33 souls who are damned for hell have taken a defiant stand against the judgement God has placed upon them, and now seek to rally together through several stages of hell in order to defy fate and become 33 Immortals. Players will join massive ongoing raids of up to 33 players with their chosen weapons, abilities, and upgrades to loot God’s domain, grow even more powerful, and kill God itself.

, and though I am ecstatic to see it finally released to the public, my first impression of the game had left me confused. Like all players, I spawned somewhere in Inferno, immediately thrown into a chaotic battle as Beatrice, the guide, instructed me on the basics of combat—though you won’t survive that first run.

makes sure you feel every decision, every mistake, and every moment of triumph has weight on your soul. oito 33 Immortals 33 Immortals is a bold take on the roguelike genre, but its large-scale co-op is both a thrill and a challenge. When teamwork clicks, going against divine judgement it’s an otherworldly experience—but when it doesn’t, runs can feel chaotic and frustrating for solo players.

Each one doesn’t have a lot of power in their hands alone, but even Hell itself can be taken down with enough unity and coordination. At least I hope so, since non-e of the runs I did with my teammates ended up beating even Lucifer at his domain.

. Multiplayer games live and die by their playerbases, and releasing a cooperation play-focused indie game that wants 33 players in each session is a tough ask even in the short-term unless the title simply blows up across the current gaming landscape.

This multi-tiered approach to finishing your roguelike “run” is challenging, yet very fun to play with — even though I only managed to complete just three Torture Chambers before succumbing to the elements (aka ‘ripped apart by monsters’). As I would learn during repeated runs – it seems the number of completed Torture Chambers is retained should you die and reenter Inferno — the larger the group of fellow Souls I traveled with, the larger my chances of survival became – and you can imagine how much bigger those chances get with 32 other people on your side.

I had good luck defeating Torture Chambers with just three or four fighters Completa, but six was always welcome, hence my eventual shepherding. I also ended up prioritizing keys when shopping at the Bone Shrines scattered around Inferno because, dang it, I love unlocking chests.

With so many random players on the map at any time, it’s easy to feel like your small mistakes aren’t spotted, while your successes are clear for all to see, and even participate in.

There is a deeper story that unfolds behind all this action and during the repeat trips back to the safety of the Dark Woods, afterlife’s sole safe haven, but don’t dive in expecting a Hades

isn’t without its flaws. The movement system feels stiff, with attacks locking you in place and dashes on a very brief, frustrating cooldown. Early on, this makes combat feel clunky and restrictive, and while later upgrades help smooth things out, it still never reaches the fluidity you’d expect from a game that throws you into such chaotic battles.

In the same options menu, control bindings for both keyboard and mouse, and controllers, are missing. I did not have any issues with the existing control scheme, but that doesn’t mean this shouldn’t be a launch feature, even for an early access experience.

Being an early access release, Thunder Lotus has a lot more planned for the title following its initial release. On the road to 1.0, the studio hopes to add more features like private sessions, more enemy and boss variety, and the third world that let players fight God.

Of all these choices, I liked playing with the Bow of Hope the most, as it kept me at a decent length away from enemy attacks. Also, its Guiding Light feature, where returning arrows sliced through monsters on 33 Immortals Gameplay the way back into my quiver, allowed for a nice interplay of positioning to my targets so I could double-up on damage. I really like how 33 Immortals

Then there’s the one-man army. The ultimate dude who has min-maxed his build, got the perfect rolls during the run, and wants to get through the boss with or without his team. I saw all variations of these through my brief time with the game.