Witchfire — Gluttony for Punishment
Preview
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter was an indie phenomenon. Back in 2014, it was difficult to believe that a team of three developers could make something that amazing. Ten years later, their second game is now on Early Access, and again I find it hard to believe that a team of twelve developers can develop something of this calibre. Witchfire is a roguelite Souls-like shooter for a new generation, drawing from the archetypes of DOOM and Souls to start a new flame in these beaten genres.
Adrian Chmielarz, head of The Astronauts, said in an interview that Witchfire is “a first-person roguelite designed for those who don't like roguelites”. I like roguelites, but I don’t have time to play them like others do. I did review Slay the Spire for TechRaptor when it released, and more recently, Inkulinati here on Blockhead. I can appreciate the recursive challenge of the genre, even in the lack of time.
But, as with any genre, the only unforgivable evil is when developers deliberately choose sameness and predictability. I would not associate The Astronauts with stale ideas and poor execution. Witchfire feels fresh, though its uncompromising difficulty will be a dealbreaker for many players, especially for those who find the barrier of time investment nearly insurmountable.
DOOM and GLOOM
The first runs are ruthless and hopeless. Once you embrace the dying, it hurts less to lose witchfire and other resources you pick up along that run. What hurts most are the careless deaths, the sense of lost purpose, the hopelessness of being overtaken by all these demons and monsters, each with their specific and sophisticated killing methods. The enemy’s moves startle you and keep you on your toes.
Then, as it happens in Souls-like games, you get the pattern as the enemies telegraph their moves. Soon, you can anticipate an attack before it happens and try to avoid it. Sometimes you still miss it in the fray of combat, but for the most part, it’s easy to anticipate some basic enemy attacks. What’s hard is anticipating multiple enemies as they swarm you. When that happens, there is no shame in fleeing.
No Arc for Arcana
My main complaint is that the impediments to advance in the game sometimes make no sense. An example: one of the Arcana perks available to choose from in a run will give a faster heavy spell recharge. But in order to unlock Heavy Spells, players need to reach level 15. So what is the point in offering the perk to players under that level? Just to remind us that we have a long way to grind before we can use such perks?
And that’s what the game consists of for dozens of hours: grinding and grinding. The learning and the grinding curve are overwhelming; they make you paralyzed and afraid, but at the same time you keep coming back for more punishment, more stupid deaths, more frustration and awe as you piece together the lore. The world of Witchfire is just interesting enough to keep the player engaged in the lack of a proper narrative.
Ignis Maleficarum
I am all for witch-hunting grimdark fantasy, and I have a bone to pick with magic users. All I miss here is a more straightforward narrative built into this world that would give the players something else to do except grind their lives away. Not dialogue trees and character animation, but some quests that would give the learning curve more substance and a sense of progression.
I stand by my recommendation of the aesthetic power of Witchfire: it’s like the medieval witch-hunting treatise Malleus Maleficarum was made into a computer game with the most metal concept. This is a metal game. There are few games that are metal: System Shock, Kingdom Come: Deliverance… Witchfire. It’s a specific aesthetic style that just feels metal, as if the games were materialized metal music.
Fire Trails and Trials
I can’t speak for the future state of the game; this is a preview after dozens of hours grinding in mid-2024, with plenty still to do and unlock. I just can’t afford enough time and energy for an Early Access game this demanding, but I know some players will find the challenge and investment worthwhile. However, the game is still exclusively on Epic Games Store, which apparently is reason enough for a sizeable contingent of gaming audiences to avoid buying it.
Witchfire might be a niche shooter in a saturated market. It used to be that a niche game could not be very successful, but success has been redefined in the past years as indie games became more influential and mainstream. The long-term value of a niche game is to appeal to niche audiences with very specific demands. Fans of Witchfire demand as much punishment and death as possible before and after the full release.
This preview is exclusively of the version following the Ghost Galleon update.
Disclosure: Witchfire was previewed on PC with an Epic Games Store key provided by the developer. The game is currently in Early Access exclusively on Epic Games Store. More information is available on the official website.