The Last Faith test

After multiple slips and a quarter of a million dollars in social hacking, the dark gothic Soulslike embedded in pixels has arrived, which, despite its more annoying flaws, deserves the attention of fans of the genre.

In the footsteps of Blasphemous

Although, following the genre-creating FromSoftware games, we could see the early Soulslike works only in 3D guise, thanks to independent developers, in recent years such programs have entered the 2D world as well. Many people know the bigger ones – Hollow Knight, Grime, Blasphemous – and The Last Faith wants to join this line with a design and thematic approach very similar to that seen in Blasphemous. In the right hands, the pixel-art style can be not only timeless, but also eye-catching, and the artists of Kumi Souls Games have transferred the visual features of the Gothic to our screen with excellent sensuality, and then mixed it with the sinister atmosphere and terrifying creatures of dark-fantasy. Churches towering above us, landscapes shrouded in darkness, and monsters reminiscent of Lovecraft’s works encourage us to dive into this world full of dangers with their mere appearance.

Like its 2D counterparts, The Last Faith not only has the characteristics of the Souls genre, but is also a Metroidvania, so the progress in it is basically non-linear. In addition to the skirmishes, exploration plays a central role, and in order to progress, acquiring new abilities and revisiting previous areas will be essential. The recipe first seen in Symphony of the Night is extremely addictive here as well, and the world you can roam is captivating, full of mysteries, treasures, and contrasting locations, starting from the swampland of shadows to the drowned crypt. What is unfortunate, however, is that the skills that can be acquired are quite toothless – practically the second half of the game is devoted to getting the double jump. In addition, the map often gives a half-finished feeling, because sometimes it does not become clear in proportion to our discovery, it does not show certain connecting sections, and also only one type of marker icon can be used, and only a few of them.

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Approached from the Soulslike side, it is also mixed, although the overall picture is more positive. In the game, we don’t have to pay attention to the management of stamina or the weight of the equipment, so we have to manage fewer upgradeable properties. In addition, you can collect XP extremely quickly, enough to jump up to five levels between two save points. At the same time, this also means that most of the main enemies can be defeated with ease, there is no particular need for tactics or thoughtful character building, which would basically be the main pillars of the Souls genre. It’s a shame, because the combat system itself is very enjoyable, and at those exceptional points when you have to pay attention to a boss’s attacks, it can be very rewarding to gradually learn the moves and win by paying close attention.

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Due to the above, if not the difficulty, but our playing style will be partly influenced by the distribution of the abundantly flowing XP in a given direction. If, for example, we want to swing a big pallos, don’t expect a lot of damage if we invest our points in Dexterity instead of Strength. The scaling and minimum level requirements of the weapons are also present here, the only main genre eccentricity is that the latter only serves as an authority (also for magic), so for example, even with a low Mind value, we will be able to unleash a firestorm on our ill-wishers. Whether we want to is another question, because even the most powerful incantations are practically useless against blades that inflict raw physical damage. What was a wise decision, however, was that instead of a gardamany of weapons and magic, only about two dozen were included in the game, thus ensuring that each of them allowed for a slightly different approach, and that there were not, for example, thirty pieces of axes that in practice did the same thing in the same way.

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Overall, the flexibility and variety provided by the exploration and character building options are satisfactory, and the additional content available in the form of side missions further enriches the gaming experience, which, unlike Souls traditions, can be completed in any order and almost at any time. Almost, because even though you don’t have to browse Wikipedia on your phone to be able to follow the ridiculously convoluted and unpredictable missions typical of Dark Souls and not spoil them, one unforeseen historical point knocks down almost all of them at once, making them impossible to complete. And there are some of these oddities in the game. An example of this is the logic puzzle about the statues, woven into the poem, which can have three interpretations, but the game accepts only one. But this is also the contradiction that the track design sometimes creates: there are sloping surfaces that look like background scenery, but you can still walk on them, while it is impossible to jump on apparently straight parts in some places.

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Summary

The Last Faith became a strange mixture. The development is too fast and there is not enough challenge, the effectiveness of magic and firearms is dwarfed compared to melee weapons, the map is half the size, there are not enough skills, and most of the missions can be failed without any prediction. Problems and shortcomings that could have been avoided with a little extra attention are evident at almost every point of the work. Still, if we look at the overall experience, it’s almost as fun as Blasphemous 2, even though it’s a far more mature work. It is enjoyable to move around, explore, fight, develop a character, immerse yourself in its world full of secrets and learn the history of its inhabitants. The Last Faith is fun to play. And this, if not most, is the biggest part of what we can expect from a game. In the context of a more moderate discount of 20-25%, it is worthwhile to pounce on it, when the first patches have already come out.

The Last Faith was released on November 15 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch, Linux, and Mac OS. The test copy was provided by the publisher Playstack.

Best features of The Last Faith:

• Enjoyable combat system, with weapons that allow for different playstyles;
• outstanding artistic design;
• varied content and an interesting world to roam.

Worst features of The Last Faith:

• No resolution selection option on PC (the game runs in 1080p on a 4K TV, so the letters are blurry);
• few obtainable skills and challenges;
• half finished in-game map and buggy fast travel screen.

David Koncz