Syndicate Atomic LLC. and melessthanthree throw us into a nightmare. Death of a Wish is a frenetic hack ‘n’ slash with an unmistakable style.
What is certainly striking about Death of a Wish is the graphic style and the soundtrack. The narrative is intriguing and complex despite a not too original incipit. Everything is then surrounded by a layered and solid action gameplay, although not free from some defects.
The developers melessthanthree create this game aware of the experience gained with Lucah: Born of a Dream. A title stylistically very similar to Death of a Wish. Despite the great similarity, Death of a Wish seems to be an evolution compared to the previous title, let’s discover the reasons together.
Death of a Wish, Story and Lore
Christian, during his journey of redemption, finds himself in the dream world of Paradiso. In this place he meets other marked ones. Christian is also marked, condemned like his fellow adventurers to live a perpetual nightmare. The only solution is to challenge the cult that raised him. By overthrowing the four faiths of the Sanctum: Father, Sister, Cardinal and Priest, they will change the order of the world. Unfortunately, things will not be that simple and this will not be enough to change the world. From a rather simple incipit that recalls the classic revenge story, we discover with a twist a more complex plot that has its roots in heavier themes and moral dilemmas.
What are you willing to do for what you think is right? Is our mission, no matter how noble, worth the cost of others’ happiness and sacrifice? Is it worth destroying evil at the cost of becoming an even worse monster?
What are you willing to sacrifice and above all, for whom are you willing to do it?
As soon as the game starts, a message on the screen tells us to write a name. It doesn’t have to be a person, it can be an idea or a value. In short, something for which you would even be willing to sacrifice yourself.
Once the choice has been made, we begin the adventure. Let’s see how these ideas have been translated into gameplay.
A Simple but Deep Hack ‘n’ Slash
Death of a Wish, despite the apparent simplicity of the graphic style and gameplay, hides its own depth which is revealed in its gameplay choices. In addition to the incipit described above, we are introduced to the basic mechanics of combat. Our protagonist has two attacks: one light and the other heavy. Where the first mainly serves to cause damage and is fast, the heavy one is slower and mainly serves to break the armor and posture of the opponent. In fact, the enemies have, in addition to the health bar, another yellow one that symbolizes the armor. Once exhausted, the opponent goes into break state. He is helpless and more vulnerable to damage for a certain period of time, before recreating the armor. It goes without saying that breaking the enemy’s posture is very important and for this reason another mechanic is introduced in addition to the heavy attack.
Christian can dodge his opponent’s attacks: pressing RT without directing him will dodge directly behind his line of sight. By directing the dodge towards the opponent’s blows and with the right timing we can parry the blow. The parry does a lot of damage to the opponent’s posture and is actually the best way to get to the break state. Learning to break posture is a fundamental mechanic in Death of a Wish, in fact even bosses have this mechanic. In addition to this we also have a familiar with us. Creatures that we can choose and find throughout the game that do damage and also have passive abilities. Their role in terms of gameplay is reminiscent of the unforgettable Grimoire Weiss. Unlike him, however, they don’t speak and don’t have his sagacity, they are strange little animals that silently help our protagonist.
Death of a Wish Goes Even Deeper
Enemies also have resistances depending on their nature. Here Death of a Wish adds more gameplay mechanics. We will now list them briefly.
ARIAs are stances that we can equip to our character. Up to 2 of them can be equipped in combination, increasing our physical or ephemeral damage depending on which one we equip. There are 6 ARIAs in total and they also have elemental attributes. They can give passive bonuses plus an ability called Hold Action, which is also different for each ARIA.
Each ARIA can be associated with a familiar and two cards which serve to modify, give bonuses or enrich the capabilities of the latter. We can hold up to two Stances and it is also possible to change them in combat, depending on the enemy to face.
Virtues are a further customization of the character’s abilities. They are independent of stances and occupy a proper space. Each Virtue has a cost in points and we cannot exceed a certain limit. By moving forward with the story we can increase the number of points to spend to equip the Virtues.
In addition to this there is the soulslike mechanic of leveling up by increasing one of the character’s five characteristics at certain checkpoints in the map. The corpse run mechanic is not there, but in its place we have a “pleasant” surprise.
Corruption and the Rewind
By fighting we gain experience which will fill a bar. Every time it fills up we will earn a Work which can be used to level up or as a trading currency at a merchant. Being defeated will not make us lose anything, but it will considerably increase our level of corruption. The only presence of enemies will cause corruption to increase very slowly. So the speed in defeating opponents and learning their moveset are fundamental in the game. At the end of each fight we have the classic hack ‘n’ slash evaluation which is based on combos, time taken and damage suffered. A higher rating allows us to reduce the percentage of accumulated corruption.
Another interesting mechanic is Rewind, where we can literally rewind time starting again from the beginning of the fight. Be careful though! Because this will nullify the damage suffered by you, but also that of your opponent. There are also potions but they work exactly like in BloodBorne and they have a finite number and will not automatically refill at the checkpoint. Once you reach 100% corruption it won’t be game over but you will have an interesting surprise. Try it and you will be satisfied both on the gameplay side and on the story side.
Maps, Style and Characters
Death of a Wish has an original style. As simple and stylized as it is, it manages to characterize both the characters and the world around us. Lights and bright colors are simple but distinctive elements. The game world is made up of different sections, all interconnected with each other in an original way. In some advanced moments of the story we can find a shortcut that even takes us back to the area where we started the game.
The world is full of shortcuts, secrets and characters await us in the most unexpected places and, as per tradition, we can carry out their quests. In true FROM style we can finish the characters’ stories by helping them, or by buying everything from their inventory. Once completed we will have our reward. In its simplicity, Death of a Wish involves the player in the adventure even if it can sometimes create some inconveniences. In fights with many opponents you sometimes lose sight of your character and the readability of enemy attacks. Together also with a sometimes aggressive AI and barely visible environmental obstacles that compromise the battles a bit.
Honorable mention to the soundtrack, which punctually accompanies the events of our protagonist. Music is so central that the story is divided into Sides A and B and the chapters into Tracks, as if they were songs on vinyl.
My Two Cents
Death of a Wish is a game where simplicity has its own sense of being. Despite its apparent simplicity, it hides a depth of interesting mechanics both in the combat system and in the general gameplay. It is certainly a game that expects the player to learn its mechanics quickly, creating an intense gameplay dynamic that is not suitable for those who don’t like hack ‘n’ slash. The Rewind mechanic itself is intended to ensure that the player learns the mechanics well and can improve with various attempts. He takes ideas from several milestones in the action genre, creating his own vision. It doesn’t innovate anything in particular but it still offers good entertainment.
The visual style, although fascinating and original, sometimes works against the player and the combat system, creating confusion during some battles and when viewing the character menu. If you love an original style and a good challenge, Death of a Wish is definitely made for you.
“Death of a Wish is a game where simplicity has its own sense of being. Despite its apparent simplicity, it hides a depth of interesting mechanics both in the combat system and in the general gameplay. It is certainly a game that expects the player to learn its mechanics quickly. The visual style, although fascinating and original, sometimes works against the player and the combat system, creating confusion during some battles and when viewing the character menu. If you love an original style and a good challenge, Death of a Wish is definitely made for you.
“
- Original and engaging graphic style
- High quality and relevant soundtrack
- Interesting and challenging action mechanics
- Game world full of secrets
- Not suitable for those looking for relaxed gameplay
- The style sometimes makes the combat difficult to read and menù too
7.9/10
I’m a musician (pianist), a nerd and a longtime manga lover.
My gamer life started with a copy of Pitfall (1982) for Atari 2600, and so I grew up hand to hand with this medium until now. Later I started to look for what’s behind the final product, its design and what happens behind the scenes of the video game world.
