If you were gonna tell me that a developer would bring together the fun of an isometric action game, the exploration of a rpg, a sprinkling of roguelike and all the fun of PVP in an MMO I’d have thought I’ve gone to heaven but here we are with Wolcen Studio’s latest game, Gods, Death & Reapers.

You’d think I was exaggerating with what had been mentioned but after trying it out firsthand and even getting the scoop directly from the developer, both casual and hardcore gamers alike are in for a treat with the upcoming title. Before anything else though, what even is Gods, Death & Reapers?

That time I reincarnated as death

In mythology and even religion, once you pass away you get sent to the afterlife for eternal joy or even damnation but what if, the powers that be cease to exist? Mythology is real and the gods are gone and in the world of Gods, Death and Reapers, Death itself recruits you as a reaper to salvage what’s left in the Godless Realm to rebuild his domain. 

The remaining denizens don’t take kindly to what’s happening especially with their gods dead and if you thought you were roaming alone, other reapers sent by death are also wandering these lands and they will reap through you if they have to.

From a gameplay perspective, Gods, Death & Reapers, is in its own terms, an ExtrAction RPG. Being a combination of the extraction shooter genre to an extent like Escape from Tarkov and other isometric games such as Diablo, Gods, Death & Reapers is unique in that it takes the best of both worlds while remaining unique all throughout as both a PVP experience and as a PVE game. 

As an extraction game, you get dropped into the Godless Realms, roaming and looting as you please, starting out with nothing but your equipment and adding more to your spoils as you go along. Think hunger games but with more violence, magic and mayhem. 

As an action RPG, you have your crafting, your questlines and of course your combat and mixing it up with PVP gives you more reason to not only loot harder but smarter as well because what you loot is what you’ll use and you wouldn’t bring a knife to a gun fight would you?

Clothes make the man / reaper

On the topic of loot, or more specifically equipment, the clothes make the man (reaper?) in  Gods, Death & Reapers and apart from dripping you out, what you wear actually determines your skills. Unlike traditional role playing games where your class determines your skills, it’s actually your clothes that influence it. 

Your weapon would act as a soft class to an extent defining what your normal or basic attacks would be and your remaining equipment rounds out your kit. There would be instances wherein the same weapon or armor type would also have similar skills or movesets but it’s when you mix it all together when the magic happens. 

On my first playthrough of the game, I opted for a spear as a soft approach because more range is always good early on and my other skills would augment my spear throwing like increasing attack speed or raw damage. As I found more loot like different helmets and pants, swapping them out gave me a different skill altogether. 

There was a point during my playtest where I had a hammer as my main weapon and could summon thunder with my skills and while I felt like Thor, I was excited as the possibilities were endless and I knew there was more. You know what’s funner than 1 projectile? Multiple all at once zoning out your enemy.

All War, All Craft, All This, All That

The combat loop had me hooked but as a long time, long term gamer, there were a couple of questions looming as I delved deeper into the Godless Realms but thankfully apart from feeling similar to a roguelike, the game’s director Andrei Chirculete, had it covered especially when it came to growing pains and long term gaming with the end game culminating on a focus on PVP. 

While item strength is definitely there, and items even coming in different rarities to boot, player skill and expression would rise to the top among anything else. There will come a time when an item meta would develop but that’s where the seasonal cycles would come into play. 

Similar to other battle royal games, Gods, Death and Reapers will have seasons with equipment rotating in and out meaning you could be strong now due to your overpowered equipment but come next season, you’ll have to work your way to the top again. Considering that you’ll be looting for items anyway, you could craft your way up and down the line, you could take part in in-game trading for the best loot! This doesn’t invalidate your old equipment though but just relegates it to storage for use in an evergreen mode.

Happy Death Day

There’s a lot to be excited for in Wolcen Studios game, Gods, Death and Reapers and between the deep lore being presented and the fun gameplay loop, if you’re interested in the genre you’re in for a good time. I for one am excited to test out builds but with all the options available, it’s gonna be a long fun ride.

Interested in learning more about the game or even trying it out yourself? Check out their links down below and see you soon in the Godless Realm!

Website: https://www.playgdr.com

Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3086590/Gods_Death__Reapers