Full Review of Lords of Exile on PlayStation 5
Embark on a quest for revenge in Lords of Exile.
In ancient times of war in the Far East, the lands of Exilia were overrun by creatures of the night and samurais. Amidst this cruel conflict, only a bloodthirsty cursed knight can bring hope and vanquish the darkness.
ABOUT THE GAME
- Released: Feb 14, 2024
- Price: $19.99
- Played on: PlayStation 5
- Also on: PS4, Xbox One & Series X/S, Switch and PC (Steam)
- Developer: Squidbit Works
- Publisher: PID Games, PixelHeart
Explore 8 levels of classic linear design, each featuring challenging obstacles and enemies to overcome. At the end of each level, you’ll face off against a powerful boss that will put your skills to the test. And as Gabriel, you’ll receive an extra skill after defeating each boss, allowing you to progress even further and take on greater challenges.
Experience a range of mechanics, from throwing weapons to melee combat, down stabs, jumping, and dashing. Unlock the powers of Gabriel’s curse to enhance your abilities. Play as both Gabriel and Lyria, each offering a unique and distinct gameplay experience for endless replayability.
Plus, once you’ve beaten the game with Gabriel, unlock two additional game modes: Speedrunner mode and Boss Rush mode. And the best part? You can play both of these modes with either Gabriel or Lyria for even more variety and fun!
Relive the glory days of classic gaming with retro-inspired 16-bit physics and perfectly polished controls. The game’s stunning handcrafted 8-bit pixel art and fast anime-style animations, the 8-bit SFX and OST, enriched with sounds from the Megadrive sound chip, complete the immersive retro experience.
Full Review
This review is based on my complete playthrough of Lords of Exile on PlayStation 5.
Lords of Exile is a clearly Castlevania-inspired game, but it almost seems more inspired by Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon than Castlevania. You play as Gabriel, a knight hell-bent on revenge for the death of his betrothed at the hands of the evil Galagar. .
Your main weapon is a sword and you can collect secondary weapons, such as throwing knives and scythes you throw in an arc (like the axe in Castlevania), and you gain abilities after defeating each boss, kind of like in Mega Man. It’s an interesting mix of gameplay elements, and it works really well.
The jumping in the game feels quite similar to Curse of the Moon, and you eventually gain a double-jump ability which helps with mobility (but the timing can be a tad strange, which led me to several unintentional deaths.)
The graphics also look quite similar to Curse of the Moon, having a good looking 8-bit aesthetic but you get a sense that there are effects that would actually be beyond the capabilities of any classic 8-bit console. Where the presentation really shines though is the music.
The devs were able to get renown chip-tune artists Dominic Ninmark (composer of Blazing Chrome and Rival Megagun) and Pentadrangle (composer of Roof Rage and Cyber Shadow), which would be cool enough on their own, but they also brought in the legendary Yuzo Koshiro (composer of Streets of Rage, Revenge of Shinobi and Actraiser) to contribute to the soundtrack as well. The end result is an amazing 16-bit Sega Genesis-sounding soundtrack that completely rips throughout the entire game.
While there are plenty of cheap hits, and it may take a few rounds to get a handle on the boss patterns, the game has very generous checkpoints and unlimited lives. This makes it much easier than the retrogames it was based on, however it also makes it much more accessible and enjoyable to play.
Pros
- ✅ solid 8-bit style pixel graphics
- ✅ amazing Sega Genesis-like soundtrack
- ✅ tight controls and interesting power-ups
- ✅ varied level design and aesthetics keep things fresh
Cons
- ❌ game launched with a game crashing bug on stage 3. It was patched quickly but still ruined the initial experience.
- ❌ when I completed the game it didn’t unlock the extras like it was supposed to
- ❌ jumping can feel a little off and double-jumping, in particular, has strange timing and can lead to multiple deaths
Gameplay
Verdict
7
Lords of Exile is a very cool 8-bit inspired game that looks and feels very similar to Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, but has enough of its own personality to stand on its own. It has a great graphic style, but where it really shines is its soundtrack, which sounds like it was inspired by the best of the Sega Genesis-era. The devs were even able to get Yuzo Koshiro (of Streets of Rage and Revenge of Shinobi fame) to contribute to the soundtrack – totally badass.
The only thing holding it back from true greatness is the bugs the game still has. While you won’t encounter them all the time, when I first played the game it had a game breaking bug on stage 3 that prevented me from beating the level. It would just crash when it reached a certain point and there was nothing I could do. It was patched fairly quickly but it definitely killed my momentum, and if I hadn’t intended on playing through the game to write this review, I’m not sure if I would have gone back to it.
Then I found another game breaking glitch later in the game (maybe stage 6?) that also crashed the game time after time, but eventually I found if I went the opposite direction towards the exit the glitch didn’t trigger.
The final bug is that, after I beat the game and the credits rolled, it said I had unlocked the extras mode, including the second playable character, but when I went back to the game later, none of those were unlocked. It seems I’ll have to play through the last level and beat the end boss again to see if it will unlock this time, but unfortunately there’s no guarantee.
Bottom line is this game would be a strong 8 or low 9 if it weren’t for the glitches, but until the devs iron out the bugs, it’s really hard to fully recommend it when there are so many other games to play.
If you still want to give the game a try, you totally should, but just be aware that there are still bugs and you may encounter a game crash or two. Hopefully you get the extras to unlock if you beat the game, because it certainly didn’t work for me.
Gamatroid 