Chris InglisAchilles: Legends Untold is a souls-like action RPG by Dark Point Games and released in Steam Early Access on May 13, 2022. Set in a story inspired by Greek Mythology, we play as Achilles who is tasked with ending the conflict between Hades and Ares. We will battle gods and mythical creatures while picking up resources and loot to upgrade your character. Combat is at the core of this game and can be quite challenging, with a higher difficulty starting point than similar games. It’s rewarding as you progress and unlock new talents and skills but punishing if you struggle to find the next save shrine.
My first experience in Achilles: Legends Untold was back in January with a closed playtest. The introductory sequence, which acts as the game’s tutorial, was different to what I have been playing in this early access release. In the playtest, I was collecting loot from enemies straight away such as heal pots, grenades, and resources. There was a giant scorpion I had to fight which I found by exploring a side track down to a beach, and the first boss fight against Hector was tough! We got to meet Hephaestus, a Blacksmith who gives you a shield that you can throw at enemies and retrieve. The final playtest boss was Paris who is an archer and defeating him ended the test. It was a fantastic sample of the gameplay and I just wanted more.
Fast forward to now, having played this same starting area in this early access release, the first area is somewhat of a disappointment as there’s no Scorpion on the beach, Hector was easy to take down, you couldn’t access the sewer and the fight with Paris is pre-ordained as, whether you lose or defeat him, you get killed and are sent to Hades. It felt rushed and lacked the difficulty and exploration of the playtest. Putting my experiences aside, fellow co-founder of Roundtable Co-Op Johnny played this starting area as well and he thought it was a decent introductory sequence giving us enough of a taste of the combat to prepare us for what’s ahead.
Once you’re into the main story of Achilles: Legends Untold, the combat difficulty takes all you’ve learned thus far, and you need to time your attacks, blocks and dodges as you can easily be overrun if you don’t dispatch enemies before moving on. You also need to be mindful of your stamina as it depletes quickly. Monsters do unleash from chasing you eventually but the skeletons and then humans are closely spawned together so you’re better off clearing the path first. Archers are quite powerful, and I while you can block their shots, you will want to take them out as a priority otherwise they will hit you in the back as you’re defending blows from multiple melee combatants.
There were a couple of other boss characters I fought along the way which, once you knew their movement and mechanics, were quickly despatched. The biggest hurdle I found was searching for the next shrine so you could rest, create a respawn point and spend souls you’ve earned. There is no minimap or map at all, and I did like the fear of exploration, not knowing what monsters you will come across next. There were several times where I died while searching for the next shrine, and each time you die your souls are reset to zero, teleporting you back to the last visited shrine. You can fight back to where you died and restore your lost souls, however if you die before finding your initial death location, you lose the first grave and all those souls you had stored.
Pressing ‘G’ shows a fire trail for where the main quests needed you to go, but there are so many side paths and loot bags tempting you to leave the main path. I did find some new weapons, both single handed and dual wield, as well as new shields which helped increase my stats. However, there were a couple of times where I got completely lost without any in-game map and spent 30-60 minutes trying to find a way out. Towards the end of this early access version, you come up against an invisible wall and need to use Hades vision to see the wall, but more importantly see and defeat the guardians. You can’t keep Hades vision on too long as it depletes your health, so I am looking forward to watching the game develop over the early access period through to the game’s release.
This early access version of Achilles: Legends Untold takes you through the prologue and the first of five planned story chapters. Once you get a handle on the combat and stamina mechanics and start to unlock some talents and new skills, this souls-like aRPG has great potential. The history of Achilles and Greek mythology makes for such a great setting to play through. The difficulty of the game is hard compared to other games, but it gives you enough of a challenge that you want to come back for more.
This review utilised a key provided by Evolve PR. Achilles: Legends Untold is available now on Steam early access.
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