With so many games being released on a weekly basis, I am often a bit late to the party when something truly great comes along. This was the case with 2018’s Dead Cells which was an amazing adventure blurring the lines between rogue-lite and Metroidvania genres that I only recently discovered thanks to the Xbox Game Pass. Like anything that proves to be a financial success, it’s only a matter of time for imitations to hit the market, and that is exactly what the newly released Rift Keeper is. The question is, is it a worthy competitor or a pale comparison?

Much like the previously mentioned Dead Cells, this manages to incorporate rogue-lite elements into the story. You’ll don the guise of one of the Rift Keepers – ancient warriors in charge of keeping our world safe from the evils that look to tear portals between our world and theirs. Upon death, a new keeper steps up to take their place, essentially starting from scratch. It’s something that wasn’t really needed to sell the game, but a nice touch nonetheless.

The similarities don’t end at the narrative, as the only major difference between the two games is the fact that Rift Keeper requires you to kill at least 70% of the enemies from each level before progressing forward. Doing so will net you a chest with valuables (or junk… in most cases it is junk) with additional chests up for grabs for completing the level within a set timeframe. This adds the same risk vs reward layer to the game, as you’ll be left questioning whether you should proceed to look for more gold and upgrades or hope that the extra chest makes up for it.

If you look at both of the games side by side, the major difference is this game channels an NES throwback style – so much so that if you squint your eyes, it almost looks like the original Castlevania, which is only enhanced by the starting weapon being a whip, each and every time you start a new run. From the start of each run (unless you opt to spend your precious gold on an upgraded weapon for the attempt) your toolbox will only include the whip and a dodge; quite honestly, it feels a bit bare bones. Not only does the attack lack in range, but it also takes far too many hits to dispatch even the lowest level enemies. At first, this is just a minor inconvenience. However, once you sample some of the better weaponry, it becomes tiresome quickly. The previously mentioned dodge ability fares about the same, as there seems to be a one second or more delay in launching the ability when an instant reaction is needed, rendering the need for this null.

The good news is, once you get some better equipment under your belt, the combat improves exponentially; especially if you manage to luck out and acquire one of the uber high-end weapons that leaves a trail of broken enemies in your wake as you slaughter them with single hits. It’s a cathartic feeling when everything lines up perfectly and barely falls short of the high I get from zigging and zagging through Motion Twin’s game, but it’s a feeling that relies more on luck than getting your timing down to an art. Sadly, these runs are few and far between. In most cases, it feels like the game is difficult with no explanation – even when you’re persevering, it finds a way to piss in your Cheerios.

When things are not going your way, it walks a thin line between fun and tedium by throwing relentless enemies that will make a beeline for you as soon as you land on the same plane of existence they inhabit, some of which come packing devastating attacks that take so much of your life bar that it feels pointless to even push forward. Even with enemies that will push you to your wit’s end, the greatest opponent in Rift Keeper is the randomness. You’ll be up against the more often than not disappointing drops, the shrines that offer curses or buffs (usually curses), and traps hidden behind enemies making it feel like everything in the game is on fire and you’re doused in gasoline from start to finish.

Upon death, which happens frequently (I racked up over 50 deaths prior to reaching level 8), you’ll lose everything within your inventory with the exception of most of your gold. The economic system found within the game is just as punishing of the rest of it and is in line with what I imagine Soviet Russia would use in terms of their taxes, costing me close to $2,000 gold per death. Making matters worse, the items found within the village’s shops are so weak yet overpriced, you’d think you were shopping with real money on a free to play venture – coming in at such a high price I felt like I needed to hold out on a better option to appear later or just wait for a decent drop from one of the chests.

Despite the constant feeling of failure, I found it difficult to put this down. Outside of the fact that the dodge mechanic is useless and the starting weapon feels extremely mediocre, there is a real challenge tucked within the digital walls of this game. Unlike Dead Cells where I felt like I was at a constant battle with myself to improve my own skills, Rift Keeper makes it very clear that it is the enemy and if you keep at it, eventually, you’ll get that perfect run where everything aligns, allowing you to press forward.

Try as it might, Rift Keeper is nowhere near achieving the addicting gameplay loop that Dead Cells mastered flawlessly; however, I can’t help but admit behind the staggering difficulty that relies a little too much on luck and not enough on skill, that there is a rather difficult game that offers a similar challenge. If you’re like me and have seen literally everything the other has to offer, you should check out Rift Keeper – just keep your expectations in check. If you’re on the other end of the spectrum and found Motion Twin’s masterpiece on the difficult end, you’d better just walk away now, because you won’t stand a chance.

7 out of 10

Pros

• NES Version of Dead Cells
• Satisfying Combat with Upgraded Weapons
• Extreme Challenge

Cons

• Mediocre Starting Equipment
• Overly Punishing Mechanics

Rift Keeper was developed by Frymore Games and published by Sometimes You. It is available on NS, PC, PS4, and X1. The X1 copy of the game used for review was provided to us. If you’d like to see more of Rift Keeper, check out the developer’s site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

 

 

 

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