me, so for me these are the points that must be fulfilled in order to be a Soulsborne game:
A Soulsborne game must utilise a stamina based combat system.
The learning curve is steep.
A penalty for death besides being set back to the last checkpoint.
No way to save manually.
Makes use of RPG mechanics to level up not only the player character but equipment as well.
One thing is clear though, where the camera is positioned is not a factor.
So, going by that definition is Darkmaus a Soulsborne game? I think so and it’s a damned good one at that, even if it’s a little short. It borrows extensively from the Dark Souls series substituting names but leaving things mechanically the same (as mentioned previously).
However not everything is the copied from Dark Souls. Besides having a top down camera angle, there are three things that are unique to this title that I’ve not seen in any other Soulsborne style game. Firstly there’s the ability system, as you progress new abilities become open to you that can have devastating effects. The second is the way that sight works, the world in which your character inhabits is dark and as such he carries a torch. Unlike in Dark Souls this isn’t an item that takes up a equipment slot but rather is a persistent effect. But as we all know shadows appear where the light doesn’t touch and will they change as you move. I’m sure you can guess where a lot of the enemies in that game tend to hide. Lastly are the ghost allies, when you die a shadow of you appears to fight alongside you. They have their own health bar and are equipped with whatever equipment you died in. These ghosts have been extremely helpful in areas where I found myself struggling.
I have to say I really enjoyed this one, sure it’s a mere shadow of the Dark Souls series but it’s still a great game in it’s own right! And it’s one it’ll keep playing long after this review is complete.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
The Dark Souls series
Salt and the Sanctuary
Darkest Dungeon
