Mortal Rite

NeX
Mar 25
4 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_UfjYbEboQ

Introduction

Mortal Rite is a 3d action adventure game still in development. Some things may change in the future, so please keep that in mind. It hints at a larger game in the future. Unlike most games of this era, which apply a souls-like approach to everything, Mortal Rite takes a different path, meaning no bonfires, no soul loss upon death, and no standard character level-ups.

Instead, you have actual levels, similar to missions in Nioh, a single respawn point per level (they are kinda short), unlockable abilities, and equipable artifacts that change your attributes or give special effects like lifesteal. Currently, there are 6 levels in the game.

Story

As I mentioned in the introduction, the story is mostly hinted at rather than being completely available. You awake as an initiate in Alden’s tower. He says the ritual is complete, and you are now part of the guild. You are then given the choice of embodying one of his champions and told to explore the gates for artifacts as he prepares for the rebellion against the king. And that’s about it. There are small bits and pieces here and there throughout the game, but nothing worth noting.

Gameplay

There are 3 champions available at the moment: Dawskin, Shold, and Fia. Each plays uniquely, and you should find the one that suits you best. Dawskin uses dual swords and scales with precision. Shold mainly uses a sword and shield, but can transform them into an axe for higher damage - he scales with strength. Fia uses daggers, but her abilities are ranged and scale with intelligence. I mostly played as Shold.

Alden’s refuge is your starting area (after the tutorial). It is considered the hub, and in here you can change your character, practise moves and combos, re-distribute attribute points, talk to Alden for some lore, or the blacksmith to craft or purchase artifacts to help you in your endeavors.

When you enter a level, you are free to roam and explore the area. You will encounter enemies with melee or ranged attacks. You do not have to fight them to proceed, but they drop consumables which will help you proceed further. Scattered around are attribute points which you can use to learn new abilities, upgrade the ones you have previously learned, or unlock hero-specific passives. Chests you find will contain artifacts that serve as level-ups in this game. The more you have them, the more times the bonus activates. Once you find the boss, defeat it to unlock the obelisk and complete the level. Beating a level will provide you with an attribute point, new consumables for the forge, and Alden will tell you a line or two about the area.

Combat is very straightforward; your basic attacks deal damage and fill out your focus points, which you then use to activate your abilities. You can break an enemy's posture and perform a Mortal Strike, dealing massive damage to bosses or straight-up killing smaller enemies. Some minibosses also use abilities similar to yours, like teleport strike or charge dash. Ranged ones can rain arrows upon your character. Finding the most efficient way to deal with them is gonna require focus and adequate skill selection and usage.

Some of the skills Shold has access to are Leap, which propels you forward a certain amount; it can be upgraded to also provide a shield based on your HP; Taunt, which taunts enemies for a certain duration (duration can be improved with more attribute points); Wall, which creates a wall in front of you blocking ranged attacks. There are many others, and it’s up to you to select which 4 you want to use.

Positives

Interesting combat
Multiple characters
Clean and fluid animations
Devs are active on social media

Negatives

Low enemy variety
Early access means bugs
You can cheese everything except 2 bosses
The game doesn’t turn automatically with the character

Video, Audio & Sound

The game looks good, and the animations are fluid. Levels could use improvement. What do I mean by that? Everything looks as if it’s randomly floating. Distant backgrounds are nonexistent. It’s probably by design, but I think closed-off worlds are better. Something like a lake around the playable area, or insurmountable cliffs…

The audio and sound are awesome. Weapon clashing sounds good; weapons sound heavy. Voice-over is decent. I personally do not think the Alden character and voice fit, but it’s by no means bad.

Personal Thoughts

The camera and I didn't quite agree; I felt it was too high above the character, so it disfigured it (could just be my imagination). I got a headache when I played with the motion blur active, so be aware that might be something you experience as well (could be totally unrelated, but i don’t think so). Last but not least, I found some minor movement issues annoying. There was no reason for the character to be blocked by floor tiles being lifted by a couple of centimeters…

Conclusion

It’s a fun game to play, definitely has potential to be great. In the current state i would recommend trying it out, but you can easily tell it’s an early access title, so it might not suit everyone.