This head, when equipped (as Skul can store 2 skulls at any one time, and swap between them whenever, cooldown permitting) gives Skul different special attacks, as well as making him move faster, and gives him a small chance to steal money off of enemies when attacking them. So, for example, you may clear a room and pick up say, the Thief’s head. Every new skull that you find has different abilities and passives, potentially changing how you approach the next room. See, the main gimmick of Skul is that, as a skeleton, Skul himself is able to remove his head and swap it for a new one that he may have found after clearing a room. No, Skul really starts to come alive once you come across your first… uh, skull. That being said, if that was all there was to Skul, then I probably wouldn’t be writing such a positive review of it. Though none of these are often particularly exciting at the beginning of a run, the fact that the game responds so well to anything you throw or swing at an enemy makes even early-run combat far more satisfying than it is potentially grinding. Much of the combat felt fairly familiar to me when I first opened the game – you have your basic attack and one or two special attacks. Well, I’m pleased to say that the game, as well as looking and sounding great, plays pretty darn well as well. When you do reach the mini-bosses/boss of that stage though, the music shifts to something far faster, intense, and a heck of a lot more dramatic, very much matching the increasingly frantic action of each boss fight.īut enough about graphics and music how does the game actually play. The tracks that play through the levels tend to stay in the background, calmer and sometimes even serene – but always there. The music as well, although I would say it is quite understated for much of the game, is something to praise. The helpful companions you meet along the way are much in the same vein colourful, clear, and with very distinct personalities. All of the stages seem to ‘pop’, and they’re all very distinctly different. Special mention goes to the backgrounds of the stages, especially the second stage, set in a rose-tinged castle with light flowing through the open windows. I’m admittedly a bit of a sucker for pixel-graphics, but I don’t think it’s controversial to say that one of the things that first drew me to Skul was just how… well, good it looked. So let’s get this out of the way right now. Released on the 20 th January, it has you take control of a cute little skeleton boi, and charges you with saving the ‘Demon King’ from the attacking humans (in a nice little role reversal, the humans of the game seem to be the aggressors, invading the demon’s land immediately after signing some sort of peace treaty.) During your many runs, you’ll meet big trees, angry maids, and at least one big spider lady, all in your mission to defeat the mysterious ‘Hero of Caerleon’ and save all your demon/tree/spider friends. Skul the Hero Slayer is less of a pure rogue-like, and more an action-platformer with rogue-like features. Does it hit the dizzying heights of the games mentioned prior? No, not quite, but there’s definitely a lot of potential. And that’s really where Skul the Hero Slayer comes in. From a genre that I’d never heard of before, to games like The Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon being among my favourites of all time, the rogue-like has really established itself as an almost speciality of the independent developer scene. BY OLIVER ROBINSON: If there’s one aspect of the indie game scene becoming more prominent in recent years that I’m especially grateful for, is that it led to me getting exposed to rogue-likes.
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