14 DAY TRIAL // Kim Rip is a Royal Guard sent by the king to destroy the Ebon Sting, a living organism previously worshiped by the entire world, which suddenly started to turn people into devils. Tainted by a force of unknown origin, the Crimson Oil flowing from Ebon Sting is quickly taking over the entire population.
The appearance of demonic entities is just another consequence of the mysterious plague, yet people turned into devils remain the main force that drives the massacre of the local population. As part of an elite unit sent to put an end to the plague, Kim Rip eventually comes to face some of his brothers in arms as they’re being devilized.
Rip’s journey begins from the base heart of the Ebon Sting, as he embarks on a mission to eliminate the root of the problem and restore the world to its former glory. The Devil Within: Satgat is 2.5D action-adventure platformer that promises a thrilling gameplay experience peppered with challenging combat and an interesting character progression.
Although the game certainly has a very interesting premise and a compelling story, combat remains its strongest point. Kim Rip’s samurai sword rips through throngs of enemies with ease, especially when you use some of his flashiest moves.
Through a combination of light and heavy attacks, the protagonist acquires CP points that can be used for special moves with devastating effects. The game doesn’t seem to allow you to cancel moves, so once you commit to an attack, you’ll remain stuck in the animation until it reaches its target, or you get hit.
The heavy attack, just like the dash move, uses energy/stamina, and stuns enemies for a few seconds, which is very important when you want to squeeze a combo of light attacks. Parry and block are also available for those who like to adopt a more defensive stance. Using both at the very last moment, before an attack hits you, will allow you to execute a powerful counterattack.
Overall, combat feels smooth and tight, but it’s a bit frustrating that once you’re locked in an attack animation, you can’t really move away, block or dash. That means that you either commit to a short string of light attacks followed by a heavy attack or wait for the enemy to attack and try to parry/block.
While smaller enemies can be stunlocked, the bigger once must be handled differently. Dashing and attacking from behind seems to be the best tactic when fighting much bigger enemies that are immune to heavy attack stuns, but that makes perfect sense.
Much of the action happens in a world in ruins where survivors and devilized people roam aimlessly. The level design is clean, although I would have preferred checkpoints to be closer to boss fights since they will most likely require multiple tries. Running through packs of enemies to fight the boss several times makes the experience a bit frustrating.
I was surprised to find that the character progression goes very deep. There are several skill trees linked to various fighting techniques where you can unlock not just special moves, but also boost Kim’s attack power, critical damage, and health points. Just looking at these skill trees your realize that the possibilities are endless.
Visually, The Devil Within: Satgat looks gorgeous. There’s no voice-acting in the game, but the art style is amazing. Since it features locations below and above ground, there’s a lot of variation to the landscapes in the background.
Conclusion
If you’re into fast-paced action-adventure games, The Devil Within: Satgat is a must. Personally, I can’t wait to play the game through the end when it launches in Q4 2023. Until then, those interested can wishlist the game on Steam.
Preview key was provided by the developer.
