Serpent's Gaze

Gorgeous art in search of a combat identity: right now it sits in the dead middle between power fantasy and skill expression, and satisfies neither. STATE: DROPPED AT HOUR 2, co-op with a friend, played on PC and Steam Deck. Early Access, so this judges the current state (as of July 2026). DESIGN INTENT A punishing co-op soulslike where roguelike blessings make every run a different build, and a band of friends slowly overpowers a hostile desert. WHAT WORKS The art direction is phenomenal: environments, music, and a level of visual clarity that most Early Access titles never reach. It ran flawlessly on both PC and Steam Deck for us (stable FPS, no bugs, no crashes), which deserves credit. Deaths are readable, telegraphs are honest, and the blessing ideas are genuinely original rather than the usual +X% stat sticks. WHAT BREAKS The combat toolkit is too thin to carry the genre's central pillar. There is no parry, no backstab, no perfect dodge: block exists but offers no counterplay reward, so with scarce and costly heals the optimal strategy collapses into pure defensive turtling and pattern memorization. Short weapons like the mace ask for risk the game never pays back. Meanwhile the blessings, original as they are, hit too softly and arrive too rarely: we beat the first two bosses without once feeling stronger, and our second run felt like replaying the first with no power delta. The Curse system, one of the signature features, barely registered in two hours. That is the dead middle: not enough power fantasy to feel growth, not enough combat depth to reward skill. WHAT I'D CHANGE One priority above all: pick a lane. Either lean power fantasy (blessings that come more often and hit much harder, so a run has an arc, the Windblown/Hades model) or lean skill expression (one responsive risk-reward defensive option: a parry, even weapon-specific, or a true perfect dodge). The cheapest first step is the former, since it is mostly tuning, not new systems. I think i would be fun: i played hades and sworn and i loved them. But i was missing the soulslike fighting style where tactics matter more than button spamming. Secondary: surface the Curse system earlier so new players actually feel it. Of course after deciding the lane. VERDICT Buy it if you want a beautiful co-op souls-lite with friends and you are patient with Early Access; the current price is fair for the craft on display. Skip it for now if you are a genre veteran (we have played every Souls game and plenty of soulslikes and roguelikes, so this game is aimed exactly at us). Wishlist it and check back. The art and the ideas deserve a stronger combat core, and if the devs commit to one identity this could become something special. So son't give up on this game! The art direction is crazy good, potentially you can keep creating new maps for years and keep the game (and your cashflow) alive. But dont forget the target of this game is someone that looks for a satisfying combat system more than anything.

Норм для коопа.

promising game Serpent/out of 10

this game has been a blast so far. A few bugs here and there, but great design, combat and bosses. Looking forward to seeing what the developers do to keep it refreshing and fun

AMAZING game even if it is early access

Amazing game

如果你有朋友一起玩那将是非常好玩的游戏，但如果你只有一个人那么除非你是抖M或者魂游高手不然不推荐。首先这游戏感觉没有做什么难度递增上来第一个拿着大剑的精英怪就开始教学你快慢刀，加上随机事件和刷怪机制运气不好刷两三个精英怪堵门直接就跪了，再加上有些地图场景交互做得巨难，比如第一张图的第二关空旷地区随时随地会从天上飞下来一根长矛，场景里的木刺也真有碰撞伤害，再来两个快慢刀精英怪你就玩去吧；还有第二张地图的第二关，人物要在平台上战斗但是你的攻击又带有位移一不小心就掉进熔浆里扣血；还有一些机制超级强的精英怪初见基本上就要交一个血瓶的学费而且单人打起来你就只能见招拆招默认你是魂游高手来着，再加上游戏本身的rouge玩法没有存档点，输了又要从第一关开始。 不过多人的情况下游戏就变得很有趣了，甚至能玩出网游的感觉，得益于rouge的加点玩法你可以玩坦克一直回血让朋友打输出，游戏的武器众多可以根据自己的喜好开发不同流派，要是遇到打不过的怪还可以和朋友轮流拉仇恨轮流输出颇像动画刀剑神域的感觉，总之你有朋友你们又都喜欢魂like推荐尝试本作。 另外如果你不擅长魂类游戏的话，在打赢第一张图的第二个boss后会解锁一把锤子，游戏中加点全部力量和暴击以及伤害提升，遇到怪拉开距离按住1消耗所有耐力蓄满力等怪过来松手2下敲不死算炸单。

like alot cool art cool story combat could be more fluid and you should reward more for fighting the mobs before the boss rooms

Very nice game in this state, even nicer potential for the future

good game