2/5 ★ – bokonon764's review of Steelrising.

A completely separate puppet-themed Soulslike heavily influenced by Bloodborne that is decidedly NOT Lies of P. I’m not a huge fan of Lies of P, and turns out, I’m not a huge fan of this game either. I think if Steelrising had the budget that Lies of P had it could have been a lot better. I will say, there’s a promising concept and cool additions to the Soulslike formula here, but alas; it lacks too much. It was wild starting this game and then finding out that it came out before Lies of P, and yet Lies of P was the one that became a runaway hit. Granted, Lies of P had a bigger budget, took the puppet idea to another level, added in the Pinocchio aspect, but it’s largely a very similar game: would be subservient puppets have run amok, the player steps into the role of a special puppet with a sole directive. The major difference is in each games play on existing source material. Lies of P is a steampunk, Belle Epoque reimagining of Pinocchio, and Steelrising is an alternate history narrative set immediately after the French Revolution. I fuck with alternate history, and Steelrising’s concept alone kept me playing for the first 5 or 6 hours. While the idea of the French Revolution being quelled by homicidal puppets is such a rad idea, the execution feels pretty weak. There wasn’t nearly enough of a draw to keep me invested or to fight past a tough section, which is essential for a Soulslike. Combat plays like your average Soulslike game. Dodge, parry, status effects…roll into the enemy…that kinda shit. There is one mechanic that felt new for me, a sort of stamina recouping system. It shows up in Nioh, but in Steelrising, there is a punishment for it, which just adds one more thing to pay attention to during combat, but not in an annoying way. I like the enemy design and the setting of a 1700’s France where the Industrial Revolution came early. But the human characters and the main character are not hittin for me. All the armor looks doofy as fuck, the customization options are limited; I really didn’t like looking at the player character. Before this game, I didn’t think I would have a problem with something like that, but I guess it matters to me that character I’m playing as has a cool design. Gaining experience and growth never feels worth it. I think leveling could have just cost less, or the star boosts could have been more noticeable; regardless, I feel that the feeling of progress and gaining strength is essential, and it’s just not here. I don’t feel great about bailing on this game, but ultimately, it’s just doesn’t play very well. I liked the basic skeleton of this game more than Lies of P, but Lies of P felt so much more complete. If only I could combine both games strengths and weaknesses. Maybe AI will be able to do that soon. Scary thought…