Unto The End

 Xbox One
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 17
  3. Negative: 6 out of 17

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  1. Lavish
    Dec 21, 2020
    5
    TL;DR: Beautiful, but entirely too frustrating
    While Unto the End is a beautiful game from a visual and audio standpoint, no level of beauty can overshadow the tedious and clunky combat system that tries too hard to be different. If you could avoid every combat encounter in the game or even simplify combat the game would be great, albeit very short (3-4 hours), but instead you are forced    TL;DR: Beautiful, but entirely too frustrating
    While Unto the End is a beautiful game from a visual and audio standpoint, no level of beauty can overshadow the tedious and clunky combat system that tries too hard to be different. If you could avoid every combat encounter in the game or even simplify combat the game would be great, albeit very short (3-4 hours), but instead you are forced to fight in multiple encounters where finally succeeding feels less like a joyful mastery of the combat experience and more of “thank goodness that’s over” due to a lucky string of blocks. The complete lack of guidance or tips with regard to items you receive causes their potential uses to be through trial-and-error luck instead of “creativity” as you show a troll everything in your inventory before you stumble upon the “correct” item. There is a difference between creatively guiding a player to use items in unforeseen or different ways and blindly hoping they will try something random in order to create alternate pathways
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    Unto the End hits its 2-D minimalistic art style mark excellently – the game is beautiful. Wandering through pitch-black caves with only the flickering light of your torch to warn you of danger is nerve-wracking but intriguing. In comparison, putting your torch away and trudging through the snow is equally beautiful as the world you walk through as well as the backdrop are beautifully crafted. Often times your environment will warn you of something amiss, though admittedly the strewn out bodies peppered with arrows did not stop me from walking right into the same trap and getting my own souvenir arrow to the chest. The game’s audio follows the same minimalistic style as the visual, as most the time you will be hearing typical sounds of a cave or the rushing wind, your character’s grunting and occasional simple melodies themed to accompany the gameplay. The game’s story is fairly nonexistent as you leave your wife and son to assumedly go hunting before your trip turns into a challenge to survive almost immediately. While maneuvering through the world you’re never quite sure whether you’re going the right way as you wander through dark caverns, but the feeling of being lost is something the game strives to cause as you question if you have, in fact, seen that same spirit mushroom five times. While the exploration piece of the game is simple and satisfying as jump you over deadly falls, dodge traps and solve extremely simple puzzles, the game’s combat is unfortunately where Unto the End fails to match its aesthetic beauty. As someone who loves challenging games, the combat mechanics of Unto the End seem difficult for the sake of difficulty, not for any sort of enjoyment or mastery factor. The game is by no means a hack-and-slash as you’re given a “high” attack and a “low” attack along with matching block moves that from the foundation of the combat. There is really no way to play aggressively as most enemies will flawlessly block your attacks and instantly counter attack unless you manage to first block enough of their attacks, causing them to be briefly stunned. Even while stunned, however, an enemy is blocking one direction, so you have to attack the opposite of their stunned block which is easier said than done as some enemy animations often don’t clearly show where they’re blocking – leaving you to slash and hope for the best. Rinse and repeat the blocking game, throw in a couple attacks that you have to duck as well as a fairly useless dagger/spear and shoulder check that both work once during combat if you’re lucky and you have Unto the End’s clunky and frustrating combat system. According to the game’s tutorial there is also a feinting mechanic to bait a creature’s block, but I was unable to successfully utilize it at all through my playthroughs as any attempt was met with a chain of attacks that usually killed me. All this is to say that combat is extremely tedious, and finally defeating an enemy feels less like a satisfying mastery of the combat encounter and more of a fortunate stroke of blocking luck accompanied by a “thankfully that’s over with.” The game gives you the option to avoid certain fights though no advice or tips on how to do so, meaning trail and error is therefore a key mechanic that is enabled due to the game’s somewhat forgiving checkpoint system. You will be using these checkpoints often as you die repeatedly or, in many cases, succeed in combat but bleed out before you can get to a campfire. The game expects you to learn each enemy’s attacking style and animations in order to predict where they’re going to attack, but doing so through continuous deaths when you’ll only see the majority of enemies once in the game makes it very unrewarding to spend the blood, sweat and tears necessary to “master” a sub-five hour game.    … Expand
  2. SuperkenGaming
    Dec 10, 2020
    6
    Unto the End
    Im tired of Souls games
    You are a ceramic teapot, your enemies are sponges, is this a game about doing the dishes? No, just another game that thinks annoying mechanics = challenge.. Here in unto the end, you go for a hunt, you fall unto these tunnels full of sponge trolls and your goal is simply to get back home… Don’t get me wrong unto the end has great idea and is a    Unto the End
    Im tired of Souls games
    You are a ceramic teapot, your enemies are sponges, is this a game about doing the dishes?
    No, just another game that thinks annoying mechanics = challenge..
    Here in unto the end, you go for a hunt, you fall unto these tunnels full of sponge trolls and your goal is simply to get back home…
    Don’t get me wrong unto the end has great idea and is a really good game if you look past how frustrating it is to actually play… this game isn’t all about fighting, you can offer items or simply run at times to avoid conflict, but the moments that fighting isn’t an option is where unto the end can just start to feel unbearable, you take little to no damage, you are dead… your enemies take 20 thousand hits, their attacks cant be interrupted, yours can,,, they can change direction of their attacks in an instance and just like your good oul pals from the soul series, youre sluggish, roll and attack and a slugs pace while youre trying to battle gazzels, they have stone malets and again you are porcelain!
    you can beat Unto the end in under an hr and half, and there is a combat assist option to give you more time to react to attacks, block them and counter attack, but youre more likely to just frustratingly put this one down as there isn’t much to pull you through, the game essentially doesn’t lose its setting apart from brief moments of light, so with nothing really to see, you don’t have much but your wife and kids waiting for you to get home.
    While the social aspects and attempt of story telling within combat is appreciated and a great idea, throwing the souls formula of slow and annoying = hard kind overshadows it all for me
    I give Unto the End
    a 6.5/10    … Expand
  3. docRhino
    Dec 11, 2020
    4
    Trial and error gets old. I do like that it doesn't bring you all the way back but the game is filled with traps and your character is not agile enough to get around many of them. They aren't easy to set off from a distance so I just end up rolling around like an idiot until I set them off. The character in general just moves like he is tired and slow which doesn't help when enemies canTrial and error gets old. I do like that it doesn't bring you all the way back but the game is filled with traps and your character is not agile enough to get around many of them. They aren't easy to set off from a distance so I just end up rolling around like an idiot until I set them off. The character in general just moves like he is tired and slow which doesn't help when enemies can pretty much 1 hit you. I like souls games but in 2d this just doesn't work.… Expand
  4. MaerkReview
    Dec 12, 2020
    4
    Unto the end in my opinion looks really good, i love the artstyle but unfurtunatly looks aint everything and unto the end sadly proves that.. It have some potential and even that i really would want to like this game then the Mechanics ruined it for me.. There are the trial and error part which i could overlook if it wasnt for the traps who just kills you instently if you dont know thatUnto the end in my opinion looks really good, i love the artstyle but unfurtunatly looks aint everything and unto the end sadly proves that.. It have some potential and even that i really would want to like this game then the Mechanics ruined it for me.. There are the trial and error part which i could overlook if it wasnt for the traps who just kills you instently if you dont know that they are thete and the combat system which just feels Broken.. You move kinda slow and when walking around that aint a problem but as soon as you get in combat with you Dying off one hit.. Its fine with souls like games but the 2D aspect just dosnt work here.. Although you dont have to start far back it just end up being a tiresome and frustrating experience
    The game is on gamepass so i would recommend to check out the feel and combat of the game there before buying The athmospher are pretty well done but yet again that dosnt help the game much when the bad combat Mechanics take over    … Expand
  5. Xbox_Alive
    Dec 15, 2020
    7
    Unto The End is a hand-crafted cinematic plat-former about a desperate journey home. Master combat through improvisation and observation in intense sword fights. Spot opportunities to use artifacts and trade supplies. An adventure told through your actions, how will you make it home? In action games where challenge is the focus, tight mechanics and responsive controls are what underpin aUnto The End is a hand-crafted cinematic plat-former about a desperate journey home. Master combat through improvisation and observation in intense sword fights. Spot opportunities to use artifacts and trade supplies. An adventure told through your actions, how will you make it home? In action games where challenge is the focus, tight mechanics and responsive controls are what underpin a satisfying experience. But when we looking at to Unto Then End it's just hard to see the winds of the classic side-scrolling plat-former games. Controls are bit frustrating rather than being challenging. A redheaded Viking-looking warrior – the player character – leaves his spouse and son to trudge out into the dangerous frozen wilds. You have scant tools at your disposal; a sword, a torch, a dagger, some healing herbs, and a lock of your spouse’s hair. The fighting itself is quite simple. One button does a low attack while another a high attack, you block using the analogue stick, and you can shoulder charge enemies to knock them down and get some hits in. Even though it is simple to learn you will likely die a lot. The supplies you find include herbs that can help slow bleeding or be mixed into a tonic, leather, bones, and sticks. The leather, bones, and sticks can be used to craft a small throwable knife and armor improvements, though armor only has so much durability. In the Unto Then End fight system is quite simple to pick up and I need to say that somehow they found the golden balance of difficulty it's neither overwhelmingly hard or piece of cake. Other than some visual glitches and some frustrating encounters I couldn't really catch anything bad and actually quite enjoyed my time with it. So don't be afraid to dip your toes into this one for the lost price of admission.… Expand
  6. a216
    Dec 10, 2020
    1
    Another hipster-style craft - "oh! Let's complicate the game so stupidly, so that the user will suffer, walk around in the dark just wasting time. After all, in fact, there is nothing new and unusual in our game - just a copy of something."
  7. EbertButFoGames
    Dec 21, 2020
    10
    Game of the year? I loved this one.

    Another review described the game as a "2D cinematic combat-adventure". That's spot on. The combat really stands out. The mechanics and animation yield these really "cinematic" fight sequences that are a blast to play. Game world and atmosphere are great too. Play time is fairly short, but I could see replaying a few times just to experiment more    Game of the year? I loved this one.

    Another review described the game as a "2D cinematic combat-adventure". That's spot on. The combat really stands out. The mechanics and animation yield these really "cinematic" fight sequences that are a blast to play. Game world and atmosphere are great too.

    Play time is fairly short, but I could see replaying a few times just to experiment more with the combat.

    Definitely check this one out.    … Expand
  8. Hornwalker
    Jan 21, 2021
    8
    As a fan of Souls-like games with high challenges I respect and appreciate what this game is going for, but what makes Dark Souls and such so great in their challenge is they never feel un-fair. Unto the End, at times(well, all the time really) feels quite unfair.

    Usually an enemy will kill you in one or two hits. Dying to enemies is part of the learning experience but for pretty much    As a fan of Souls-like games with high challenges I respect and appreciate what this game is going for, but what makes Dark Souls and such so great in their challenge is they never feel un-fair. Unto the End, at times(well, all the time really) feels quite unfair.

    Usually an enemy will kill you in one or two hits. Dying to enemies is part of the learning experience but for pretty much every encounter I found myself dying dozens of times before finally learning how to read the enemy. The enemies attack very fast. Happily there is a "Assist" option for combat which slows them down, normally I wouldn't ask for such a thing but when I found myself losing interest after dying for the 50th time to the same dude I was grateful for the option. The game is still very difficult but it at least cuts down on the number of times you must repeat your encounters.

    The ambience, sounds, and art style are fantastic. The "soundtrack", if you can call it that, is minimal and tense. The crafting mechanic is fine but there seems to be no point to it-if you upgrade your armor its gone after dying and supplies are so sparse, and deaths are so common, that it felt completely pointless to upgrade the armor. If i die in 4 hits instead of 2, it made little difference because every new encounter results in a death no matter what(at least for me).

    I'd rate this title lower but the combat assist increased my enjoyment once I discovered it. For what they were trying to do, I think the developers accomplished it very well. If you are a masochistic souls-like fan, you will probably enjoy this one.    … Expand
  9. Dcypoe
    Jan 24, 2021
    4
    Spent 30 minutes trying to defeat 2 trolls because of how slow you move, only to get killed 10 seconds later by a falling rock. I'd be okay with this if the checkpoint was AFTER the 2 trolls, but nope. Back to fighting the 2 trolls again. Uninstalled immediately after.
  10. DonRamone23
    Dec 6, 2021
    6
    A ideia não parece ruim a primeira vista, você não é um guerreiro super poderoso nem nada, na verdade, na maior parte do tempo você é visivelmente mais fraco do que os inimigos do jogo, e isso é algo bem positivo. O jogo apresenta suas mecânicas de maneira bem intuitiva, e no início você fica empolgado com os desafios que vão aparecer diante do seu guerreiro médio, entretanto, conformeA ideia não parece ruim a primeira vista, você não é um guerreiro super poderoso nem nada, na verdade, na maior parte do tempo você é visivelmente mais fraco do que os inimigos do jogo, e isso é algo bem positivo. O jogo apresenta suas mecânicas de maneira bem intuitiva, e no início você fica empolgado com os desafios que vão aparecer diante do seu guerreiro médio, entretanto, conforme passa o tempo, a aventura se torna monótona, e você sente que anda mais do que qualquer outra coisa que faça no game. Mesmo tendo gráficos bem feitos e uma premissa interessante, o game não empolga. Eu sinceramente não me animei para ir até o final do game, mesmo sendo um game curto.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Best Xbox One Game of 2020
63
#63 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. The Games Machine
    Jan 4, 2021
    65
    Unto The End is able to build an entire universe using almost no words. Every gameplay element is part of its narrative of a wild, brutal and unfair world. Sadly, its combat system feels (and probably is) unfair, making the entire experience sometime unbearable.
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  2. TheXboxHub
    Jan 1, 2021
    70
    Unto The End on Xbox is a game that you're going to either utterly love or will find just too difficult to play. Fans of old school titles like Another World and Prince of Persia will like the tricky elements and challenges that have you trying again and again. But it's a brutal world that brings all this together; one full of traps, death, and mystery, and I would personally have liked to be able to explore a little more without the constant threat of death and danger.
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  3. Xbox Tavern
    Dec 22, 2020
    70
    Unto the End doesn’t mess about, and that will likely divide opinion on it. I don’t think I’ll eve see the end as it’s just too much of a challenge for me, but I absolutely can see the care and work that has gone into making it, and how well put together it is. If you’re into that other game then this 2D side scroller should be on your radar. Just be prepared to have a proper run of things.
    Read full review
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