After years of mediocre RPGs and mediocre detective titles, Spiders Studio finally started to realize its potential in 2019 with GreedFall. A truly great role-playing game with a rich world and solid combat that proves the French team is capable of creating something special. Three years later, the genre has changed and the developer is back with his Steelrising. This represents another step up for the team. However, there are too many technical flaws that hinder a quality title.
Rather than a sprawling RPG with lots of characters to meet and a vast world to explore, Steelrising is completely similar to Souls. It retains the storytelling and choices of past Spiders Studio games — it has multiple endings to unlock based on your decisions — but it’s based almost as much on reality as any other Dark Souls experience.
Set during the French Revolution in the late 1700s, the army of King Louis XVI is replaced by legions of automatons. These robotic menaces roam the streets of Paris, wiping them out and eliminating any attempts to overthrow them. You, a customizable automaton named Aegis, leave your position as the Queen’s bodyguard and seek to stop the King’s tyranny.
There is one thing that cannot be removed from Steelrising. That is its ambition. It takes audacity to replace the real-life events of the French Revolution with mechanical soldiers, and the result is a setting that is truly unique in the game world. Throughout the roughly 12-hour campaign, you may spot some famous French landmarks, but the war-torn streets and the dangers of patrolling them are something else. An animated candlestick poses for a boss fight, a trumpeter turns the tune into damage, and a giant jar with a head leads a pack of metal dogs.
An unorthodox approach to storytelling, setting, and enemy design, but it works. This game sets itself apart from other Souls-like games that attempt to recreate the FromSoftware formula. Spiders Studio tackles a mechanical interpretation of the French Revolution, explaining every aspect to fit an alternative view of history. If anything, the developers should be commended for that.
However, it’s combat where things like souls have to count. Steelrising is most similar to Elden Ring, with combos that can be done on the ground and a jump button for vertical speed. Limited by your standard stamina bar, use the energy you need to block, dodge, and attack enemies from the ground or air. Especially if you stagger the combatant and crash it into the floor.
Great weapon versatility means you can equip two at any time from seven different classes, so you’ll find the right tool for your playstyle. Aegis can place her main weapon in one slot, while the second slot can contain projectile-based instruments that deal damage from a distance and act on elemental weaknesses, so this greatly increases her abilities. is extended to Quickly switching between the two is critical to defeating bosses. Loadouts can also be sprinkled with regular bombs and potions. All come together to create a mobile combat system with an amazing number of possibilities and combinations.
If you’re familiar with the genre, you’re already familiar with all the features this title has to offer: time your dodges correctly, retreat at the right time to restore your stamina, and get too greedy. do not. Bonfires are called Vestals, and currency dropped by enemies can be used to upgrade stats or buy new items. It looks like Seoul.
What’s slightly different, however, is that character and weapon upgrades actually count. Dark Souls games sometimes feel like you’re just increasing your stats, especially when you reach a high level, but in Steelrising every enhancement counts. . It’s satisfying to find that enemies die with fewer hits.
This will improve the combat system. I want to be actively involved for fun. As the power of Aegis increases, so does the confidence and potential to combine more powerful moves with chain attacks to take down enemies quickly. I feel
Structurally, Steelrising spans eight locations across France, including Saint-Cloud, Versailles and Luxembourg. These areas are unlocked as you progress through the story and add optional side quests. They are all separated from each other. You can’t treat the title like an open world and move seamlessly between them all.
There are secrets to uncover and small optional areas to discover, but there is really only one way to proceed. The game always advances towards the next main objective, and along the way he unlocks a shortcut that takes him back to the Vestals. There’s some freedom once an entire level is open — this is a great time to complete side quests, for example — but invisible walls always keep you from straying off the beaten path. .
You get a little more variety from the abilities you unlock throughout the campaign. Slow motion dashes, grappling hooks, and powerful kicks add light platforming to your exploration. It’s also fun to use, although you can only use it if the game deems it necessary. They also play a minor role in combat. They do little damage and help build up elemental weaknesses.
However, what lets the whole package down is what goes on under the hood. Our playthrough was constantly marred by minor visual and technical bugs. , interactive prompts didn’t work, and texture pop-ins were very common. Also, the audio cuts out completely during many dialogue scenes, so without subtitles you have no idea what’s going on. Additionally, the game warns of points of no return before heading to the final area. Another save file will be created so you can return to other areas to access future content, that her second save was not generated.
While the game is fully playable in its current state and scheduled for a day 1 patch release, we cannot guarantee that all flaws introduced by the update will be fixed. Closing the PS5 app and restarting fixes the problem, but it’s disappointing to see a very good game let down by technical shortcomings.
It doesn’t look very nice either. I didn’t expect Steelrising to push his PS5 to its limits, but the title looks decidedly previous-gen with poor character models and boring environments. I have never been blown away by its visual splendor. However, perhaps most puzzlingly, the game is exclusive to current generation systems. We’d love to think Spiders Studio would invest in making the title shine if the PS4 version wasn’t holding it back, but it’s not, and without his adaptive triggers and haptic feedback support, this release is a bit of a wasted opportunity. It feels like
Conclusion
Steelrising is Spiders Studio’s best game yet, but too many bugs and technical issues hamper its brilliance. Its combat system is much more engaging and fun, and its unique, mechanical interpretation of the French Revolution means it’s more memorable than previous FromSoftware tributes. It’s a piece, but after six months, Steelrising could be at its best. Well worth playing at that point.
