Death’s Gambit Review in Progress (PC)

Developer: White Rabbit
Publisher: Adult Swim Games

Disclosure: This review is based off of a review copy

Death’s Gambit, developed by White Rabbit, is a 2D RPG with gameplay similar to that of Salt & Sanctuary, but both clearly inspired by the “Souls” games. In Death’s Gambit you get to choose your class out of seven classes and choose a starting item, with each class having its own starting items and starting stats. In this game you spend Soul Shards to upgrade the stats of your character, which can be easy acquired, and leveling is fairly cheap early on.

In Death’s Gambit you play as Sorun, who is resurrected by a character named Death after dying in a battle at his home in Vados. The game begins with this and his desire to return home to Vados to find his mother, as he meets Death for the first time. This is where the game begins as he is handed a Death’s Contract. During the course of gameplay many lore conversations will happen, and unfortunately some of them skipped a little too quickly for me. That being said, unlike other games, death in Death’s Gambit can also trigger more lore cutscenes and backstory.

As someone who is not an experienced “Souls” player, I am so far finding the difficulty to be relatively ok, but not too tough. I haven’t felt cheated by the game yet in all my deaths as far as combat difficulty goes, although there are areas within the game I’ve encountered so far that I feel are a bit cheesy, especially with some of the traps. I am about four bosses in, and I’ve noticed the areas within Death’s Gambit are kind of close together, surrounded by a town area.

I am playing a Blood Knight, I’m enjoying it so far, although the abilities availability seem unbalanced, as no new abilities for my axe are available, compared to the plethora of greatsword and halberd abilities that can be bought at this point in the game for me. I am most disappointed with the skill tree, as it is the same tree for every class, and talent points can only be acquired through defeating bosses, at least from where I am in the game.

There are other elements in the game I like, but at least for now, Death’s Gambit is a mixed bag for me, leaning more in the positive. I will discuss my experience with the game in further detail in my full review, unless I need another “Review in Progress.”