first things first, the early access of guilt the deathless is very short, so keep that in mind. i have barely over two hours played and finished the given content in my second run. the first run was over pretty quickly due to learning the game and over committing without having any knowledge about what's going on, so most of my playtime went into the second run. overall it was a pretty enjoyable experience with some minor caveats! in my opinion the game is way too easy and because of the lack of difficulty, i was able to finish it quite (maybe too?) quickly. i'll definitely do some more runs to check out missed content and i'm looking forward for more content updates in the future.

edit - 03.07.2023:

after some time and several updates the game improved by a lot and the developers managed to fix most of my gripes with the game already. glad to see and definitely a reason to re-write the review.


what i liked:

+ the atmosphere is pretty dense and i instantly fell in love with the unique style of guilt. exploring the vast, forsaken lands full of horror and abominations was an immersive experience.

+ the combat was a tad bit bare bones, but still quite fun after all. everything's responsive and works well so far. no major complaints. the camera could use some work tho,

+ interesting and somewhat unique boss fights with a touch of bullet hell.

+ gorgeous retro graphics. i'm always looking for these retro styled games with old school 3D/2D graphics and outer brain studios did a decent job on this one. they definitely nailed the art style and art direction of their game. it's dark and weird, love it.

+ different biomes with unique enemies.

+ interesting npcs at frist glance - let's see how they evolve over the course of this early access.

+ calm and melodic soundtrack, which serves the immersion quite well.

+ i haven't had a single bug so far, even tho this version is still very early access.


what felt debatable to me:

~ the game does require much more diversity with loot. more different weapons, more different armor, more spells, basically more of everything.

~ the enemy variety is rather lackluster at the moment.

~ would've loved to see some more collectibles and/or flavor texts for lore and world building.

~ can't say much about the story, since the game isn't finished yet. the potential is there, i have to admit.


what i didn't like:

- making the enemies fighting each other was a questionable design choice. it is simply making the already pretty easy combat even more trivial. this has to be removed or changed asap.


8.5/10 decent core of a game, definitely recommend. i'll update this review after some majors updates and the 1.0 release.

In its current state, I can't recommend this. I understand it's EA, but this is as EA as it gets.

I have played the demo but had hopes things would have changed for this release.

Controls are sloppy (I can't walk backwards and block? I turn around instead?), attacks are basic, and enemies hit like a truck.

I really dig the art style of the levels. It reminds me so much of Organ Quarter's style. The character models are pretty bad however, even for this style of art. There's tons of clipping through items (if I can't destroy a barrel, please don't allow me to walk through it).

I can see where the devs want to take this game and I hope it improves with more time. Right now, it feels like it wasn't ready for EA.

Some individuals forget that early access games are early access. There will be bugs and there will be issues. Forget all the negative nay sayers.

This company is dedicated to their craft and their audience/ community.

This game has incredible potential!

Over time this game will develop into a gem and cult classic. Don't miss out supporting a great dev team and a great game that's being built with our input and feedback!

Really solid roguelike with a gritty, grungy atmosphere. If you enjoy Dark Souls style combat, this satisfies the craving.

The creative direction of this game is stellar. I really enjoyed the art design of the different enemies and stages, and the voice acting, music, and art style are all of high quality and set this game apart from other Indie titles.

The difficulty is appropriate and the gameplay is engaging with the different styles of enemies, bosses, and loot. The Guilt system is interesting and has a lot of potential, but I think there's some balancing work needed there. The devs seem receptive to feedback and overall I'm excited to see how this game develops in the coming months.

Pros:

• Unique and exciting art style
  
• Engrossing atmosphere
  
• High quality sound track, looking forward to the OST ;)
  
• Voiced characters with great VAs
  
• Lots of enemy variety and great boss battles
  
• If you like Dark Souls, Rogue-like elements (I do) then another Pro!

Cons:

• Missing some quality of life features as expected from Early Access
  
• Couple of bugs, nothing major
  
• Issues with balance. Will be resolved with feedback I'm sure.

Exited for the future of this game!
Awesome potential!
Good luck Outer Brain Studios!

Why is it so hard? I can't beat the first boss without being super lucky with item drops or finds. The second boss wasn't much better. And sent me all the way back to the beginning of the game? Jesus Christ

EDIT: Nevermind. Came back a day later and beat the "entire" game on my first try. Game is easy peasy once you start to understand what is actually worth incurring Guilt. Blood Altars are more important than I originally thought, something should be done to make them look more like a utility location rather than a potential combat encounter, during my first day's playthroughs I never touched Blood Altars because I thought I'd be in an unnecessary combat. Really enjoyed it, lots of potential. Hope there's more content soon.

Way too early access, feels like a gamejolt or itch.io demo! Don't buy, severely underdeveloped,. even for an early access release. This should have stayed in development. If you wanted to you could beat this game in under 10 minutes, thats how little content there is.

Everything looks the same, weapons feel the same, spells are useless, enemies are a joke. This is a terrible excuse for a roguelite. The bosses feel weak, but with a ton of health.

I hope the developer sees this and issues me a refund! This is beyond a pre alpha mess.

A good game with an unlimited mode coming soon! The dev's are responsive on the discord and actively seeking feedback.

Don't forget to lock on to your targets with Q. I have seen some reviews here about being unable to block while walking backwards. you can't block and go backwards unless you are locked on.

Very much early access, with bugs, unfinished content, etc, but these things should be expected for early access.
Despite some clunky animations, combat is pretty solid so far. The dynamic music changes are awesome, and very fitting for the mood of the game. Devs are very active on the discord, and are always listening for feedback/ideas. If you're fine with the growing pains of early access games, this one has a ton of potential, especially if you also like souls-like or roguelike games.

GUILT: The Deathless is a pretty fun game. It's an isometric top down hack and slash. Combat is decent and the constant loot you pick up really caters to those who love build/growth customization. The enemy models are awesome, especially the bosses, and parrying feels very satisfying.

With that being said, this early access launch build is VERY limited in content. Basically 2 acts right now and not that many different types of weapons/spells. You can finish it very quick and it kinda feels like a demo.

I'd gladly play through the complete game but don't go in right now expecting a full dozen or so hour experience. The game does deserve your support but just be wary there's a long way to go thus far.

Check out my full gameplay review video for GUILT: The Deathless. I go into great depth about the Story, Graphics, Audio, Gameplay, and other noteworthy things I feel needs to be mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpWtKP3-_L8