Developer: TEAM HORAY
Platform: PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Action, Adventure, RPG
Publisher: TEAM HORAY
Developed and published by TEAM HORAY, the studio behind Dungreed, Sephiria is an action roguelite where cute animals with big weapons take on hordes of demons. You’ll descend a cursed tower, collect and upgrade artefacts, and fight your way through hordes of enemies to save Bunnyville from its gloomy fate. With solo and up to four-player co-op, there’s plenty to enjoy whether you’re playing alone or with friends.
This roguelike game has a story, adorable visuals, and a gameplay loop that will get you addicted.
First of all, I absolutely fell in love with the visuals of this game. The little sprites, pixel-filled world, and all the characters it has are amazing. From the little bunny NPCs to cats, to even the enemies you encounter in the tower, everything looks so good. Some are so cute yet aggressive, and I love the animations and the style of art brought into this game. It’s adorable seeing your little bunny holding everything from a flaming broadsword to an oversized gun. The tower itself holds several floors, each with different themes, and I loved encountering the various enemy variants, from big to small. I mean, even the bosses… wow. You will fall in love with the visuals.
The visuals also work really well with the soundtrack and tunes in the game. You get little tunes that can be a bit repetitive throughout the floors, but I like how there is quite some variance between them. The game is filled with effects and sounds that make the combat feel impactful and truly pack a punch.
Now, besides the visuals, the gameplay was really amusing. Personally, I don’t get into roguelike games as much, but this being multiplayer had me hooked off the bat. And I like that it’s online multiplayer too. You can create worlds that are public or private with up to four players. Multiplayer is quite interesting, as you and your friends can adventure through the tower together. However, the village seems to be your own separate thing. It’s an interesting way to incorporate this, but I thought it would be nice if you could visit the village even in multiplayer without having to leave the “assembly area”.
The game will get you to venture into the tower to defeat bosses, and this is where the roguelike action really begins. You start off with a weapon which can later be upgraded or unlocked into something better. The game has a great sense of progression which follows the storyline. In the tower, you will go through rooms, defeating enemies. They may be cute, but they are vicious. Along the way, you will earn artefacts, tablets, enchants, and more. When proceeding to the next floor, you will be presented with a roadmap where you can choose where you want to go next and get an idea of what will be available there. It’s a nice way to get players to choose their path for potentially a better build.
You get into this loop where you will collect items, trade, beat enemies up, and then eventually encounter a boss. The loop is fun, and it’s even better with the item management and build-building. There’s a lot that you can experiment with. I first started focusing on an Ember build one round, then after that decided to try doing a Frost Relic build. The game also has several combination effects which can increase your stats.
As someone who doesn’t heavily pay attention to stat effects, I really liked how well this game doesn’t overcomplicate things. I’m the type of roguelike player that just chooses whatever sounds interesting, but in this game I actually took the time to try out different combinations and effects, which made it so much more enjoyable.
The game recently came out of Early Access with its current 1.0 launch, and the game is already great. I loved how the developers are also releasing frequent patches. For instance, when we first played, we encountered some latency delays with the controls that didn’t make the combat feel smooth. However, the next time around, everything felt smooth. The issue with controller support was also fixed, which shows that the developers are actively listening and working on improving the game.
We are thankful to have been provided with several codes to test out the game with friends. One of the players, Vroggo, had the following to say, “Sephiria is one of the best roguelikes I have played in a while! The pixelated visuals of the game are super cute and blend well with the heavy, solid lore of the game. Both the music and visuals satisfyingly tie together to display the heroism and determination of how a small bunny fights their way through death to save their town.
There are tons of items to choose from and 21 different synergy effects, aka combo effects, to invest in. There are also 6 different weapon playstyles to choose from, each with their own varied and unique upgrades. Even the in-game costumes come with their own stat trade-offs that incentivise players to try them out for their builds. I love being able to experiment with many builds, and Sephiria did well in offering and balancing this aspect.
If I had to make a suggestion to the item pool, I just wish there were more items related to buffing other players when playing co-op. I primarily like to play a support or healer role in other RPG games, and the white-eared rabbit costume really piqued my interest. A healer might not be so viable since there are already quite a few ways to gain decent heals in-game, but a stat buffer would be cool to see.
My favourite mechanic of the game is the inventory system. All other roguelikes I have played before never really made me think about the placement of items in my inventory. This mechanic is so integral to the game that I have spent at least 40% of my time in a run arranging my inventory to get the most benefits out of my items. It’s a fun challenge to deal with that adds a little more strategising to the game.
The progression of revealing more of these items, combo effects, and other upgrades feels just right too. The game may feel slow and difficult at first, but that is to help new players with the learning curve around getting a feel for the items and builds they want to invest in, and more generally about the mechanics that take place outside of the dungeon. By the time players actually grasp what their favourite builds are, they will already have progressed enough through the story to experience the rest of the scaling difficulty and fun of the game.
​In my experience, it has been more efficient to unlock more upgrades while playing with other people, not to mention more fun. Although there were no lag issues when playing with players in closer regions, there is some lag present when trying to play with long-distance players; such was the case with my friend and I. This unfortunately makes some builds and playstyles unviable, like the block/parry mechanics with the staff and dagger. The experience wasn’t unplayable, though, and we still had fun regardless.
Overall, I would rate this game a 9.5/10. Super obsessed with the game in its current state, and I’m excited to see where it goes in the future.”
Sephiria is one of the most enjoyable roguelike games I’ve played in a while. Between the adorable visuals, satisfying combat, fun progression, and the ability to play through the tower with friends, every run felt fresh and exciting. If you’re looking for a roguelike that’s just as fun as it is addictive, especially with friends, then Sephiria is absolutely worth checking out!
Overall: 9/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
