Withering Realms

Really hoping the reviews tip into the "Overwhelming Positive" category as more people learn about the magnificence that is Withering Realms ❤️ it's so close already, and truly deserves that rating! I've only seen 2 negative reviews so far and they both boil down to "I'm bad at combat and can't be bothered to get better". There's SO MUCH build variety in this game that if combat is your only gripe, try a different strategy, learn the game more, there's plenty of respec options and ability to do so! It's simply a masterpiece, and it's still in Early Access, I can't wait to 100% this game and find all the hidden endings and secrets as they get added down the line, well done Moonless Formless, you are amazing!

This game is excellent so far! Gameplay feels like a combination of a Soulslike (without the death penalty) and Resident Evil, and the atmosphere and enemy design remind me of Silent Hill, and it still feels like it's own original thing which I love. I highly recommend it so far! I like it so much I went and bought Withering Rooms to play when I'm done Realms.

I think it's quite telling that despite coming out in such close proximity to other titles i was excited for, it's Withering Realms that i look forward to playing the most when i come home at the end of the day. The game itself plays like your average souls-like with the one exception that the camera is either fixed or set south of your character, à la Animal crossing. Beyond that, it's business as usual: dodge roll, block, level up, build around heavy or light weapons, magic, firearms or a blend of all of them. So why then, do i love the game so much? To summarize, it feels comfortably familiar (for the reasons cited above) but also bold and new in how it approaches progression. From what i've seen so far, the game is a succession of "zones" that all have unique enemies, events and dungeons. Each of these zones contain a story-related, hand crafted dungeon as well as a randomly generated dungeon reminiscent of dungeon crawlers of old. This is without mentioning the many points of interest you can find around the open areas of each zone, which net you unique loot and are a nice way of grinding for xp or testing your build. The game is linear, but you are given a lot of opportunities to go off the beaten path and there's lots to discover if you do. Another strong point is the atmosphere: the devs refer to Withering Realms as a "Horror Action Game" for a reason. Through its spooky locales and grotesque enemies, this game does an amazing job of immersing you into its world, as you face its horrors and slowly learn how to best deal with them. The music is also amazing, mixing calming piano tunes with disquieting horror stingers and even the occasional breakbeat banger. It all comes together quite wonderfully. I am not through with the game yet but from what i understand it is content complete, with the Early Access period meant to allow implementation of endgame activities, translations and general polishing and balancing. Setting aside the occasional weird hitbox and some pretty rough early game encounters, Withering Realms already feels like a finished product.

Simply amazing. Just what you'd expect from a sequel. Combat is more open, more weapons, more items, more monsters. Great theme.

this game's so good that it released today and I've played it for 250 hours already

After playing the first game which was also a banger, I could not wait to play this Game. My experience playing through this game was super rad and it is probably one of the harder and unique "soulslikes" out there. I played this first day of early access release, and I personally Didnt really get many bugs playing through the entire game, Zero crashes. The main issue I was having with the game is the difficulty\balancing (it was hard but really really fun). Other than that it was unfairly getting pushed into the corner of a room by getting attacked by 10 things that arent even visible. The boss fights were awsome, and the sense of progression is unmatched in this game, it really feels great to level up and get stronger. Overall very fun occult flavored game, would highly reccomend. Also the first game is mentioned here n' there which is really cool. I would suggest playing Withering Rooms first as they dont really explain much in terms of lore, and you only really kinda get what is going on from the lore in the first game, otherwise from eye level if you havnt played the first one, it just looks like the theme of the game is: witches, zombies, and eldritch, waddling around some crappy old buildings with very little context. Gameplay wise it is very exciting to fight using 2 hards that are upgraded independantly with a 3rd hand available as the ghost girls items. the combat is quite clunky but I feel like that is the point as you are controlling a puppet. The clunky combat is what makes it very exciting, im starting to be convinced it was a design choice as some of the fights are stellar to be a part of. Some of the enemies feel borderline unfair, especially at night time in the game with a slow effect being applied to you every 30 seconds with a seemingly infinate number of enemies respawning to hunt you down seems a bit unbalanced lol. otherwise the enemy design is really cool, and it feels like i havnt seen enemies like these before as some of them are pretty terrifying looking. The cosmetics in the game are fun and exciting and there are lots to change out on your character. I feel like alot of builds can be made in this game based on the items that give you perks, and the sheer variety of weapons and clothings available. Visually this game is quite striking, there are not alot of games out there that do it this well. The artistic direction is very tasteful and there are lots of bright colours paired with a drab colour palette which really pops. Also during night time, the shilouettes laid up against the night sky never gets old TLDR: Overall I think for 20$ CAD or whatever, this game is extremely good value, and is quite a treat to look at, as the environments are very unique and feel hand crafted. as far as the gameplay goes, I sweat really hard. This game just isnt for the feignt of heart as they get you fighting nasty looking creatures in the dark with very little lighting paired up with some clunky ass controls on keyboard and mouse. which really does give the effect of a ghost girl piloting a puppet mech. The story was fun and exciting and I cannot wait for the devs to add more content to this game. I beat it in around 20 hours and there is still more to do!

After having LOVED Withering Rooms, I have been so excited for the release of Withering Realms. I'm not very far yet but I've seen feels very polished for EA. It brings something new to the table after Withering Rooms while still retaining many of the same elements that made that game so good. I'm so excited to delve further into this game and highly recommend you try this one out (and Withering Rooms)!!! This developer is incredible and both games are an absolute labor of love. I feel Withering Rooms did not (at the time of writing this review) get anywhere near the attention and credit it deserves, and I hope the release of Withering Realms can bring eyes to both games so that people can discover what masterpieces they are.

If what most inspires you in the action RPGs [i]from[/i] a certain [i]software[/i] company is more their personality than the combat, try [i]Withering Realms.[/i] The variety of locations, enemies, puzzles, bizarro one-off set-pieces... Absolutely packed with side quests, little secrets... Wild. So much personality The combat? Serviceable but stinky. The whole dodge-and-weave stamina management part sucks. Half the enemies in the game have near-zero-start-up attacks that punish you for playing proactively whatsoever. My attempts to approach boss fights strategically fail while my damage races and shield-and-strafes succeed. Basically, it's the worst case scenario for Souls-like combat, and not enjoyable in isolation. But the friction of it all... The ways you respond to it with the various tools and accessories and weapons at your disposal... That's strong. It reminds me of older action RPGs where the weaker action half lets the RPG half shine. I dig that. Is that coping? Perhaps. But I've failed, thought up a new strategy, failed again, though up a new one, and succeeded. And that's RPG-type fun! Sometimes a game needs to be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to force you to have that kinda fun.