2023 has been a busy 12 months. Sometimes it felt such as you couldn’t go one month with no recreation of the 12 months contender. That inevitably meant that just a few smaller video games obtained overshadowed, which is what makes the tip of the 12 months interval good for going again and giving these little gems an opportunity.
Witchfire is one such recreation, and I’m right here to let you know why it is best to get it.
Witchfire is the long-in-development – and I do imply lengthy – shooter from The Astronauts. If that title doesn’t sound acquainted, maybe the pedigree of the individuals behind it’s going to. Painkiller, Bulletstorm, and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter are all video games devs on the studio have labored on.
If you realize something about these video games, you may just about anticipate gorgeous visuals, nice fight really feel, and stable taking pictures mechanics. Witchfire is all that and extra. Witchfire is a rogue-lite shooter with an attention-grabbing twist. And I do know you’re bored with rogue-like and lite video games, so am I.
If you haven’t already clicked off the web page, you are most likely considering studying what makes this one particular. Witchfire blends the rogue-lite gameplay circulate with the stress of extraction shooters. Yes, you are supposed to die, and you’ll do loads of dying earlier than you may construct up your character, however you may also finish a cursed run early and extract with no matter assets you gathered.
The extraction component elevates the depth of the rogue-lite staples we’re all aware of, but additionally offers you an out while you don’t really feel like doing a future.
The first time you fireplace the beginning revolver, you’ll perceive how a lot punching above its weight Witchfire does. Every weapon sounds meaty, feels weighty with out being sluggish, and touchdown headshots by no means stops being satisfying.
Though you’ll primarily be utilizing weapons right here, there’s an array of spells which you could deploy that both add elemental harm, or create huge in-game moments that actually offer you a sense of energy in a recreation that’s in any other case pretty punishing. It’s truly greatest to consider Witchfire’s primary mechanics as having branched off of Destiny 2. They’re extra crunchy, however simply as easy.
Witchfire has a darkish, Gothic aesthetic that does a extremely good job at mixing the superstition, fiction, fantasy, and horror of that point interval, with firearms and extra trendy ideas. Nothing feels misplaced visually, and it’s a deal with to simply watch the colors, temper, and autumnal vibes all congeal in movement.
This is an early entry launch, nonetheless, so there’s not loads of content material. You’ll discover two primary (giant) zones, a few main boss battle, and a handful of weapons and spells. The rogue-lite nature lets it get loads of mileage out of its content material, so don’t fret in regards to the uncooked stats an excessive amount of.
The excellent news is that The Astronauts is engaged on a significant replace that’s anticipated someday in December. It will introduce new content material, and make it simpler for brand spanking new gamers to leap in – so must be a great one for newcomers and present gamers.
As far as efficiency, Witchfure runs nicely on quite a lot of {hardware} ranges, and could be very scalable. I performed it on a laptop computer with an RTX 3060 and an i7-12650H. At 1440p DLSS Balanced, I common between 80 and 110fps. The recreation helps each upscaling tech beneath the solar, so non-Nvidia homeowners needn’t fear. It additionally has controller help, for those who don’t need to use a mouse.
Witchfire got here out in September, and it’s been one of many Epic Games Store’s best-sellers. There’s actually not a lot left to be mentioned in regards to the EGS; it nonetheless chugs for no explicit purpose, and provides possibly 5% of the options and comfort of Steam. It’s not fairly, and also you’ll by no means need to depart it working within the background while you aren’t particularly enjoying a recreation on it. All of that continues to be true.
But there’s no different solution to play Witchfire proper now, so for those who’re intrigued by the sport’s premise, it’s nicely price biting the bullet and shopping for it on the EGS. It helps that the shop has a 33% off coupon as a part of its Black Friday sale. Witchfire shouldn’t be on sale, however the coupon will drop the (admittedly slightly steep) $40 value right down to round $27. The coupon is added routinely to your cart, however it’s solely legitimate till Tuesday, November 28.
Witchfire can be a self-refundable recreation, so for those who put lower than two hours into it and resolve you’re not a fan, you may simply click on a button and get your a refund. Two hours must be sufficient to offer you an impression on this case, too, as runs can take 30-40 minutes or beneath.
If you just like the gunplay of Destiny 2, however really feel prefer it could possibly be slightly extra grounded, play Witchfire. If you need the closest factor to a single-player model of Hunt: Showdown, play Witchfire. If you similar to shooters that look nice and really feel even higher, play Witchfire.
