Curse of the Dead Gods

Curse of the Dead Gods, an isometric action roguelike by Passtech Games definitely got overshadowed by Hades. The games were concurrently in early access for a time but Hades released fully 6 months earlier and became a massive hit: not much room to succeed after that. I do wonder though if Curse sold more copies simply because people (like me) wanted more Hades.

Is this Hades?

Curse of the Dead Gods indeed appears quite similar to Hades but the reality is that it isn't better in any aspect and lacks a lot of what makes the latter such a masterclass. For instance, there's no narrative to speak of: just a man clearing a temple of Mayan-like theme (I think it's Mayan). Audio design and music are adequate but not special. Gameplay does feel tight but the mechanics don't hold up for the hours it takes to completely beat the game. Visual presentation is the only facet where Curse withstands the comparison to Hades: I really like Curse's art style.

Too sweaty for longevity

Where Hades took a more hack and slash approach to combat (at least with most of its weapons and builds), is Curse of the Dead Gods more "soulsian" in nature: There is stamina management which alone makes things more methodical and less button-spammy. You have to consider when to dodge, when to use stamina-consuming attacks, and learn to time your parries for when you're out of stamina. I never mastered the last one. I never did much blocking in Hades either.

Such focus-requiring combat can be entertaining even in isometric perspective -- which I don't think is the best for it -- and it does work for a good while in Curse. But over time it starts becoming tedious, partly because of the permadeath nature of the game. There needs to be a reward for having to concentrate so much and that's where Curse is severely lacking. Its meta-progression aspects are not as expansive as in Hades and too much of it just improving the random selection of starter weapons, which is not an interesting feature. The worst of it is how the starter weapons are of the lowest level; it's quite likely that that first weapon you find during a run is of higher quality (at least with a blessing that increases loot rarity).

Once I had maxed out the number of divine favors (altar prize selection rerolls) and unlocked three blessings (which is the maximum you can have on at the same time), the meta-progression stopped feeling meaningful. Ending a run in failure felt like a waste of time. Even successful ones ceased to feel great when just more difficult versions of the same runs would be revealed instead of rolling credits.

You clear the temple section by section, wing by wing, and finally you get to do a run that ends in the final boss. Of course the game doesn't end there yet but unlike in better action roguelikes -- like Hades and Everspace, for instance -- Curse doesn't have anything new to show you after you have beaten the boss once. There's no story nor new mechanics: between you and the credits is just more of the same runs with difficulty tuned up. I would have probably dropped the game before getting there if I hadn't bought a copy and had been playing it on a subscription service.

One build to rule them all

I really was hating the game by the time I got to the credits. It's not a great mindset to play a game, especially one that feels as unforgiving as Curse of the Dead Gods. I'm pretty sure that I even had the same build on every run that had the final boss at the end. It's not an easy build to come by either since it requires many specific items. Towards the end of my experience I began restarting runs if I wasn't get the right stuff early on.

Having reliable healing is extremely valuable. Blazing Ring heals you for every burning enemy killed -- which is good for when there are non-boss enemies (most of the run) -- and Eagle's Eye heals you for a portion of critical damage dealt. The former requires you to have something to set enemies on fire, in practice either Incandescent Claws or Blazing Shield, and the latter comes off most reliably from a weapon with 'off-hand combo attacks crit' affix (on a dagger particularly nice thanks to its attack move). Chalice of Vigor then amplifies all your healing effects and Scroll of Sacred Songs increases the gains from sacrificing items to the gods which is another source of healing but also great for dealing with corruption.

The game's, you could say, titular mechanic are curses which are bestowed upon you every time your corruption bar fills up. Corruption is mainly accrued upon exiting a level and from some enemy attacks. For a new player the curses may feel quite unwarranted and punishing, but later on, for me at least, most of them became inconsequential. Some curses may even be useful, like one that makes blood offerings cost you in corruption instead of health. It makes altar prizes almost like freebies even if you don't have gold. As long as you don't get to the fifth and final curse that is -- moderation in everything.

Another game mechanic that might be worth mention is lighting: while in darkness, traps are hidden and you take increased damage. For traps lighting continues matter even later on, and that's why you have a torch to pull out, but for everything else, darkness just is what it is. Trying to affect it is either too bothersome or even futile: switching between your weapons and torch takes too long, enemies can snuff out light sources, and few bosses completely control if the fight is happening in light or dark. Trying to build your run around either lighting status simply isn't reliable.