There's always been a trend in cinema where two movies can come in closeness that both touch upon surprisingly similar subjects. We have seen pairings such as Deep Impact and Armageddon, Turner & Hooch and K-9, and Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down. Right now, over here around the gaming side from the tracks, we're experiencing our very own such phenomenon, as two new Souls-likes look to tackle the idea of an automaton hero taking on an evil clockwork army inside a dark and twisted form of a past era: Spiders' Steelrising and Round 8 Studio's Lies of P.
In contrast towards the tale of the weirdly hot robot Pinocchio living out a reminaging of the Italian children's novel, Steelrising pulls in the real-life French Revolution. Here, King Louis XVI attempts to quell an uprising of the people utilizing an army of robots developed by Eugène de Vaucanson, the fictional nephew of French inventor and artist Jacques de Vaucanson (a pioneer in the world of early automata). Because the King's machines rampage across Paris, there's only one because can stop them: Aegis, a fellow android that currently serves as a bodyguard to Queen Marie Antoinette. With her mistress concerned about those things of the King, Aegis heads to learn more about what's going on and try to stop the madness.
From the beginning, Aegis is an interesting character, and she plays into a concept I've long found fascinating: the hero who happened primarily like a tool for humanity, but who then rises above humans to become their savior. (It doesn't hurt that I finally watched Blade Runner 2049 recently, which touches on some similar topics.) At first, her interactions with NPCs in Steelrising are borderline comical, as pretty much every encounter runs through the same cycle: Aegis attempts to speak to someone, they assume she's a death machine, she explains that she's out on orders in the Queen, and then said person suddenly includes a change of attitude and begs for help.
The deeper we get in to the game, the richer Aegis' personality becomes, yet that occurs without the developers ever feeling the need to make her too human. She has a few minutes of real emotion which i can't talk to more without getting into spoiler territory, but I quite enjoyed getting to play as a character which has a voice (figuratively and literally) and involvement in what's happening while also feeling like much more of an observer to the human drama that's going on rather than a full participant. As somebody who often gets too emotionally associated with making choices in narrative games, it had been a nice break to get at invest in decisions while also kinda kids concerning the messes those fleshbags were getting themselves into. Allow me to have cake, and eat it too.
We also see Aegis grow as a character on the gameplay level. When Steelrising kicks off, our heroine really isn't that a bodyguard, as her stats are pretty low and her abilities very simple with regards to Souls-likes. After felling the very first number of bosses, the sport provides three upgrades which make Aegis less clunky both in combat and exploration: a grappling hook that may also deal electrical damage, a ground/air dash that builds up an enemy's frost status when hit, and a powerful kick that may both destroy obstacles and hang foes alight.
Steelrising initially promises several weapons for players to experiment with, but the reality is that there's a core selection of armament types that then shuffle their special moves and elemental affinities to create more variety. The truth is, I never felt like I had all that many options with what to wield, at least in the way I approached the game. Early on, I had been swapping between the Armored Fans, Fire Chain, Shield Musket, and Wheel of Vengeance (a giant pocket watch that swings very slowly yet hits very difficult). However, because of one boss in particular, it soon seemed illogical to go with anything apart from a weapon that features the opportunity to counterattack. Basically really required to do elemental damage, Aegis' upgrades were ever present, and maybe I simply have no idea how to use it right, but Steelrising's block (for all those arms that offer it) feels almost useless. Having the ability to parry most of the attacks enemies would throw at me, and then enter extra hits in return, was just far too powerful a choice to ever consider swapping out.
My lack of enthusiasm over weapon selection would result in a bigger realization I had about why Steelrising just wasn't sitting right with me early on: This can be a game that appears to take inspiration from Dark Souls-as in, the initial Dark Souls-when we're now living in a post-Elden Ring world.
Now, I wish to be clear: I'm directly comparing Spiders' latest release to FromSoftware's groundbreaking action RPG because such comparisons are absolutely going to happen, fair or otherwise, because of the games launched mere months apart. For the reason that, it simply feels like a few of the ideas here are now clearly outdated. The treacherous and/or lengthy runs to bosses and the focus on backtracking-laided exploration due to a insufficient fast travel are several examples. This isn't just a problem when comparing Steelrising straight to Elden Ring, but also when looking toward older games for example Dark Souls III or Bloodborne, where FromSoftware was already moving past a few of the ideas it had helped to popularize.
In fairness, on the other hand from the argument, there are some neat touches here that provide new twists on old Souls ideas. One is the Endurance system, which serves as your typical stamina bar, governing how many attacks or any other actions Aegis can unleash before having to let the bar refill. When that bar is completely drained, you can use a special Rapid Cooling option to quickly recharge Aegis' Endurance at the expense of giving her some quantity of frost ailment. Use Rapid Cooling too often, or use it when fighting an enemy that may also proc frost, and you could find yourself temporarily not able to move. I'm sure I'm forgetting some other Souls-like available that offers up a similar system, but it's a neat risk-reward feature that feels appropriate to the setting. Spiders also gives us quite a fantastic Assist Mode for players who may need help throughout the game, where one can: reduce the damage you take (even down to 0%); place it not to drop your anima (aka souls) upon death; increase stamina regeneration (as much as 300%); or activate easier cooling. I honestly didn’t try these for myself, out of anxiety about it negating my opportunity to get certain achievements, but I really appreciate that Assist Mode is there for individuals who might want it.
Steelrising is absolutely not a game title I’d call bad or perhaps average, also it is really far from the weakest Souls-like I've played over the years. And, as the game goes on, a number of its rough patches smooth out, while other quirks just end up part of the knowledge. It's just, I wish Spiders had focused more on its very own blend of action gameplay instead of copying off FromSoftware's work, whether or not the result had come along with more jank. Or-dare I say it-I maybe wish Steelrising had been less Dark Souls and much more Nier: Automata. Having the game's enemies be big, clunky, and awkward when moving or attacking is sensible, but given Vaucanson built Aegis primarily to become a dancer, it'd have been more fitting (and potentially more enjoyable) to possess her contrast them by being nimble and graceful in her attacks.
Another reason I wish the team had followed its very own path more would be that the narrative feels far more in line with Spiders' previous works-and that's the side of Steelrising which makes it stick out the most. Now, as the typical American who went through the general public school system, I barely know my very own country's history, not to mention those of some strange foreign land like France. So, I am not too proud to confess that when the sport was referring to the Estates General or even the Tennis Court Oath or asking me to keep tabs on people like Maximilien Robespierre and Jean-Sylvain Bailly, my Aegis was just smiling and nodding along like she actually knew what was going on.
That's area of the game's charm, though: just how unapologetic and unafraid it's to dive into real-world 1700s French history in between asking me to battle murderbots. Maybe I'm too accustomed to experiencing world history from the Japanese lens, where warships become teenage girls or records show George Washington punching tigers, but you've gotta respect how serious Spiders treats its home country's past here. Well, aside from the inexcusable decision to not provide us with a French-language audio track. Playing A Plague Tale: Innocence in the game's mother tongue would be a joy for me personally, and to not have the same option here feels like an enormous oversight.
In the end, I believe Steelrising is a decent era that stumbles somewhat by trying to emulate the cool kids rather than being its very own person- er, robot- er, game. When looked at simply as a Souls-like, it's definitely good, but it also certainly could have been better. As a complete experience when factoring within the characters, storyline, and other elements, however, it eventually grows into something that's genuinely unique and respectable. I don't know that I'd want a sequel to Steelrising-because it does not really need one-but if a person does come, I'd rather Spiders find its own voice when crafting the gameplay, rather than trying harder to imitate or enhance someone else's.
