33 Immortals, from developer Thunder Lotus, is one of the most unique multiplayer games I've played in a while, and it's now available for players to try, including through Xbox Game Pass.
Directly themed after the Divine Comedy, players take the role of sinners who are rebelling, attempting to fight through Hell, Purgatory, and even Heaven ...eventually.
The game's not finished yet, with the developers opting to launch 33 Immortals in early access in order to garner feedback and iron out a few issues.
I had the chance to play through a few escape attempts before the game's recent launch in early access, and overall, I've enjoyed the unique balance that 33 Immortals strike as players team up with and against each other.
While I previously played a demo of the game shortly after it was announced, this was a more comprehensive hands-on representative of what players can now try in early access.
Taking a page from fellow roguelike Hades, 33 Immortals lets you pick different weapons like a bow or sword before you embark on an escape attempt, with each weapon granting different attack styles and special abilities.
You can play by yourself, but it's highly recommended that you team up with a couple of friends because those special abilities require the coordination of multiple players in order to function.
You'll also need a co-op partner to revive you if you fall, something that's extremely likely early on, as your demonic foes hit hard.
That co-op coordination is key to much of the game, as different squads of players roam the map, looking for upgrades and attempting to overcome powerful foes lurking in dungeons. In addition to finding different pieces of gear, you're also able to increase your health, damage, and co-op functionality by upgrading one of three stats.
This is where the unique balance comes in, as after a certain number of dungeons are cleared, a countdown begins, with the map becoming wreathed in fire as everyone is pushed to the center for a massive group battle.
Because of this, you're encouraged to compete with other players, growing as powerful as possible before you're forced to move on.
When an "Ascension" battle begins, surviving players frantically attempt to survive a countdown as wave after wave of powerful enemies pour in. Making it past this gauntlet rewards you with a brief moment of respite as you prepare to take on Lucifer himself.
I don't want to spoil too much here, but the scale of this fight is awesome, making it abundantly clear you don't stand a chance of making it out unless your merry band of 33 players can all coordinate and help each other.
Of course, if you die and fail along the way, a lot of your progress will be reset, but there are a few things that can be done to improve your odds for the next go-around. As you play, you'll unlock different Perks, granting increased stats or other bonuses out of the gate.
These Perks can be improved over time, adding a sense of meta-progression so it feels like you have something to work toward instead of being completely back to zero every time an escape attempt fails.
I do think this aspect feels a bit sluggish right now, and I'd like to see more unique perks encouraging different play styles added in the future.
Best of all, the developers are already reacting to feedback and player concerns. When I played ahead of the early access launch, it was clear that dashing and dodging enemy attacks was a bit too slow and frustrating, resulting in a universal buff to dodge speed. As a result, movement feels a lot better, which is needed when the screen fills up with foes.
If you're looking for something very different compared to most multiplayer games, mixing the roguelike elements of Hades with tense co-op action, then I highly encourage you to give 33 Immortals a try.
There's definitely still room for the developers to improve things, and indeed, that's largely the point of launching the game in early access.
Hopefully, we won't be waiting too long before seeing some updates roll out, with some additional perk variety and other tweaks to improve the moment-to-moment flow of gameplay.
In the meantime, I'm going to try to round up some friends to see if we can break out of Inferno. Practice makes perfect, and I want to be ready when Paradiso arrives and we can finally challenge heaven itself.
33 Immortals is currently available in Xbox Game Preview/Early Access on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC (via the Xbox PC app and the Epic Games Store). It's also included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
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