Dark Devotion Critic Reviews

Dark Devotion is a well-crafted 2D souls-like action game. The combat system is solid, and the 2D open world is impressive as well.

Dark Devotion is an enjoyable souls-like action RPG, despite being a bit derivative.

As a package, Dark Devotion is an impressive indie that does an astonishingly great deal more to iterate on the Soulslike formula than its bigger budget counterparts.

The gameplay is decent and death is typically a result of taking risks that don’t pay off (or being screwed over by some last minute negative affliction). Learning how enemy’s behave, following their tells and knowing how to respond is the best way to conquer the game. Just know that it’s going to take a lot of practice and a whole lot of deaths to reach that point. What really sells the game, though, is an exquisite visual design that demands a coffee table art book. Dark Devotion is for those who swatted Quelaag, scoffed at Father Gascoigne, snickered at the Nameless King, and yawned at the entirety of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Those looking for a challenging experience with deliberate combat, engaging atmosphere and lore, and meaningful exploration full of rewards, will not be disappointed with this title.

With its focus on treacherous exploration, along with its unique look and world, Dark Devotion delivers an incredible experience for hardcore gamers to enjoy.

Dark Devotion doesn't invent anything, that's for sure. On the other hand, he is a very good copier and knows how to pick right and left to be inspired and propose a Rogue Like as an attractive pixel art that will certainly not change the vision of the genre, but should bring a significant dose to fans of the genre who need their regular fix. The Castlevania marriage with Dark souls works perfectly and promises long hours to anyone who wants to explore everything. It is also recommended for neophytes of the genre, because even if it can be punitive at times, it is less so than others.

Dark Devotion is full of imperfections, but it is also full of great ideas. If you like metroidvania games and the Dark Souls feeling, you should give it a try, since it does deliver a challenging but enjoyable adventure.

Dark Devotion brings everything that we loved on Dark Souls : epic bosses, solid gameplay (once well handled) and of course, a deep atmosphere. In spite of that, the game is a bit too dark, minimalist, and has repetitive environments. Plus, the gameplay can be tough for newcommers.

While Dark Devotion is in no way a perfect Souls-like or metroidvania, it's definitely a pleasant mix of those two "genres." Some of the design choices at hand can make the experience feel a bit repetitive, and even annoying at times, but, as a whole, this is a pretty solid recommendation for lovers of challenging action-adventures with a dreadful atmosphere.

A transcendentally beautiful or superlatively fun game can overcome storytelling weaknesses. But that is not Dark Devotion. It gets high marks for style, and decent marks for gameplay, but the raison d’être (to borrow a phrase from the French developers) is lacking. The game makes it clear why you do what you do, but that reason ultimately feels less than entirely compelling.

A challenging but intuitive roguelike. Some uncomfortable decisions affect the pace of what is, on the other hand, a good combat-focused action game.

Hard as hell, Dark Devotion is a roguelike with some touches of Dark Souls and a huge number of curses that will make you enjoy and suffer at the same time. A really hard experience.

Dark Devotion presents a rather refreshing cocktail of different genres and games that only an indie developer would have the courage to try. Its pixel art, done nicely and with a lot of attention to details, presents a morbid and dark setting. Only issues come to inconveniences regarding controls, no jump and return options.

An enjoyable experience, essentially, especially for all the "devotees" of the reference genre.

Despite criticism, it’s well put together and it has nothing a couple of patches based on feedback can’t improve upon. As it stands now though, it’s just a bit too rough around the edges to really recommend. Especially since it can easily take you a dozen hours or more to finish. Games are often about the journey and not the destination. However, in this case the journey requires a lot of devotion and patience. Perhaps that was the goal all along?

Dark Devotion is intriguing, but design problems and cumbersome combat do their best to keep it from reaching its full potential.

Dark Devotion looks good and clearly has a lot of imagination behind it, but the systems that keep repeating throughout the game don't do much except getting you lost, confused, or frustrated.

Dark Devotion is a beautiful game that borrows from several of the best aspects of its inspirations, but it ends up sampling too many ideas at once to make for a cohesive experience. The quest design and incentives for exploring thoroughly are hindered by the one-way nature of progression from room to room. Too many benefits in terms of skills, blessings, and gear are given to the player as a leniency for dying, but they also end up trivializing many boss fights which would otherwise be spectacles. The bleak environments and low-density narrative are absolutely a perfect fit, but several of the roguelike and Metroidvania elements just stand at odds with each other too often. Dark Devotion is fine, but fails to stand out.