We Who Are About To Die

This game has been the most painful yet rewarding game to figure out. If you want to spend hours building up a one armed crippled gladiator that wins his battles with nothing but a frying pan, look no further

Described in store as a "Roguelite," but this game seriously lacks in any kind of meta progression or anything to help alleviate that feeling of just wasting time away. Watching gameplay beforehand i didnt realize that nothing you invest in or try to set yourself up for really carries over in any significant way. was under the impression you could level up your scollo to start producing better and better fighters. This is a "roguelike," and i wouldn't have bought it if i had known that there was no meaningful progression between runs.

For an early access game made by a tiny team, this game is truly fantastic. The combat is frustrating in the best way possible: you are not the hero, you're just another lame, low level loser struggling to make it through another day of bashing other losers’ heads in the pit. To succeed, be smart, strategic, and serendipitous. To fail (die, I mean) be dumb, desperate, and doomed. Every win has a cost, and you’d better think about how you will balance them before you make a bad choice. Case in point: I had a high level gladiator with godly armor and weapons, so I put him in an elite tournament and made several bets to try to make a bunch of money. I made it to round 3, then got in danger of losing some of my bets. I got desperate and started attacking wildly. Bad move. The enemies quickly disarmed me (figuratively, and then a few seconds later, literally) ending my gladiator’s career and life. Was I mad? Nope, I made the bad choice, now I need to live with the consequences. Good: Combat is (mostly) fun and responsive. Really detailed world building. Different character origins, locations, cultures, and so forth. Written like the world’s best choose your own adventure. Succeeding in this game feels like you accomplished something. No hand holding, you gotta earn it. The music is pretty solid and appropriate The artwork and graphics are good The Bad: Still kinda buggy (but, duh, it’s early access) Some balancing/ quality of life fixes badly needed. For example, flails really suck right now. They swing like a glacier, and the animation mostly consists of you standing and slowly twitching while not attacking, while enemies kick your ass. Similarly, you get disarmed CONSTANTLY. Like 5 times a fight. Every time. I don’t think that real gladiators had their weapon handles coated with grease for comedy fumbles. Finally, the influence system, although pretty good overall, needs a little work. It is way to easy, and likely (because of the math involved) for ALL of the influencers to kinda hate you. Quibbles/ personal nitpicks: Would like female gladiator characters and/or opponents. Historically, they did exist. More lore please! The pseudo-Roman province in the game has pretty good world building, and sometimes I do just want to read a little lore glossary (or maybe an art book?). Once your character dies (or wins) they apparently disappear forever from the world. A memorial shrine of some sort, or even just a written summary would be nice. The auxiliary slots should be accessible during combat (or maybe I haven’t learned how yet). As they currently exist, they are sort of useless. Storing stuff you can never use when you need it? Hoarder simulator? Kinda like the lore thing, I would like some more story/role playing options. Where does my gladiator live? Does he have a room, and can I see it/decorate it/ upgrade it? Does he have a family? Can we get one? Overall, the game is very good. It is perfectly playable and fun exactly as it is. Compared to a lot of finished games released by big studios, this game is incredible. If you like any sword combat kind of games this game is well worth the money. Did I mention it is remarkably cheap? The full price is the same as a discounted price for most games, and the discounted price is honestly ridiculous. Buy it. Small studios that do a good job need to be supported.

We Who Are About to Die is a really nice, unique game with a vibe all its own — I loved its concept and the way it puts you right into that grim, gladiatorial grind. The problem is it doesn’t give you much reason to stick around long-term: after one run (maybe two, maybe three), the loop starts to show its cracks — how many times can you realistically do the same thing again and again? It needs more variety on systems, maybe an actual campaign and or multiplayer to keep players engaged. but as it stands it’s perfect for an intense playthrough until you get bored rather than an endless habit.

Became quickly repetitive. I wish more was done with loop and the mechanics of this game. Something that could keep me coming back to play this game again and again. As it stands its been months since I put this game done and I dont plan on coming back to it.

Prinzipiell war das Spiel wirklich vielversprechend. Rouglike im alten Rom, ein Kampfsystem welches Mount and Blade ähnelt.. Bei Early Acess kann man eigentlich immer mal ein Auge zudrücken, solange der Spielspaß stimmt aber hier wirkt das Spiel einfach zu oberflächlich und unfertig. Alles ähnelt sich sehr schnell und nach über 10 Stunden hat man eigentlich schon alles gesehen. Daher bleibt auch der eben genannte Spielspaß sehr schnell auf der Strecke. Die Gegner verhalten sich auch immer gleich. Dabei ist die KI sehr primitiv und man hat das Gefühl gegen leere Hüllen zu kämpfen, welche orientierungslos durch die Arena rennen. Die Level wiederholen sich auch immer wieder und die dynamischen Elemente im Level, wirken mehr wie Gimmicks als wirkliche Spielelemente. Richtigen Progress gibt es auch nicht. Wenn ein Charakter stirbt, fängt man wieder bei null an. Die Möglichkeiten seinen Charakter anzupassen sind quasi nicht vorhanden. Man kann bei jedem neuen Run ein paar Eigenschaften gegen Gold und Ruhm freispielen - das war es soweit. Das Ganze ist also nicht sehr motivierend. Im jetzigen Zustand ist das Spiel daher leider nur bedingt zu empfehlen. Mal schauen was die Zukunft bringt.

I really wanted to like this game. Unfortunatley, its just not that good. Every battle is the same. The weapons all feel very similar. The favor system is wonky as hell. This is supposed to be a game that you can repeat many many times over, but I was insanely bored after my first playthrough, and my second and third playthroughs were identical to my first even though I chose totally different paths. It is advertised as a roguelite, but it is NOT. There are only like 2 variations of armors and weapons, and trying to pass your knowledge on to your next playthrough is basically useless, because it all gets erased if you reroll your new char more than once. Cant recommend. Do NOT buy this game, no updates since Nov. 2025. Looks like he got his money and ran

I like melee combat games like Chivalry 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Mount & Blade... and I like this game too! The combat is different from those games but fun in it's own right. The main types of weapons all feel different to each other & you'll need to think about weapon range, speed & animations as well as armour locations and types all while managing your stamina and trying to dodge or parry your opponents blows. It has 3 difficulty levels, so you can select the level of challenge you want. And it's even got a Sandbox mode where you can adjust all the settings like your HP, enemy HP, weapons, armour, traits, damage dealt etc... pretty much everything it seems! I've had great fun with it so far. :-)