Afterlife Gladiator

i love my bug wife

Pure soul.

it's been a while since i played through a game multiple times, but this one is worth it. the story is engaging and it feels like i'm going through a tiny path in a big world, the characters have weight and the turnbased/speed mix is something i've not seen elsewhere. the game might be a bit too difficult for people not used to turn based games, but it's generous in giving out re-specs and giving you plenty of time to think to optimize your strategy (always go AOE slow on Mosca, trust me) it's also cheap and has a demo so you don't have anything to lose by trying it.

ᵃᶠᵗᵉʳˡⁱᶠᵉ ᵍˡᵃᵈⁱᵃᵗᵒʳ ⁱˢ ᵃ ᵗʳᵘˡʸ ˢᵒˡⁱᵈ ᵃᵈᵈⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿ ᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ˢᵗᵉᵃᵐ ˡⁱᵇʳᵃʳʸ. ⁱ ᵃᵐ ʳᵃᵗʰᵉʳ ᵖⁱᶜᵏʸ ᵒᵛᵉʳ ᵍᵃᵐᵉˢ, ᵇᵘᵗ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵒⁿᵉ ʷᵃˢ ʷᵒʳᵗʰ ʰᵃᵛⁱⁿᵍ. ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵇᵃᵗ ⁱˢ ⁱⁿᵗᵘⁱᵗⁱᵛᵉ, ᵗʰᵉ ᵇᵃˡᵃⁿᶜⁱⁿᵍ ⁱˢ ᵗⁱᵍʰᵗ ᵇᵘᵗ ᶠᵃⁱʳ. ᵗʰⁱˢ ⁱˢ ᵃ ᵍʳᵉᵃᵗ ᵍᵃᵐᵉ ᵗᵒ ᵖˡᵃʸ ʷʰⁱˡᵉ ᵉᵃᵗⁱⁿᵍ ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ˢʰᵒʳᵗ ᵇᵘʳˢᵗˢ ᵒᶠ ᵃᶜᵗⁱᵛⁱᵗʸ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ ᶠᵉʷ ˢᵉᶜᵒⁿᵈˢ, ʷʰᵉʳᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳ ⁱⁿᵖᵘᵗ ⁱˢ ᵗʰᵉⁿ ⁿᵉᵉᵈᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᶜᵒⁿᵗⁱⁿᵘᵉ. ⁱᵗ ⁱˢ ˢᵒᵐᵉʰᵒʷ ᵇᵒᵗʰ ʳᵉᵃˡ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗᵘʳⁿ ᵇᵃˢᵉᵈ, ʷʰⁱᶜʰ ⁱˢ ᵃ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ᶜᵒᵒˡ ʰʸᵇʳⁱᵈ ˢʸˢᵗᵉᵐ. ᵗʰᵉ ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᶜᵗᵉʳˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᶜᵘᵗᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵒᵘⁿᵈ ᵈᵉˢⁱᵍⁿ ⁱˢ ˢᵉᵃᵐˡᵉˢˢ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᶜᵗᵉʳ ᵈᵉˢⁱᵍⁿ ᵃˢ ʷᵉˡˡ. ᵃᵈᵒʳᵃᵇˡᵉ ʳᵖᵍ ʷⁱᵗʰ ˢᵒᵐᵉ ᵗʷⁱˢᵗˢ, ᵃᵗ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ ᵒᶠ ʷʳⁱᵗⁱⁿᵍ ⁱᵗ ⁱˢ ᵒⁿ ˢᵃˡᵉ, ˢᵒ ᵖⁱᶜᵏ ⁱᵗ ᵘᵖ!

great art, strategic battles, big difficulty spike later on. i'm going to win this tournament.

"Afterlife Gladiator" is a wonderful little indie-RPG with a great pixelated look, interesting lore, worldbuilding and character design and simple but also thought-out combat mechanics. You play a misfit-trio trapped in a purgatory afterlife who fights in an annual tournament in the hopes of escaping that place. Gameplaywise you fight battle after battle with narration happening in between. Your speed in combat is key for it determines how fast you passively traverse the battlefield and thus can land another action. The system is quite interesting and the different enemy teams make things fresh. Sadly you haven't that much tactical depth, for your three main character only have two (three later) skills that can be upgraded and some attributes that can be raised. So the playthrough can get a little repetitive, but luckily the game throws some different terrain and map specifics in there, also minor puzzles and even one or two minigames. Later in the game you also play as different characters, put so these fights are more like puzzles / scripted fights, for you cannot level them up. The story is quite wild and unique, it reminded me a little of "Neon White", the manga "Drifters" and that one Rick and Morty episode where they tap the energy out of Valhalla. The writing is decent and overall very uncompromising, you really feel the personal vision of the dev which is a great and authentic thing. Overall you can have an unique time with it and with around 8 hours it does not overstay it's welcome! (Plus there is NG+) It defenitely deserves a broader audience and is worth the price!

shockingly fun and really feels like it was made for the love of games

This is an interesting game that has a compelling story, simple "active battles" that give a real sense of combat flow, and a fascinating art style that I rarely see on Steam. I don't want to spoil it, but it does have some gravitas to the events and characters that are introduced, and it challenged me to think on my toes more than other turn-based tactics games. The intro is confusing and dumps a lot on you, but if you stick with it, I think you'll find it's worth putting in the effort and time. Afterlife Gladiator is a rare game that not everyone will discover or even like, but I think that it confidently knows what it is, and that deserves admiration. 7.5/10.