Oblitus

[b]Edit:[/b] I'm not entirely sure what you people think procedurally generated means. The environement doesn't change. It's the same every single time. You guys don't think Souls games are procedurally generated, do you? It doesn't take 100 hours of playing a game to know whether or not it's generated randomly. Much like in Souls games, when I died and started at the beginning, I could retrace the exact same route I took previously. Nothing changed. ---------------------- THIS IS NOT A PROCEDURALLY GENERATED GAME, DESPITE WHAT A CERTAIN CURATOR MAY SAY Oblitus feels very much like an early access title that will never receive any updates. While the game that exists is alright, there isn't much content, and there isn't much reason to come back for more once you've already played it. Oblitus starts you off in the middle of nowhere with only a spear. You can use the spear for melee attacks, or throw it at enemies and wait for it to respawn in your hands a couple of seconds later. The combat is alright, though collision detection is spotty. You can also jump and roll to evade enemy attacks. There is no procedural generation here. The only thing even remotely randomly generated is the powerups. Everything in the world remains the same once you die and respawn. Speaking of which. If you die at any point, you will be sent straight back to the menu. None of your progress is saved, and starting again will be just like the time you first started. If you pick up any of the 20 or so powerups in the game, they will be gone, and you'll have to pick them up again. There's about three or four bosses total, each varying in attacks and weaknesses. The bosses are pretty terrible, and will either repeat the same moveset over and over again, have a one-hit KO no matter your health or powerups, and/or not even have an obvious weak spot at all. The game also focuses heavily on backtracking. So you will traverse through an area, pick up something that allows you to break walls, then traverse back through the area exploring areas previously unexplored. This would be great if not for the fact that the entire world is interconnected, and it's possible to fall from the very top, through several loading screens, back down to the bottom. At that point you're better off starting over again. The framerate is spotty. There's no resolution options. There's no v-sync options. There's no options really. It's a really frustrating game, because it looks like the artists made a good game, then whoever was responsible for the gameplay just kind of threw something together from another game, didn't finish, and called it good. You're buying an unfinished game.

Three rounds of Oblitus Quick Look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-N3o1vuMF4 Oblitus is a 2D Roguelike Soulslike game whose combat is entirely focused on the use of spears. There are four bosses and (IIRC correctly, I can't seem to find the data anymore) twenty two enhancements that are really kind of necessary. My first ever boss encounter, I only managed to find "Light Armor" which did ♥♥♥♥ all against the boss. What's worse is you get locked into the fight, so you better be a super quick learner or else you are most definitely going to get the "You Have Died" screen. And it is permadeath. The levels are pseudo-procedurally generated. I say that because, I noticed that while my runs weren't completely the same, I did notice very familiar terrain patterns and obstacles. So it's more like it's cookie-cutter puzzle pieces that fit together very well randomly. The combat is kind-of tight. For sure throwing your spear is super satisfying and the feedback you get from expertly drilling a monster in the forehead is spot-on. You don't need to fetch your spear after you throw it, you just need to wait until a set amount of time has passed. Blocking and parrying are fine and work well. It's mostly just the movement and stabbing that are more-or-less hamfisted. The feel of the close-combat is just off. There isn't any weight to it, you'll only get some bogus feedback if a monster parries you correctly, but if you are just machine-gunning the shins of monsters there is no fatigue, so it's more or less just an annoying obstacle. There are, however, bigger monsters that do require you to be on your toes and fight with strategy or retreat to smaller alcoves that they cannot trespass. The art and sound design are quite lovely though. Visually and acoustically the themes blend very naturally. Even though I think the combat could be better, I do find this game incredibly fun and interesting. Recommended

Well I deleted my past review. This game is good. If you're looking for a sidescrolling Dark Souls...eh I can't agree with that. If you wanna play a game thats along the lines of Volkkor, then hell yeah try this. It's not an easy game. You will die, and die often. But if you enjoy the art style and the gameplay looks interesing, then try it out (unless you're iffy, wait til a sell comes through) If the game has peaked your interest because of the relation that it's getting to Dark Souls, then I can't recommend. I'm a man that will admit when he's wrong and I was wrong and sorry if I turned someone away. I looked into reviews, got angry, and I jumped to conclusions (you know what happens when you assume) This is an interesting game. I hope with the second installement, or dlc, that they implement some more weapons, armor, maybe even classes. Then i'll be on board with calling this a sidescrolling DS. 7/10-would challenge my poopy review again

Plenty of technical problems and bad control settings (no rebindable keys). Support from devs almost nonexistent. I bought it on day one and i havent been able to play the game enough to criticize the gameplay, i've abandoned every hope about it.

This review is 100% complete steam achievements. I created a video review/speedrun/rant about Oblitus found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51tErGpivtU -Story- You play as a Harbinger, a little mask wearing tribesman with a spear who wakes up under a monolith that gives you a very brief idea of which direction you need to move in the beginning. This information is conveyed telepathically by a guide whom is stuck on this world. This guides name is Mud. So mud tells you to find him in either the Forest, the Caves, or the Hanging Furnace, and that is really all the background you get. So you set of either right or left and really dont know where you are going until you play the game at least 4 or 5 times then you start to understand where these areas are located. Anyway you meet Mud he gives you some flavor text and tells you to defeat a specific boss in the world 1 of 3 differing bosses. You defeat this boss gain its soul and must return to Mud so he can do some sort of mask breaking manuver that allows you to enter the final area the Under. Once making you way through the Under you face the final boss and complete the game, are eatin up by a clam and transform into a large beast as best I can tell, the story gets really fuzzy here. -Gameplay- Weilding a spear that you can jab and throw and a shield to defend yourself, you set off on your great mini-adventure. Progressing from area to area you discover scrolls that give your character differeing abilities such as higher jumping, dodge rolling, poison spear, or heavy armor. There are 22 scrolls and armor variations total in the game and these create the differing gameplay styles in the game. You may end up getting "heavy armor" and "bigger" and withstand your enemies blows or you may get "dodge rolling, higher jumping, gliding, and light armor" and be quick agile and jump all around the screen. The terrain consists of quite a bit of platforming. -Combat- Easily the best faccet of this game is how responsive and accurate the combat is. Your character reacts for the most part in the ways that you would expect and if you get stabbed it is many times because you misjudged the encounter. The harbinger wields the spear accuratly and spear throwing is a large dynamic part of the game. One thing to note is when you throw your spear it follows the trajectory of the harbingers arm in an overhand throw, this creates scenarios in which you may hide behind a rock and throw the spear over the rock without leaving cover. Dodging is quick and responsive with blocking working as intended. There is even a parry (though there is little use for it.) With combat being such a strong asset to this game its a shame there is not more engaging enemies and boss fights. -Movement- The harbinger is a quick little tribes man that can roll, jump, and pole vault off of his spear. Movement is yet another strong asset to this game allowing you to quickly traverse the areas in style. Once again input is responsive and all controls (at least with the XBOX controller which I used) feel fluid. Later play throughs see your character polevaulting through levels with relativly low difficulty. -Enemies- Enemies for the most part are varried, and while very few feel like they need to be approached in a different manner than any other foe, there are differences in their movement and attack patterns. All enemies in the game (including bosses) are dispatched with 2-4 hits with the final boss uping the ante to 6 hits. Villagers will jump on your back, vultures will swoop down from above, and spiders will launch themselves at your little harbinger off of their webs or chains. Once again combat is great, however enemy diffuculty could have been ramped up for a game that trys to focus on replayabilty. -Boss Fights- One of the most disappointing aspects of Oblitus. With a total of 4 bosses that appear in every play through, there is not alot of variety. Each boss fight follows the idea of hit the enemy in their exposed weak spot and depending on what scrolls you found throughout the level the bosses may be dispatched with as little as 2 hits to said weak spot. Each boss follows the same movement everytime and has almost no variation in their attacks. While you may die the first time you face each of the bosses, I doubt you will find your demise at their hands very often at all. -Difficulty- This game does not have the intense difficulty that it states. While combat is fun and engaging it is not challenging. Enemies die after just a few hits and due to the fact all character progression comes from finding scrolls in the world there is no need to fight any creatures in the game besides the bosses.... Yea... Enemies are easily skipped by pole vaulting over them and because they do not drop experience only health after a few runs you come to realize enemies and 95% of the combat in the game is decoration. Because of this lack of need to fight any enemies in the game it really ends up turning into a pole vaulting simulator the more you play. -"Procedurally-generated realms"- Oblitus whie trying to catch the rogue-like wave states they have procedurally generated levels and while technically this may be true it is not by any means a selling point for the game. The procedural generation simply sets upgrades in one of three different spots on a static level. For each run there will be minor changes such as go over the boulder or go through the boulder. The largest change in each run is where the guide Mud is found. Do not try and sell me on procedurally generated levels when after playing the game just a few times I can mentally walk through every step of the journey in my head. -Upgrades- It has to be said that over half of the upgrades in the game really have no effect on gameplay. As an example I picked up the poison spears upgrade. I knew that the enemy I was going to hit would die from two jabs of my spear, so I proceded to stab him once and let the poison finish him off. However the only effect that seemed to happen was the enemy turned green for 2 seconds and when the poison wore off he proceded to try and bury his dagger in my throat. There are a host of abilities just like this that really have absolutely no impact on changing how you play such as impact rolling, cannonball, and impact landing. -Questionable design choices- One of the levels the hanging furnace takes place in the clouds and much of the platforming consists of jumping from hanging ladder to hanging ladder. However there is no falling damage in the game, so falling from the hanging furnace has no consequence except for some irritation about how you have to work your way back up. The hardest enemies in the game turn out to be the weakest ones. Due to a homing attack the final areas bug like creatures can easily get behind you and hurt you however these enemies are dispatched in one hit and I find myself having a much harder time confronting one of these things than the first three bosses in the game. The larger the enemy the less intimidating they are in Oblitus. Without giving the player any type of reward for killing or punishment for skipping enemies 95% of all enemies in the game simply become background noise. -Unlockables- Finally Oblitus keeps you coming back for more with the collection of a single artifact piece on each run. The game gives you a teaser of this awesome boss fight after every time you complete the game and you slowly build this mask. Once the mask is completed you start a new run and are super pumped to fight the final boss. THERE IS NO FINAL BOSS! You give the mask to Mud and he goes good job dude way to waste all your time. -Verdict- While combat is good there is no need to fight any enemies, bosses are easily dispatched and eventually you feel as if you waste your time run in and run out. So much potential but this game is a huge let down, I cant recommend.

For a 2D sidescroller to get my attention it has to be something special. 2D games like Mark of the Ninja, Risk of Rain, and The Binding of Isaac stand out to me because they offer a unique dimension to the otherwise flat world of indie games. So many 2D games depend on gimmicks or aesthetics for their depth, Oblitus’s strength is it’s solid mechanics, fluid controls, and hardcore nature. The common comparison to Dark Souls is a good one as Oblitus feels like a lighter version of the fabled soul crusher of jolly cooperation. While Oblitus does stand on its own as a unique creation, its combat will be instantly familiar to any Souls’ player. Considering how good the combat is in the Souls’ games, I’d say that’s a big win for Oblitus. And unlike other 2D sidescrollers, death actually matters in Oblitus as dying puts you back to the main menu, not a checkpoint. The procedurally generated levels are more similar to Risk of Rain’s than a truly random system, with the bulk of the level’s layouts and enemy placements being either fixed or chosen from a set of various possibilities. While every life might not come with a totally unique game world experience, the variety is enough that you’ll be learning something new about the nuances of each possible level combination for several playthroughs. The randomized power-ups and abilities also force you to approach each life with a slightly different set of tactics while still keeping the gameplay experience consistent and predictable. Oblitus is also the kind of game that speed runners are going to love. It’s hardcore nature, fluid combat, and the variability of the level design and power ups lend themselves to going for new personal bests over and over without the experience becoming dull. Oblitus is also a fairly short game that’s likely beatable in a couple of hours or so, if not less, for someone who’s beaten it a few times. Length might be a point of contention for some players, but I think it serves Oblitus well. It’s a simple game and trying to stretch it out for 10 or 15 hours of gameplay per life would have greatly detracted from how enjoyable an experience it is. Add in the great soundtrack that creates a very lush atmosphere and Oblitus is the kind of game you’ll find yourself playing off and on constantly. My only complaint is Oblitus having a locked resolution of 720p and hardcoded 60FPS framelimit. However, I see these more than anything else as just one of those things that’s going to be a sticking point for some people who let it distract them from how great Oblitus is The game stretches to fullscreen without too much of a negative impact and it feels butter smooth. All things considered, Oblitus is a great 2D sidescroller that stands out from the crowd in all the best ways. It’s fresh, fun, and best of all, good.

The world of Oblitus is massive and danger lurks behind every corner. That is what I love about it. The battles are quick, reactive, and brutal. From massive towering monsters to vicious bear creatures. Anything can kill you if you make a mistake. The music is fantastic and the visuals match its mood in harmony. While death is inevitable in Oblitus. I never grew tired of the game cause I always found new enchantments or something I hadn't seen before. My only complaint was that sometimes on occasion death felt cheating. You only learn by playing as no hints are ever given. So boss weaknesses and such must be discovered mid-combat. In all though. I wish there was more of the game. I made a video review to show off some of the features and gameplay of this game! http://youtu.be/XqIn3gEaRDM I hope you enjoy! Martyr

The game is awfully bad. Controls are sticky , not responding. The character constantly gets stuck on various elements of the scene. Enemies are awkwardly moving around and suddenly jumping to attack mode. It generally feels like a flash browser game, or a school project. I gave it 2 points, +1 for starting up on Win 10 though not supported, +1 for the nice looking graphics. Marked it as "free" because -and thank god!- i got this as a gift from a friend, or else i would have asked for a refund. Verdict: Bad [2/10]

I thought this was going to be a decent game because i am a fan of adult swim games, but this is just disappointing. Everything is wrong about this game. It wants to be a 2D dark souls like Salt and Sanctuary but fall short of every game standard. My main issue is how awkward the controls are, and sometimes there is a delay on the keystrokes which never works out well. The part which is really back is that i can't even change the controls in the options, i can't change much in the options at all, i can't even turn down that annoying music. This is a browser game that really should be free but in reality is $17 (CAD) what a joke that is. I would price it at $5. The one postiive thing i can say this that the visuals are kinda nice.

This game is unfair. And I don't mean that in the good sense, like I'm saying it's hard and forces you to learn and adapt or anything. No, I mean this game is literally unfair. It kills you through things beyond your control. You can't really effectively heal, so each time you take damage you are stuck with it forever. When you die, you don't learn something so that next time you'll do better, you think "well I sure hope next time that boss doesn't prot those two attacks in a row like that 'cause its completely unavoidable." There are no checkpoints or permanent progression of any kind (that I've found; maybe those come later but I doubt it). Every time you die, you need to go through the whole game up till that point, and you need to do it all perfectly or you just die again. The best comparison I can make is that playing this game is like having to do a complete run through the entirety of N, and if you die on any level, you have to restart on level 1. Maybe you are into that; I am not. These designers learned all the wrong lessons from Dark Souls. Bonfires are there for a reason, and if you die in Dark Souls you only lose what you made a conscious decision to risk. You encouter an area, learn the area, master the area and then never have to return there again. Here it's like 'I sure hope you love the first 5 minutes of this game, cause that's what you will spend the vast majority of your time playing.' O, and anything you hear about this game being procedurally generated is a flat out lie. I dunno if I heard that from the devs or from some other source, but the game uses a static map. Certain powerups and occasionally npcs are found in randomized locations each run, but the map itself is constant.