Curse of The Dead Gods (PC)

Supergiant Games made a success roguelite isometric hack 'n slash: Hades. But did you know that there's clone of it which has brutal difficulty? I'm talking about Passtech Games' Curse of the Dead Gods (2021). 

There's no flashy art on title screen other than that guy with mutton chop beard. His hand filled with dark power that even affects his eyes which mean he's not in good situation or is it? Whether intended or not, this game comes out roughly half a year after aforementioned Hades! Curse of the Dead Gods releases in 23 February 2021 while Hades comes out in 17 September 2020. I already bought Hades but why i choose this game over it? Because i tend to be interested in less famous game, that's all. There's link to their discord but i only use discord on my mobile phone so you lost me, game. 

 

In Hades, Zagreus (the protagonist) escape the Hades' domain to go to Mt. Olympus and reunite with the Olympians. While in this game, the nameless protagonist enters some ancient Mesoamerica temple for untold riches, eternal life, and divine powers. Or so they said. Basically he's just greedy son of a git. But as he only moves few steps the door behinds him closing and he's trapped. But at least he's safe from that heavy rain.   

 

So i move with usual "W", "A", "S", "D" keys and aim/look around with mouse then i find this giant door. I activate it with "E" key. It opens but my right hand become surrounded by darkness. Spy_sf12_badmagic03.wav

 

The very first room behind that door is tutorial room! One of the main feature is the lighting effect. When i'm in dark place, i will take 50% extra damage and i can't see traps around. To illuminate some place, i have to use torch to burn either braziers or enemies.

 

Next is combat tutorial. I have 2 equipment set: "1" key is shortcut for torch while "2" key is shortcut to dual wield weapons. So far i have a machete and a handgun. Pressing "left mouse" button will make me attack with my right hand (machete) and pressing "right mouse" button will make me attack with my left hand (handgun). Pressing left mouse button consecutively will perform main combo. The lesser attack on the combo cost no stamina but the combo finishing cost 1 stamina point. Using projectile weapon including handgun also cost 1 stamina point. Dodge roll also cost 1 stamina point. You can see the stamina points near the feet of the character. You see those 5 small blue dots? That's the one.   

 

Then i'm into another combat tutorial. I learn to finish my combo early by inputting off-hand attack. I can charge my attack by holding corresponded mouse button and upon unleashing charged attack, it costs 1 stamina point. That's for melee weapon that is. If you use ranged weapon, it costs more 1 stamina point. While charging my handgun, there's 2 imaginary side lines that will close to the center of my aim. If you unleash the charging when those 2 lines in right moment (not too close but also not too far), the shoot will be "Perfect Shot" that (maybe) deals more damage than normal charged shot. But to pull said "Perfect Shot" is really finicky and i don't think i can do that consistently.     

 

If you roll dodge in perfect timing, you will trigger "perfect dodge" which can replenish stamina points by one. That means "fair trade" on stamina consumption. There's also parry that cost no stamina and if you do it successfully not only you get 2 stamina points but also makes the attackers weaken (take more damage for short time) indicated by broken shield on them. But it requires very strict timing.    

 

Pass the tutorial area, there's chest that contain some crystal skulls and jade rings. Indiana Jones must be envy me. According to instruction, those are currency that persist after death. That makes me concern a bit.

 

Upon inspecting a door at the end of area, i get to choose which route shall i take. Here's one of random element in the game, the map is randomly generated. There's "unknown" option on the map but i choose "gold" option. Rp _ Rp

 

Enemies drop gold and you can increase it by killing them within limited time. This feature called "Greed Kill". It's valid strategy to attack enemies but not kill them immediately. Let them in "low health" situation and then you can easily kill them all at once swiftly.

 

Suddenly, dead enemy drop this bow. I can take it or i can offer to the Gods for small healing. So far, i find no other way to heal. I'm so tempted tribute this bow but on second thought my health is still at 75% so i take the bow. It won't change my weapon slot #2 because any two handed weapon will goes to weapon slot #3.

 

Here's the inventory screen. Top row is: weapons. Middle row is: relic which is basically trinket/accessory that gives you some boost. Bottom row is: curse that i currently have. The purple bar on bottom right is corruption bar. Everytime i move into new area (including when i enter the first area), i get corruption by 20. If the corruption  bar is entirely filled, i get 1 curse and the corruption bar reset. I heard that 4 curses are tolerable. But the fifth ones is very fatal and you must avoid it at all cost. On lower left corner is my stats. The red icon is constitution, which determines my max health. The blue icon is dexterity, which determines bonus damage that i inflict. The green icon is perception, which determines enemy's loot drop. Dexterity boost my basic attack power but some weapon's power is determined by either constitution or perception.

 

I check the enemy's codex and i get to see the basic melee enemy: Lurkers in detail. They're not handsome, that's for sure. It's kind of stingy of them to put side mission to unlock more of the codex. But because the mission is just kill enemies basically, it will be over before i know it. 

 

Not every room has braziers but i notice that these ash floor is combustible which can gives me temporary lighting.

Enemies are not the only threat to your health. You also have to watch for traps. These jaguar statues will shoot fireball if i stand in front of them. The fireballs can blast into each other. If you only trigger one of jaguar statue, the fireball can destroy other statue. Those hole on the floors will shoot out spike if you steep on them, as you can guess. Your normal movement is not fast enough so don't hesitate to dodge roll those spike floors.

 

There's some one-way point in the room that you need to activate to proceed further like this chasm. Once you get across of it, the ledges crumble and you can't go back where you come from.

I find one jaguar statue that can be activated by hitting it with torch. Once you do that, it let out big flame that can incinerate enemies! Pyro_laughevil01.wav 

  

Some room has altar that gives you relic, weapon or bonus attribute but not for free though. You have to offer either gold or your blood! Sacrificing your blood doesn't reduce your health thankfully. The game where healing is scarce, health cost seems beyond mercy. Offering your blood means you increase your corruption. You have also have option to leave the offering altar alone, of course. It goes without saying that the bigger the cost, the better the item.

My luck brings me this relic that increase damage that i inflict when i'm in darkness. So there's risk and reward  when i'm in darkness.

 

When i reach new room my corruption bar is filled and i get "Divine Pact" curse which locks one of my relic slot but in return i get 3 Divine Favors which i have no clue what is it.At least not yet.

Things get more hectic as the game introduces me with this artillery monster. I mean seriously, it shoots me with cannon shot that travels very fast.    

I find an upgrade altar that can raise my weapon's level. Not only the upgrade increase the base power of the weapon but also gives it random enhancement. I don't have enough gold so i resort to increase my corruption or i just leave.

There's also barrel of black powder that you can ignite to create large explosion that can kill your enemies. Demoman_specialcompleted12.wav

Sniper_paincrticialdeath02.wav. There's so much progress that i can make without suitable healing. Apparently, the one who gives me trouble the most is: the basic melee monster. I need to get better.

Death brings me to this starter point. That skull on the ground is access to underworld where you get permanent upgrades for every exploration. They're purchased with crystal skulls and jade rings. My gold is gone by the way. All gone.

 

Here's the blessing that will surely help me in future. To purchase a blessing, i have to pay certain amount of crystal skulls. But some of them are locked for some reason. I suggest to purchase this "Favor of Sich'al" blessing because you will always get 1,000 gold at the start of run. The cheapest gold offering in weapon altar is: 700 gold. So you're always forced to get to room with gold reward as early as possible. But with initial asset of 1,000 gold you can buy weapon or other equipment early. Plus 5 perception stats is definitely better than 0 on any stats.

In this underworld menu, you can also upgrade the weapon altar that you can find near the entrance of the temple. It offers  starting weapon, basically. You can add more altar for more weapon set option. The purchases here requires crystal skulls. There's also Forsaken Weapons that you can unlock with Jade Ring cost. It's said that once they're unlocked there's a chance that they will appear but so far in my entire playthrough they're never appear on altar ever. I can also purchase Divine Favor that renew on each exploration. By the way, now i know what's Divine Favor is. It's the thing that allow me to reroll one item in weapon/relic altar. It could be helpful.

I can go back to Jaguar Temple on most left 2nd from bottom or try other temple...or try an event! The reward is crystal skull. Interesting...

 

So in this event, there's no hud at all and the game becomes black and white which reminds me of Cuphead.  Medic_sf12_badmagic09.wav

 

I get another curse this time it's: Bloodlust which makes me can't heal in regular method. What regular method of healing though? I rarely meet it. I know it includes offering loot to the gods but it doesn't cover much and loot is pretty rare to drop. So inability to gain healing from regular way seems no problem to me. Also, enemies now won't drop gold anymore. Instead they drop blood that restore my health. I'm sold with this curse. Demoman_sf13_influx_big01.wav?

 

Due to Perception attribute increase, i have better chance of finding loot. On one occasion, i happen to find this left-hand weapon: ceremonial dagger. You may doubt my decision to replace dagger with pistol but get this. First, the dagger has higher base power. Second, the dagger has enhancement that increase its power based on my Perception attribute. Third, this could be only me but i feel that pistol isn't worth it. Yes, i have access to projectile attack but it requires 1 stamina point and deals shabby damage. Plus i can only harm 1 enemy at a time. Charged shot is able to pierce through enemies but requires 2 stamina points. Whereas the knife is more efficient in stamina cost and attack power.

I get new curse that makes dark flame appears that offer no light. Sniper_sf13_magic_reac06.wav

 

Later, i die and clip through a pillar. Soldier_paincrticialdeath01.wav

But i get 10 crystal skulls for my trouble. Demoman_mvm_loot_common04.wav

I use it to restore 1 altar and it gives me weapon set of claw and shield. Once you take the weapon set on the altar, your previous equipment is gone. So think carefully before you take new weapon set. This place also useful to practice your weapon here.

I don't see Constitution attribute is important. Cast aside of weapon that has power scaled with Constitution, increasing max health seems not so beneficial. Because the healing get from offering loot is percentage to max health, the healing will be increased as well. Oh, i see. If i choose to increase Constitution in this attribute service altar, i get small boost on my current health. From 652 to 815. So there's that.

My luck is playing trick on me. Should i get relic that increase power of my weapon claw or get small healing. Interesting. There's random effect when you offer the loot to the gods. Sometime you get small heal, your corruption decreases a bit, or you get bit gold. I don't see the benefit from leaving the loot alone. You either take it or offer it to the gods. Nuff said.

It seems shield increases my parry's duration but this better pistol seems tempting. It doesn't require perfect timing for Perfect shot and more powerful when i have claw weapon which i do have it. Do you see note that there's attack bonus when attacking from behind?  Enemies don't immediately homing on you so you can land sneak attack to their backside. Then there's claw's charging attack that makes you immediately warp in some distance and unleashing big attack in the opposite direction when you were facing. It's meant to be special back attack but i feel more comfortable with machete's frontal big swing because the special back attack tends to disorient me.

You can never go wrong with taking the room with golden reward. Sometime you can find chest/sarcophagus contains gold and lesser equipment. But the it's located not in obvious location like in the center of big hallway, unlike the offering altars. It's located in the sides or even besides the wall like here.

Oh, wow. I didn't  know that i can go this far. Behind this door is a boss fight. I'm excited but also nervous. Can i beat this big mean guy? I can go this far probably because i get into healing fountain twice. But it's not great bliss as i thought it was. We will talk about that later. Into the big fight, i go...

He looks tall, sure. But i fought bigger enemies than him. Sniper_meleedare02.wav

Sniper_paincrticialdeath02.wav

I couldn't take screenshot of the battle because it's too intense. The bastard either summoning jaguar (no wonder he's the champion of jaguar) or throw his spear once or twice. The jaguars attack fast. His spear throw is very fast. I can't keep up with this but i keep trying anyway. 

Here's the healing fountain that somehow surrounded by dark flame. It heals you for 200 health for each drink. Sounds nice, right? But there's penalty for that. Whenever you drink from the fountain you increase not only your health but also your corruption by 10 points. My rule of thumb is: refill only up to 800 health points.

Sniper_mvm_loot_common01.wav. I like this Sidewinder sword because it makes the combo finisher cost no stamina. So i can focus to allocate my stamina to dodge roll only.

Once again, i arrive at champion's room. There's him summoning his jaguar pets. You think he's vulnerable while doing so but no. He also unleash a dark blast. Yeah, sure. It deals only 50 health points but it also increase my corruption. In fact, there's mage-type lesser enemy named "Dead Wives" who also like to attack me with darkness element that increase corruption when hit. You think with so many way to increase my corruption such as entering new room and drink from the fountain, enemies won't eager to add more corruption into me? Of course, no. They like to make you suffer other than grating your health. They're really mean it.

 

Another defeat but this time the champion is my nemesis and not the lesser enemies. So i'm doing better, i guess?

What's this? Another event? I'm in! Sniper_battlecry03.wav

In this event stage, my weak weapons are replaced with single bow that's powerful but every shot will increase my corruption. Sniper_jeers02.wav

This temple is different from Jaguar Temple that i explored so far. The enemies and traps are different. There's mine that will release lightning blast when triggered. Shocking!

 

There's also statue that will stab me with its spear when i triggered it. But i can use it to damage enemies without my attack which saves me from getting extra corruption. Killing enemies with traps is valid or encouraged even. There's blessing that makes the trap deals 150% more damage to enemies or there's trinket that heals you if traps kill enemies. Do you see the offering altar glow red? That means it's not operable yet until you kill all the enemies around it.

I last not for too long but i get to test a powerful weapon and i get 10 Crystal Skulls for my trouble. Spy_mvm_loot_common02.wav

Isn't this great? I get curse that makes my corruption raises over time but it won't be boosted when i exit a room anymore. So when i get this curse i have to finish room as fast as i can. There's no time for careful searching every crook and nook of the room anymore. Actually, my corruption raise is substantially less than when i'm without this curse. Normally, my corruption will get raise by 20 flat everytime i finish a room. While i get this curse and i speedrun each a room, i get like 12 or maybe less than that. So the curse isn't so bad if you can manage your time well.  

Then i get this exotic trinket which allows me to get healing whenever i finish a room. That makes me thinking "Why the developer don't make this effect free or make it as blessing?". The nameless explorer has big health pool and the lesser enemies deal relatively small damage but they attack so relentlessly. Combine it with traps, curse, and little mean of healing, every exploring feels tedious and/or challenging. Of course, you can raise your survivability with dodge roll and parry. But i still yet able to master perfect dodge and parry.

I was about to quit on defeating the champion Jaguar. It's been like 4 attempt or so. But i find the great yet simple solution: use bomb weapon. Bomb's charged weapon is lobbing 3 bombs at once. It cost 2 stamina points but very worth it. I can hit the jaguars and even the champion himself with ease. Dodge their attack and lob bomb, is the way i do it. If you look closely, i get 4 curses and i'm really desperate to win this fight.

 

Cm_demo_gamewon_06.mp3. I can't believe i can do it. I get lots of crystal skulls and jade rings for my win!

 

And the most important thing is: i get a blood emblem. It unlocks blessings and other features, including higher level temple and blessing slot that you can have without spending it. It doesn't act like currency, it's more like token of prerequisite. The more you have it, the more stuffs that you unlock. Now that i defeat the champion, i can stop my writing here.

Passtech Games' Curse of the Dead Gods (2021) is interesting take on roguelite hack 'n shoot. Although unlike Touhou Genso Wanderer -Reloaded- or Dokapon - Monster Hunter, it's hard to make progress or leveling in this game. Your weapon will reset to basic level. Also your accessory, attribute stats, and gold will be lost after death. Your nameless explorer doesn't gain level up after killing enemies. So how do you make thing easier for your next run? You can purchase some features from aforementioned  Dead Gods with crystal skulls and jade rings. You can get extra of those permanent currency by playing special event which is nice. I think the most helpful of them is the blessing because its effect always active for entire playthrough. I find the forsaken weapon unlocking is less useful because i never get any of forsaken weapon on offering altar ever. Maybe i need to unlock more of them so the chance to get them will increase. Weapon slot is intuitive and allow you to manage weaponry fast: slot #1 for torch, slot #2 for weapons on each hand, and slot #3 for two-handed weapon. Weaponry is well-varied and interesting to use. There's whip for secondary hand. Even though it's not weapon that shoot projectile, it still costs stamina to use. It's useful for off-hand combo finisher that wipe enemies around you. There's throwing dagger for main hand which can unleash ranged combo attack but has limited range unlike other ranged weapon. The normal attack cost no stamina though. The light-dark mechanism is challenging yet good. You can burn not only braziers but also enemies to lit up the area. You can ignore torching enemy/brazier part (which feels tiresome process after several occasion) and just focus on killing enemies with real weapon but you risk yourself from hidden traps and extra damage taken. Then there's the curse mechanic which makes the game meaner. Although 1st-4th minor curses seem balanced or at least bit merciful. I don't want to get the 5th curse which is the great ones because i heard the effect is really pernicious. Dodge is reliable but cost stamina unless you manage to perform perfect dodge. There's minor curse that sometime make the map inverted but you get 5 Perception and there's another one that increase the window of dodge roll but you no longer can't trigger perfect dodge and it extinguish braziers nearby. Parry cost no stamina but less reliable. The lack of healing method is troublesome. The music kind of non-existent. The sound effect is good. The art and the visual presentation is very great! 

If you want Hades like game but more challenging then Curse of the Dead Gods (2021) is for you. The game is hard but make layers of strategy. Need new weapon? You offer gold. You don't have enough gold? You can take a risk of yourself by increasing your corruption. Or you can leave, hoping you find better chance to invest your gold or corruption on next room. Thing for sure is the starting weapon is not good enough to fight Champion or even reaching his room. So replacing your starting weapon is next to necessary. I was lucky back then to find bomb weapon (which is two handed weapon type) from enemy's drop but bonus perception most likely make that happen and not just pure my luck. The starter altar doesn't offer you two handed weapon initially unless you upgrade it but requires at least 1 blood emblem. Maybe i'm supposed to be better at dodging or parrying but bomb weapon prevails, i reckon. Demoman_battlecry06.wav