Death's Gambit

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 81
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 81
  3. Negative: 14 out of 81
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  1. Rastus
    Aug 16, 2018
    8
    Death's Gambit is a game that takes a lot from the Souls formula, but manages to keep an identity despite borrowing a lot of mechanics. There's the difficult bosses, the invencibility frames, the stamina-based combat, and so on.

    The main problem of DG is how low on content it feels. There aren't so many bosses, and weapons have one or two varieties. Some of it is solved by being able to    Death's Gambit is a game that takes a lot from the Souls formula, but manages to keep an identity despite borrowing a lot of mechanics. There's the difficult bosses, the invencibility frames, the stamina-based combat, and so on.

    The main problem of DG is how low on content it feels. There aren't so many bosses, and weapons have one or two varieties. Some of it is solved by being able to fight a more difficult fight against already defeated bosses, but overall I'd say you can beat it fairly quickly.    … Expand
  2. bersi84
    Aug 15, 2018
    7
    I stumbled upon Deaths Gambit by chance after gaming around with Dead Cells for a while. In short: it is a nice game that picks up retro-esque Dark Souls gameplay but has shortcomings on controls and depths. Read on for details.

    Graphics... 8/10 ... are overall decent. I m playing it on PS4 Pro. There are minor frame rate issues on screen transitions but I didnt encounter any drops    I stumbled upon Deaths Gambit by chance after gaming around with Dead Cells for a while. In short: it is a nice game that picks up retro-esque Dark Souls gameplay but has shortcomings on controls and depths. Read on for details.

    Graphics... 8/10
    ... are overall decent. I m playing it on PS4 Pro. There are minor frame rate issues on screen transitions but I didnt encounter any drops while playing the game so far. The artstyle is really well made and fans of pixelart will be surely satisfied. There are nice details and the different colors and backgrounds are catching the atmosphere decently.

    Sound... 9/10 - 10/10
    ... is amazing. I would rate this easily 9/10 or even 10/10. Also the moving, fighting, jumping, explosion are well presented and deliver intense gameplay that I enjoyed.

    Controls... 3/10
    ... are a true shortcoming which is even more sad because that game had so much potential. You have to press and hold L1 for grabbing ladders and climbing... this fact alone is an absolute no-go for me and gets intensified by clunky gameplay itself. The movement is not smooth. Turning while slashing takes time which leads to combos going in the wrong direction. In a game that is so unforgiving this is absolutely bad and should be fixed, if possible. The combo execution doesnt feel well placed either. Dont get me wrong... the game is playable and you can enjoy it that way, but for me it didnt feel smooth and way less satisfying in comparison to Dark Souls 3, Bloodbourne or Dead Cells. Also the responsiveness of the controls and the control of the character while in air is definetely lacking to me.

    Story, monsters, the world... 6/10
    ... are well designed. I feel that the DEVs had kind of an idea but for me they werent able to transport it. The characters felt a bit dull. The world interconnection is strange. You have to walk over places multiple times and again and again. Monsters look interesting and really unique, but dont transport any feeling while you fight them. Also the classes and weapons, the character build, it all feels okay-ish. Its not bad, but it doesnt make you LOVE the game.

    Overall 7/10:
    After all its hard to judge this game. I want it to deserve 7/10. I think if you like retro-art/pixel-art and are into Dark Souls themed games, you shoud give it a try but dont expected a bread and butter game like Dark Souls or Bloodbourne or even Dead Cells. Personally I wouldnt invest 20€/$ into this game. Wait for a sale and then have a really well worth grab.    … Expand
  3. Grahl
    Aug 31, 2018
    9
    Score: 8.5

    A wonderful souls-like. Had a lot of fun with this one. Pros: - great combat, great bosses. makes dark souls and hollow knight look easy! (without being cheap) - excellent, tasteful graphics and sound - good story, good characters Cons - above all: too short! for 20 bucks at least - could have a bit more lore and subjectivity (personal taste) - too souls-like in    Score: 8.5

    A wonderful souls-like. Had a lot of fun with this one.

    Pros:
    - great combat, great bosses. makes dark souls and hollow knight look easy! (without being cheap)
    - excellent, tasteful graphics and sound
    - good story, good characters

    Cons
    - above all: too short! for 20 bucks at least
    - could have a bit more lore and subjectivity (personal taste)
    - too souls-like in it's RPG mechanics (not the combat). Darkmaus is a good example of taking the Souls mechanics but still adding something else to it and not getting it exactly equal    … Expand
  4. Shavenwookiee
    Aug 15, 2018
    9
    Finished the game last night in one sitting, and found it very fun and satisfying. The game is mechanically similar to Dark Souls and Salt and Sanctuary with slow attack animations that rely on timing and thoughtful attacks. It has all of the Souls trappings of dying repeatedly until you learn how to beat a boss and can master your environment.

    One of the more interesting aspects in    Finished the game last night in one sitting, and found it very fun and satisfying. The game is mechanically similar to Dark Souls and Salt and Sanctuary with slow attack animations that rely on timing and thoughtful attacks. It has all of the Souls trappings of dying repeatedly until you learn how to beat a boss and can master your environment.

    One of the more interesting aspects in this game that separates it slightly from your basic souls game is that it uses deaths in the game to tell the story, with one later in the game that I found particularly impressive. These lead to trippy in game sequences and story moments that even reference other games.

    I have to give the very small development team a lot of credit for this game, the music is great. the boss design is varied and creative and it has interconnected level design reminds me of Dark Souls one. The game did crash twice on me while playing it for the course of ten to twelve hours but it wasn't really a big deal. there is also new game plus that adds additional enemies and content like removing save points and adding new enemies to areas. you can also refight bosses in epic more difficult battles for more exp. Deaths Gambit is a great game I would highly recommend. One caveat you might have some difficulty adjusting to the controls if you just finished Dead Cells, which encourages speed and you can through every area in the game in two minutes.    … Expand
  5. Refridgerator
    Aug 14, 2018
    5
    The core of the game is fun, and captures the Souls-like feel well. Unfortunately, the rest of the game is a mess.

    Issues: The animations look incredibly wonky, and it's an issue right from the beginning as soon as you start running with the horse. Enemy and player attack animations look like stock joint movements instead of actual animated sprites, which really makes things look ugly    The core of the game is fun, and captures the Souls-like feel well. Unfortunately, the rest of the game is a mess.

    Issues:
    The animations look incredibly wonky, and it's an issue right from the beginning as soon as you start running with the horse. Enemy and player attack animations look like stock joint movements instead of actual animated sprites, which really makes things look ugly as well.

    The UI is crazy. You often can't see the white text on the bright skill icons. The locks on the skill tree are often invisible against the dark icons. Selection order on the menus often doesn't make sense, and frequently the "confirm" button changes from Square to Cross for no reason. The starting menu item on the save/level up menu is not correct, and it's hard to tell how much experience you need to level up due to the strange menu design. The confirm button on this screen is also really misaligned.

    The game crashes a lot, and beating a certain boss causes your save file to be unplayable.

    The framerate is all over the place, and the running speed of the game is locked to the framerate, so the game actually moves at a variable pace. It also means someone with a 144hz monitor simply cannot play the game fullscreen currently, since it runs over twice as fast.

    Over all, this game feels rushed and could have used 6+ months of development.    … Expand
  6. Steb
    Aug 14, 2018
    10
    The games amazing, its like a mix between hollow knight and dark souls, its only downside is that its a tad short, and skills for lots of weapons are limited. But it makes up for that with boatloads of customization options and replayability.

    The world, music, and atmosphere are amazing, please let there be a sequal.
  7. Razor_M2
    Aug 20, 2018
    8
    Dark souls en 2D, con elementos metroidvianos. Buen pixel-art y jugabilidad bastante elaborada.
    Le hubiera faltado pulirlo un poco más de cara al rendimiento. Pero sin lugar a dudas en su geénero en version indie es el nuevo rey. Echaos para atrás los que no os guate repetir todo mil veces por su dificultad.
  8. Bjlvz
    Aug 15, 2018
    9
    really fun! i really want more variety of the "same" weapon, like special charge attack; also if you change the helmet, in the game change too! **** orange cape, never change T_T; soundtrack is awesome and where is the double jump!? all metroidvania have double jump! old school never dies ahhaahahah
  9. Trevor9000
    Aug 14, 2018
    10
    I had absolutley no problems with this game. As a long term fan of the genre, this game was an absolute pleasure to play. Very challenging, kept me on my toes just the way I expected this game to be.

    Looking forward to future updates and hopefully a sequel.
  10. Datatrop
    Aug 26, 2018
    0
    Unable to play, crashes every second. ..........
  11. throokerz
    Aug 14, 2018
    9
    I went into this game expecting a fun, pretty generic fantasy 2d souls-like game. But after playing for 12 hours straight and beating the final boss for the first time I can safely say it is so much more. This game blew me away. It starts out slow with you learning the combat and at first it may feel clunky or slow, but as you grow accustomed to it rolling, dodging and counter attackingI went into this game expecting a fun, pretty generic fantasy 2d souls-like game. But after playing for 12 hours straight and beating the final boss for the first time I can safely say it is so much more. This game blew me away. It starts out slow with you learning the combat and at first it may feel clunky or slow, but as you grow accustomed to it rolling, dodging and counter attacking will become second nature, and they will need to be because this game is tough, and you will die, a lot. The enemy design is varied and unique, the world is well connected and has enough secrets to keep you searching everywhere, and the bosses are incredible. Seriously these bosses are just absolutely amazing, fun, varied, exciting and hard. Brutally hard. There are also a few curveballs and unique twists throughout that are best experienced blind. This game will not be for everyone however. Some people may not be a fan of the combat, some people may not like the design, but I think everyone should look into this game and if you are interested give it a go. I am 12 hours in, have beat the game once, and feel I have barely scratched the surface of what is in this game and the options I have to play it.… Expand
  12. mbestvina
    Sep 25, 2018
    8
    I think this 2D Souls-Like gotten unfair treatment from reviewers. It's a little rough around the edges but I deeply enjoyed and played it over 1 weekend.

    The standout for me is the game's presentation and its world. The pixel art is simply jaw-dropping, some of the best I've ever seen. It's a blend of Dark Souls (of course), Shadow of the Collosus, Anime, and it even has a level    I think this 2D Souls-Like gotten unfair treatment from reviewers. It's a little rough around the edges but I deeply enjoyed and played it over 1 weekend.

    The standout for me is the game's presentation and its world. The pixel art is simply jaw-dropping, some of the best I've ever seen. It's a blend of Dark Souls (of course), Shadow of the Collosus, Anime, and it even has a level towards the end that jumps genres. Its soundtrack is incredible as well and further pulls you into the world. I do recommend adjusting the equalizer though, I had to turn the game's sound-effects down to 30% to get the soundtrack where I wanted.

    Though its gameplay slavishly follows Dark Souls, its world is far more unique and engrossing than most 2D action-adventure games (and I played this right after Hollow Knight so you know it's good!). The wide variety of levels all snap together in a sensible way and I managed to never get lost, in spite of having no map. The game also has arguably the best fast travel system I've ever seen. There is one central path that runs a line through the entire game. All the other levels split off of this series of tunnels, either above them or below. Even better, you can call your horse in these tunnels making backtracking very enjoyable. You also unlock more and more of these tunnels as you progress through the game, opening one-way doors a la Dark Souls. I simply can't praise the world design enough, it's quite genius.

    On the gameplay side, you'll immediately feel at home if you've played a Souls or Souls-like game before, with leveling up, estus, shielding, the gear-system, and stamina. One odd omisison, however, is the lack of proper corpse running. Instead of dropping your experience when you die, you drop an estus flask which you'll have to retrieve and you don't need to fetch it if you die again. This greatly reduces the penalty for death and overall makes the game a lot more uplifting, for better or worse.

    As you get deeper into the game, the true depth of the combat will reveal itself in the form of your special abilities. These are powerful attacks you can do with your melee weapons that need to be charged and have a cooldown. Here is where you can really carve out your own playstyle and bring heavy damage. By the time I was halfway through the game, it felt far more frantic and twitchy than Dark Souls, and I mean that in a great way. The game also has an ability tree but I didn't get much use out of most of these. The air-dash is incredibly useful but was all the way at the end of a branch that I didn't like.

    Anyway, I had a really great experience with this game. It's reviewed fairly poorly and I'm scratching my head at that a little. There are some bugs and minor UX issues but nothing ever majorly deteriorated my experience. I played it over a weekend and couldn't put it down. The game is expertly paced and doesn't overstay its welcome, throwing a new area at you about once an hour for its 15 hour runtime. I felt I got my money's worth and would absolutely play some kind of successor/followup. If the 2D art appeals to you and you like Dark Souls, 2D action, or Metroidvania, it's absolutely worth a play. It's not a Metroidvania, but it's level design, world design, and brilliant presentation make this world more engrossing than most Metroidvanias'. That alone makes it worth it to me.    … Expand
  13. Dtorbor
    Aug 14, 2018
    10
    WEW where to begin... uhhhhh this game is going to change gaming hands down. The entire metroidvania genre is about to be shaken to its core with this release. uhhhh hidden gem of the summer hands down. Mechanics will have you feeling a breath of fresh air and you will have a smile by the time you put the controller down. I have never evurrr given a game this much praise but this gameWEW where to begin... uhhhhh this game is going to change gaming hands down. The entire metroidvania genre is about to be shaken to its core with this release. uhhhh hidden gem of the summer hands down. Mechanics will have you feeling a breath of fresh air and you will have a smile by the time you put the controller down. I have never evurrr given a game this much praise but this game totally deserves it. We not fixn slander this game. Dtor approved.… Expand
  14. deuxdoom
    Aug 14, 2018
    8
    What is immortal and death... it's so philosophical issue. and this game suggest to users thinking theme.
  15. V-S
    Aug 14, 2018
    0
    First off the only good thing in this game is the soundtrack!!!
    This game I was hyped for with dead cells I thought I was good pampered with those two. No it came like it had to. I had a strange feeling about this game. It is the intro what i play, midnight on release. There is no option to play with touchpad. Which idiot makes a 2D game without dpad?????? WHAT THE HELL? if you want to    First off the only good thing in this game is the soundtrack!!!
    This game I was hyped for with dead cells I thought I was good pampered with those two. No it came like it had to. I had a strange feeling about this game. It is the intro what i play, midnight on release. There is no option to play with touchpad. Which idiot makes a 2D game without dpad?????? WHAT THE HELL? if you want to climb you need to hold L1 I mean why? Why just don’t press up? Like in all other games??? No you had to be different right? Contacting the devs didn’t bring me my money back. They told me to mail them. Did they even test the game? I started streaming what happened I got more than the half of my screen full of scan lines if you stream on PS4 with the comment box. Nice right? The character movement seems stiff as f***. This game is stupid. Don’t waste your money. If you want to buy it wait for a update. Wait for at least a price drop under 10€ no under 5€. ... know what? Don’t buy it. The devs didn’t give you even an option to change the button layout. It is such a outstanding trash game. Congrats on wasting your money if you read this after you bought it!    … Expand
  16. tmillet2017
    Aug 29, 2018
    8
    Up to this point, I've put in around 30 hours between three different game files. I generally enjoy most of the installments in the challenging/Dark Souls-esque action RPG genre and Death's Gambit is no exception. For the most part I've had a great experience. I like the different abilities available for each weapon type, the unique skills associated with the starting classes, the clearUp to this point, I've put in around 30 hours between three different game files. I generally enjoy most of the installments in the challenging/Dark Souls-esque action RPG genre and Death's Gambit is no exception. For the most part I've had a great experience. I like the different abilities available for each weapon type, the unique skills associated with the starting classes, the clear upgrade system for your character and equipment, and the combat is mostly enjoyable.

    However, I do feel like I've had a lot more "cheap" deaths in this game than any souls type game (incl. Salt and Sanctuary, Nioh, etc.). I believe a lot of that has to do with intermittent lag times, not always responsive controls, and inconsistent hitboxes. Other critiques would be: (1) not enough weapon variety, (2) too short of areas between bosses, and (3) some of the talents in the skill tree felt useless.

    In the end though, I'd rate the game a 7.5. It's worth your time if your a fan of the genre, but I'd probably wait for a sale to come along to pick it up.    … Expand
  17. GBG_Jason
    Sep 11, 2018
    6
    Admittedly, I've never been too into the Souls series. I understand the appeal of them; I was one of the believers, owning the first print special edition of Demon's Souls before launch day courtesy of Amazon. I know plenty of people that love the games, with my brother getting the platinum trophy in each he has played. But something has always felt off for me in them, and the moreAdmittedly, I've never been too into the Souls series. I understand the appeal of them; I was one of the believers, owning the first print special edition of Demon's Souls before launch day courtesy of Amazon. I know plenty of people that love the games, with my brother getting the platinum trophy in each he has played. But something has always felt off for me in them, and the more difficult 2D games that follow a similar path fail for me in a similar manner.

    Death's Gambit is a game that may seem like the aforementioned series to someone that doesn’t have a whole lot of experience or time sunken into one of the now extremely popular Japanese games. It's amazing to see how far From Software has gone, inspiring a new subset of genre often referred to as Souls-like. Similar to Metroidvanias, these don't necessarily play by all the same rules, but certainly take inspiration. Technically speaking, this is closer in relation to Salt & Sanctuary, but my experience with that game is even more limited, so I can't speak to that with much authority. So let's jump into the game.

    Starting out you'll find that you've been resurrected by death incarnate and are to avenge those who have fallen, more or less. I was taken aback that the game had voice acting, and is pretty good to boot (for the more prevalent characters). The art style is the definitive high point of the game, both in character design and environments. Knowing nothing about this game, the attached screenshots would've intrigued me enough to buy this. But art is hardly enough to make the game enjoyable, and for that we need to discuss the gameplay.

    Death's Gambit is no stranger to the idea of killing you. If you're familiar with the You Died screen, you'll feel very much at home in this. The difference here is that it's not always seemingly your fault. There are plenty of games where people will exclaim the game has cheated, and I don't doubt that this will have people doing the same. Deaths are not always seen as fair, and that frustration will certainly translate to how enjoyable the game is for the player. I don't shy away from difficulty in games, but when the odds are stacked against you without enough reward for the duration of the frustration, it's hard to justify playing it.

    Something that I've only really seen in the likes of Shadow of Mordor (likely in Shadow of War too, but I couldn't be bothered to play past the tutorial) that makes this unique is the reaction to your character's death. For example, I fought a woman (I believe she's the first "boss" you encounter, if I remember correctly) who got the better of me, and when I ran back into the room after respawning she was confused and accused me of being one of the many undying demons. The game uses this mechanic to almost encourage death to see what will be said, as it fleshes out the world a bit more. But many of the game’s bosses will provide less of a challenge for you than just wandering around the world early on. I played as an assassin class, and the dodge behind and attack method worked without fail on the bosses, often being hard up to provide any challenge whatsoever. Perhaps the other classes that require different strategies would offer a bit more difficulty - for those that want to stick to their class though, the game has a heroic mode of the boss after leaving the room and coming back in.

    In the past couple of months, we've gotten a wide assortment of 2D Metroidvanias that range from good to great, such as Chasm, Guacamelee 2, and Dead Cells. At a glance, this looks like it'll be joining them, but it ends up being quite a different beast altogether. While aesthetically stylish with a world you'll backtrack through, many of the elements feel unfinished or rushed. The game’s platforming is pretty standard and borderline boring at times. As mentioned previously, the difficulty seems to be falsely implemented for the sake of taking your time opposed to creating a sense of accomplishment. I also ran into a number of technical problems while playing it, but they may have been patched by the time this review goes live as that was closer to launch.

    In theory, Death's Gambit should be an unrequited success. On paper it sounds wonderful, but the execution is flawed and at times unappealing. There are plenty of things to enjoy in this, especially if you are coming to it for the RPG aspects, but for those that want a solid Metroidvania platformer will find it to be a bit lacking. With future patches this can be something that shines, and White Rabbit's next game may very well send people down the rabbit hole, but this one falls just short of it.    … Expand
  18. RianovRV1
    Sep 10, 2018
    3
    This game is definitely 2D hack n slash souls-lite, you can fight a lot of bosses in no particular order which is pretty neat, and there is a lot of neat little story interactions that take place when you die, so be sure to die at specific moments.

    Mechanically the combat is a bit clunky and stamina usage seems a bit excessive but the game is pretty generous in giving the player sweet    This game is definitely 2D hack n slash souls-lite, you can fight a lot of bosses in no particular order which is pretty neat, and there is a lot of neat little story interactions that take place when you die, so be sure to die at specific moments.

    Mechanically the combat is a bit clunky and stamina usage seems a bit excessive but the game is pretty generous in giving the player sweet spots to work with to avoid damage and dish out some attacks safely.

    The scenery is gorgeous and has a lot of little ambiance and the sound track matches the majesty well. The boss music can be a bit bland comparably but overall the sound track is definitely the best piece of this game.

    The Animations are a 50/50 mix of some neat stuff and some janky amateur looking stuff.

    On a PS4 Pro ONLY right now as of writing this review, There are un-skippable crashes trying to progress the story. so until they fix all that, I'd avoid this game if you play on a pro. I'll update the review when it's playable again but I will not change the score due to how easy it was to catch this sort of bug and yet, here it is.

    If it wasn't for that bug, This game is a solid 7~8, get it on sale and its very worth it.    … Expand
  19. Avaresse
    Sep 14, 2019
    10
    I kind of feel bad for the mix reviews this game received from the moment it got released. After playing it I could tell the heart and passion that went into this. I'm not aware of the bugs or problems the game had at first but as of now from a story and gameplay perspective Death's gambit is beautiful from its music to story, simply outright fun, and challenging. In my eyes Death's GambitI kind of feel bad for the mix reviews this game received from the moment it got released. After playing it I could tell the heart and passion that went into this. I'm not aware of the bugs or problems the game had at first but as of now from a story and gameplay perspective Death's gambit is beautiful from its music to story, simply outright fun, and challenging. In my eyes Death's Gambit is perfect and has given me an amazing experience that I won't ever forget.… Expand
  20. oknsnl
    Apr 23, 2019
    8
    Gameplay : 7 (Good dark souls copy)
    Bosses : 8 (Nice dslike bosses)
    Story : 7 (Cool story)
  21. egoBorder
    Jun 10, 2019
    4
    If you like Dark Souls you'll get more enjoyment out of this game than most players...which is not to say you will enjoy it. It's one thing to reach for the difficulty found in Souls games, it's another thing entirely to nail the balance of discovery, build variety, and difficulty that Souls makes look easy.

    To its credit Death's Gambit looks and sounds really good for a 2D Souls-like.    If you like Dark Souls you'll get more enjoyment out of this game than most players...which is not to say you will enjoy it. It's one thing to reach for the difficulty found in Souls games, it's another thing entirely to nail the balance of discovery, build variety, and difficulty that Souls makes look easy.

    To its credit Death's Gambit looks and sounds really good for a 2D Souls-like. Initially you'll feel compelled to learn more about the world and story. But early on the drudgery sets in, and you'll be skipping dialogue and trying to run through sections to get some semblance of progression. The worst part for me was the stiffness of movement you have to fight against compared to enemies' and bosses' seemingly effortless ability to put danger in your path.

    It really comes down to the fact that it's too easy for your health and stamina bar to deplete. So even when you feel like you have an enemy's moves down, you find yourself without enough red or green bar to survive, eliciting an amount of grinding that feels like padding considering the limited nature of the game.

    I feel bad going so hard on White Rabbit's first game. The developer's made great strides in putting out a competent product that almost feels like a B game, but as you go on the limitations show their faces more and more and outstay their welcome.    … Expand
  22. Seath
    Nov 9, 2018
    10
    This game is a gem! From the stunning pixel art style to the breathtaking soundtrack made by Kyle Hnedak (serious props for the soundtrack, it’s amazing) and of course the fluid challenging combat.

    The combat system starts of simple: One preforms a attack-string by tapping the designated button and there is a jump and roll attack. One blocks, dodges and parries/counter attacks to avoid    This game is a gem! From the stunning pixel art style to the breathtaking soundtrack made by Kyle Hnedak (serious props for the soundtrack, it’s amazing) and of course the fluid challenging combat.

    The combat system starts of simple: One preforms a attack-string by tapping the designated button and there is a jump and roll attack. One blocks, dodges and parries/counter attacks to avoid damage and punish.Then there are weapon abilities which both boasts higher damage and secondary effects such as bleed/fire or an increased damage buff. Where the twist comes in is with the talent tree and weapons. Talents can give the player certain buffs when preforming a certain action, for example: Next Aerial Attack *4 damage after executing a full attack-string or blocking an attack reduces all ability cooldowns with 2 secs. Some weapons have similar effects, so combining weapons, abilities and talents can really dish out some damage if you play your cards right. There are also more mechanically adding talents such as an air dodge and perfect blocking.

    When it comes to builds then the game generally has 3: Strength, Finesse and a Intelligences builds. They can all be mix and matched, all sporting different weapons to choose from. There are also starting classes which determine how to obtain additional “mana” used for abilities, 2 class specific talents each and some other perks.

    But what good does a combat system do without opponents? Death’s Gambit presents a decent plethora of enemies and some incredible bosses with overall creative battle design to face of against. But the fight isn’t over when you defeat the boss. Heroic Rematches can be had with defeated bosses for rewards. The bosses obviously get stronger, but they also get a slew of new attacks! Some endgame heroic bosses will surely give seasoned players a challenge, but if that’s not enough then there’s always NG+ which the developers have fleshed out to a surprising degree. (since most games literally just tend to buff enemies and send you on your way)

    Then there’s the story, which touches upon themes like life and death (starring Death himself) with a very emotional undertone featuring very humane voice acting. I can’t say too much without spoiling, so all I can say is that I thoroughly liked it. This game even used dying as a story feature instead of just a gameplay mechanic.

    Where I feel the game falls short is the amount of content it presents. It’s certainly fits it’s price range, but I’m left wanting more. There was a lack of weapons (all existing weapons were unique though), some areas felt too short and I was left wanting more lore and story than what was presented. Some soundtracks like at least the majority of the “Gaianslayer” OST didn’t even get used, which is a shame since it’s truly EPIC. My playthroughs of the game took around 10 hours each to beat (minus some heroic bosses I’m stuck on...) across 4 save files with different builds. Luckily the developers are currently working on further content to the game beside patches and bug fixes.

    Hopefully this spoiler-free review was somewhat fulfilling and I certainly hope anyone who decides to pick this gem up end up enjoying it as much as I do.    … Expand
  23. Wweald
    Jun 26, 2020
    8
    Really great game, the story is super predictable but it's still solid. The gameplay is great imo, played through this game multiple times with multiple builds and had a ton of fun with each.
  24. EdyKel
    Sep 26, 2020
    5
    Some will say this is a tribute to the Souls series, but it's a poor man's version of it In 2D form.

    The 2D graphics are not bad. Enemies are nicely drawn, especially the bosses. The background and levels are also nice. Though, not everything is consistent in this department, and makes certain things stand out more - not always a good thing. The levels are also not that big, and are    Some will say this is a tribute to the Souls series, but it's a poor man's version of it In 2D form.

    The 2D graphics are not bad. Enemies are nicely drawn, especially the bosses. The background and levels are also nice. Though, not everything is consistent in this department, and makes certain things stand out more - not always a good thing. The levels are also not that big, and are very interconnected with each other. So, you will be backtracking a lot. A lot.

    The music is probably one of the better aspect of the game, and it stands out the most. It's fits the game well with it's solemn and melancholy atmosphere it creates. And it's helps the story out, which is also not bad, and helps to keep the player going.

    Game-play and controls are the biggest disappointment. This is where it starts falling part. I don't mind a good challenging game, but controls have to be very responsive, and enemies in tune with them. I always feel there is a delay in game response, which is a feeling I didn't get with the Soul series. Stamina bar is also something that is a bit wonky, especially when facing enemies with large health bars - and where dodging doesn't always works or helps get you away from damage.

    Overall, it's not a bad game, but the controls, and the game-play, just don't feel in tune with each other, often conflicting with one another, which only works against the whole Souls experience, and hurts it more than helps. And the game feels short, but is made to feel longer with what some will politely say as "challenging" when that is mostly due to the poor controls and game play. Paying more than $10 for the game is not reasonable.    … Expand
  25. MickeyFinn
    Aug 21, 2023
    3
    I'm not a big fan of artificial difficulty. I mean that's about 5minutes work for devs to raise mobs hp and damage, then they can namedrop dark souls.. imagine that temptation to sell any crap without working on anything else (unlike the soulsbornes, which were excellently balanced and worked games). Then there are gems, like Death Gambit or Blasphemous, with a lot of work and passion putI'm not a big fan of artificial difficulty. I mean that's about 5minutes work for devs to raise mobs hp and damage, then they can namedrop dark souls.. imagine that temptation to sell any crap without working on anything else (unlike the soulsbornes, which were excellently balanced and worked games). Then there are gems, like Death Gambit or Blasphemous, with a lot of work and passion put into them.. yet still with that damn artificial difficulty. I mean the games are hard enough by gamedesign when they're worked. Besides those are 2d, you can't do much. Realistically, that means a lot of useless deaths getting 2-shot by mobs, a lot of wasted time hitting 10+ times each mob, and a lot of running from combat to heal. Tedious, boring, chorish.. anything but challenging or fun. Why da fuq ruin the games. Anyway.. yeah -3 for artificial difficulty, -2 for the level cap. at 150, hit midgame and underpowered. And -2 more for wasting my time playing till endgame where it becomes unplayable, having to hit 20, 30 times each monster. Good game but fk u back devs. Gimme crit builds if you pull crap like that… Expand

Awards & Rankings

94
#94 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Cubed3
    Dec 16, 2019
    70
    Death's Gambit is a substantial entry into the souls-like genre, even if it is very derivative. Some of the ways it was "inspired" by Dark Souls feel a bit dangerously too close at times. It does enough to make itself unique, and it does bring some new ideas to the table that will absolutely tickle fans of this genre. Don't expect Hollow Knight levels of polish or content; this is more closer to Salt and Sanctuary in terms of quality, but with a more refined art style.
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  2. LaPS4
    Aug 13, 2019
    73
    Death´s Gambit fulfills what it intends, offering a challenging title, with new mechanics regarding its gender rivals. Its variety of builds and its intriguing argument make it a good alternative within Souls-Like.
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  3. SpazioGames
    Jul 26, 2019
    69
    Death’s Gambit is an average souls-like. He tries to be both original and traditionalist, by scenographic map design and a great attention into boss fights, sustained by a soft soundtrack and a deep character development (both on plot and gameplay). Its will to create a different mood from the normal “2010s dark fantasy” makes this game a good starting point for both developer and publisher, but they’ll have to deal with inevitable inexperience.
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