The SGF hands-on demo provided a brief-but-exciting look at the Guacamelee studio's next project

Blighted's Unique Mechanics Could Be The Next Big Thing In Souls-like Games

The SGF hands-on demo provided a brief-but-exciting look at the Guacamelee studio's next project

For those who missed the trailer at SGF Live, Blighted is an isometric action-RPG with combat similar to other souls-like games--slashing, dodging, and parrying are key to victory. It is set in a world befallen by Blight, a plague that alters reality itself. Before the Blight, the people of this world would plant a seed in the brain of those who passed away, and when a Memory Tree grew from that seed, the people would eat the fruit from the tree and gain the deceased person's memories.

However, a sinister being named Sorcisto found that by eating the brain directly, he would gain overwhelming power and knowledge. Sorcisto then consumed the brains of all the dead he could find, setting the Blight into the world and becoming the malevolent demon the player sets out to defeat.

As the player defeats boss monsters, they too must devour the brains of the conquered, which then threatens to make Sorcisto's methods cyclical instead of a one-off aberration. That sort of overarching threat, and the way the game presents the ever-building Blight in the player character after defeating a boss in the demo, is teasing a story that could turn out to be one of the best the genre has ever seen.

Combat is probably the most "normal" thing in the Blighted demo when it comes to souls-likes, but by creating a familiar system for new players to jump into, Drinkbox simply isn't fixing what isn't broken. Battles with enemies are tense affairs, marked by the ability to dodge, parry, and find openings for attacks--all hallmarks of what makes these types of games so beloved.

Fighting, despite that familiarity, felt really good; parrying attacks and turning the parry into a damaging counterattack was as satisfying here as it ever is in other games of the ilk. The boss battle--a fight against a giant spider-like creature with a horse's head--drove these points further, as watching the spider-horse-thing hit the ground after a well-timed parry was immensely satisfying.

Better still, I didn't have to play the game solo, either, as the developer walking me through the game also revealed Blighted's co-op features--which means those who struggle with souls-likes (like me) can bring a friend to help right from the jump. Having the dev with me on the journey allowed me to get my bearings faster, and in turn, upped my enjoyment of the demo.

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Despite the combat being familiar, Blighted also presents a unique mechanic with a ton of promise: The concept of Blight itself. On-screen at all times is a "Blight meter," which rises and falls depending on your performance in the game. The more Blight I had stored, the harder the game became; when I died and had to restart, I lost some of my Blight meter, which lowered the difficulty.

By tying the game's difficulty directly to the player's performance, Blighted ingeniously sidesteps one of the souls-like's genre definite debates: How hard should the game be? Here, the answer is "as hard as you make it by your ability to play it," which places the onus on the player; it's a system that, should it pan out in the final release, could be the next major step in the souls-like genre as a whole.

My brief demo offered only a snapshot of the Blight system in action--I could see the meter rise and fall with my actions, but I didn't notice any tangible change to enemy strength or any other difficulty indicators. That said, the idea still holds a ton of promise, even if it'll take some more time to truly feel its effects.

All of Blighted is set in a world with a visual style that seems to be at war with itself. The vestiges of the fallen civilization--colorful buildings, extravagant murals, and more--are all besieged with darkness and rot thanks to the Blight, creating an interesting visual dynamic. Each world I walked into during my time in the demo told its own story, and all of it led back to Sorcisto, the demon who tried to forsake the tried-and-true traditions of his fellow man--and ruined an entire population in the process.

Drinkbox is definitely onto something with Blighted; the mix of familiar souls-like mechanics, unique story, and innovative approach to difficulty has the potential to further invigorate a genre that is already teeming with new ideas. The Blight concept could be a game-changer if it pans out, and if it doesn't, there's still plenty to like in Blighted that Drinkbox seems likely to have another success story to add to the list with Guacamelee, Severed, and Nobody Saves The World.

Blighted is set to launch in 2026 on consoles and PC.

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This story originally appeared on: GameSpot - Author:UK GAG