The 5th annual Indie Live Expo showcased hundreds of games from developers around the world, including Curse of Eternity, an RPG developed by Imakeda Games that was released on December 1st on Steam. Set in a dystopian world, players choose a gladiator, assassin, or mage and customize their build. The game plunges us into the Viridian Empire, where the goddess Midrada enslaved all survivors with her magic.
Curse of Eternity is a small independent RPG in which we will take control of one of three heroes in order to save the Viridian Empire. Among these heroes, we will find the gladiator Bror, the murderer Orili and, finally, the magician Idumon. Each of these heroes will have their own strengths and weaknesses. But first of all, we will choose the hero that suits us the most because Bror will be powerful but relatively slow. Orilee will be very fast but vulnerable. And the magician Idumon will be easier to attack from a distance thanks to his magic. After choosing your hero, you will need to choose one of 4 difficulty levels, from Historical to Painful.
What is this game?
This is an action RPG with elements similar to the Souls games, but in fact, it is not. We will have to survive against many enemies, making the most of our stamina. For each enemy we kill, we will earn shards of light, which will allow us, as in Dark Souls, to improve the characteristics of our hero and thus raise our level. Sometimes we will meet several characters who will give us quests and who will allow us to buy some items in their shop. Our main goal in Curse of Eternity will be to find the Guardians and kill them until we reach the main goal – Midrad.
Throughout our journey, we will cross the Viridian Empire, and along the way we will find many enemies and guardians who will prevent us. But first of all, we will have a lot of puzzles. They will never be difficult to solve. Because all the information needed to solve them will be in the area, not far from the puzzle. Sometimes we will also find closed doors or even chests. Therefore, finding the keys or finding another way to open the doors will be necessary.
Combat takes place, as in all Souls games, in third person, with, as expected, the emphasis on learning the opponent’s attack to hit and dodge at the right moment, as well as managing your stamina, without which you will not be able to roll. block or attack. Boss fights are average at best, and with the exception of the final boss and a couple of exceptions, there won’t be much to overcome, even without leveling.
But the huge problem with combat in this game is that your every attack is incredibly slow and heavy, while the enemies are fast and don’t interrupt attacks.
Death and Equipment
After death, as expected, fragments of souls fall out of us, which we took from opponents before death, and now, in order not to leave our fragments (souls) on the ground, they will be absorbed by the “Keeper of fragments”. , an enemy that only randomly spawns when you have enough souls to level up, so you can’t just get them back right after you die. On the one hand, it’s a groundbreaking mechanic, but the Guardian is weak, slow, and just addictive, and after a few deaths, becomes more annoying than making life difficult in any way or anything like that.
You will get equipment by exploring the world, finding chests, dropping from bosses, and trading, as well as completing several quests. These can be spells, consumables, or weapons that can be sold to a merchant if you need souls to buy other items or level up.
Leveling up will give you one point that you can spend on the four primary attributes and a perk point that can be spent on perks related to that attribute, such as a magical proficiency for INT that allows you to cast spells of the chosen element
Combat is played from a third-person perspective, and as expected, the focus is on learning your opponent’s attack to hit and dodge at the right time, and manage your stamina so you can’t roll, block, or attack. The main problem with melee combat is how incredibly slow and brutal each of your attacks is, while the enemies may not follow the same pace. There are no detailed statistics on weapon scaling or accumulation of status effects; typically, you won’t be able to get a detailed breakdown of the statistics.
Boss fights are average at best, and with the exception of the final boss and a couple of exceptions, even without upgrades or leveling there will be nothing to overcome.
What I liked is that instead of leaving your shards on the ground, they will be consumed by the Shard Keeper, an enemy that only spawns randomly when you have enough souls to level up, so you can’t just return them immediately after death. On the one hand, it’s a groundbreaking mechanic, but the Guardian is weak, slow, and frustrating as an event, so it’s just a normal soul recovery with extra pointless steps at the end.
You’ll get gear from looting, boss drops, and trading, except for a few quests. These can be spells, consumables, or weapons that can be sold to a merchant if you need souls to buy other items or level up. Leveling up will give you one point that you can spend on the four primary attributes and a perk point that can be spent on perks related to that attribute, such as magical mastery that allows you to cast spells of the chosen element. These passives are useful and make a difference in the long run, especially at higher ranks.
Curse of Eternity is a Souls-inspired game with a lot of charm. The vibrant locations and light-hearted humor clearly set it apart from the bleak worlds that the genre usually finds itself in. This game is not really innovative or polished to the degree that gamers would expect from a modern game.
But combat speed is the most important element that anyone familiar with Souls-like games will immediately notice. It’s slow, heavy, and a little clunky, which may put you off using this product, fans of old Souls games might enjoy the game, but not new players.
