When you’ve ever fantasized about being a supervisor of a hellish company workplace run by eldritch gods, The Lethal Path may simply be your twisted cup of tea. This roguelike technique recreation thrusts you into the position of The Custodian, tasked with appeasing the whims of the Dread Pantheon by developing a dungeon, managing assets, and heading off pesky intruders. It’s a mix of base-building, useful resource administration, and survival, all wrapped up in a darkly humorous package deal.
At first look, the sport’s premise is deliciously intriguing. The concept of balancing the calls for of capricious deities whereas increasing your underworld empire seems like a gothic govt’s fever dream. The tile-based technique system is a pleasant nod to tabletop video games, and the artwork model serves moody, macabre aptitude. Bonus factors for the creepy soundtrack that screams “summoning circle at midnight” realness.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t take lengthy for the cracks to indicate in The Lethal Path. First off, the consumer interface is a chaotic mess. Important data is buried and must be hovered over tiles and icons, and the display typically clutters. The egregious one is the glitch the place the sport unpauses itself by simply navigating via the sport. When a vital gameplay side comes right down to finishing duties whereas a timer ticks right down to zero, the anxiousness kicks up a notch when the pause button doesn’t work as meant.
Now let’s dive into that problem curve, as a result of it’s not a lot a curve as it’s a spiked wall. Whereas I respect an excellent problem, The Lethal Path doesn’t train; it punishes. New mechanics seem out of nowhere, and should you didn’t learn the traditional texts (or Reddit), you’re principally toast. The educational course of right here is trial by hearth, brimstone, and dangerous tooltips.
Then there’s the grind. Oh, the grind. Early recreation development is slower than a zombie with a hangover. Unlocking new content material requires an unreasonable time funding, and the primary few hours really feel such as you’re dragging a boulder uphill attempting to study the gameplay and juggling via the glitches.
The pacing in The Lethal Path seems like it may possibly’t fairly make up its thoughts. One second you’re twiddling your thumbs ready for assets to tick up, and the following you’re in full-blown disaster mode as a result of some cosmic god determined to throw a tantrum. The inconsistency makes it exhausting to settle right into a satisfying gameplay rhythm, which is a disgrace, as a result of the core mechanics could possibly be compelling in the event that they weren’t always undercut by this start-stop chaos.
The Lethal Path is a campy, creepy journey with critical potential, nevertheless it’s caught in early-game purgatory. When you’re a glutton for punishment or love micromanaging the apocalypse, by all means, dive in. However for everybody else? Possibly wait till the devs patch the trail rather less lethal.
This overview is predicated on a retail copy of the sport offered by the writer.
The Lethal Path
- Artwork Fashion 8/10
- Gameplay Depth 6/10
- Consumer Expertise 3/10
- Stability & Polish 3/10
5/10
The Lethal Path is a darkly fashionable roguelike technique recreation with a compelling idea: managing a dungeon in service of eldritch gods. Nonetheless, it’s weighed down by technical points, a clunky UI, inconsistent pacing, and an unforgiving problem curve. Whereas the tile-based mechanics and eerie aesthetic provide a singular basis, bugs, poor tutorials, and early-game grind make it a irritating expertise for all however essentially the most affected person gamers.
