Fallen Angel is a hack-and-slash RPG that lets players control Lucifer has he seeks vengeance in the corridors of Heaven. It’s a gory campaign of slaughter. If you haven’t seen the trailer or missed our initial coverage of the upcoming game, you can check it out here. There may be nine circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno, but Matrioshka Games wants you to ascend through the seven realms of Heaven using aerial combat, the demonic power of your Pride, and a divine sense of justice that will end with the death of Archangels. While some significant flaws do exist, Fallen Angel shows promise, and it will be interesting to see how the pixel art RPG improves before release.

*The following comments are based on an early preview build of the game.

GAMEPLAY

As Lucifer fights his way through hordes of angelic hosts, players will control all of his mighty powers. The layout for those controls will differ depending on the use of a keyboard or a controller. So let’s dive straight into what it takes to play the game. Number one: you cannot play this without a mouse. Next item on the agenda: if you do have a mouse, then you’ll need a big mouse pad. Even though the movement keys are W, A, S, and D—like many games—the attacks are based off a directional compass that you have to orient with a mouse. The mouse also controls standard attacks and dashes, so you’ll sweep the mouse back and forth to direct your attacks and then unleash them.

At the end of the day, just use a controller. The transition from mouse and keyboard to controller alleviated my mechanical frustrations with the controls, and it enabled me to focus on the game. It’s what I would recommend to any gamer who plays Fallen Angel.

Combat wasn’t as vexing as the adjustment to the control scheme, but it was underwhelming. Inspired by games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, it doesn’t achieve the desired effect. The aerial combat was lackluster—enemies can easily hit Lucifer in the middle of an aerial combo, halting any impressive or high-damage move in its tracks—and the recovery system was designed in such a way that you could be hit by successive attacks with no real chance to dodge out of the way after the initial onslaught. With some modifications, it could develop into an enjoyable hack-and-slash, but there are some frustrating elements that need to be addressed.

With seven realms to topple, Lucifer will have plenty of ground to cover, and the early preview build had some bugs that could be disastrous if not fixed. There were multiple instances where Lucifer would glitch into a surface and I would be unable to extricate him. One scenario involved Lucifer glitching into an impassable door. I wasn’t able to re-enter the level. Normally, at least. I did eventually break free… into the blackness around the realm. Wandering around near the edges of the map, I was able to progress by entering the next door from the back. It was absurd, but I couldn’t find any other way to fix the bug without restarting from the beginning of the game.

EXPECTATIONS

Fallen Angel was a lot of things that need to be improved between the early preview build and the official release. While I’m not always a fan of early access, it might actually benefit Matrioshka Games to get feedback from the community.

CONCLUSION

With dedication and patience from the development team, Fallen Angel could be a fun hack-and-slash RPG. Right now, though, it’s a hellish experience where heaven isn’t as nice as it usually sounds.

*As of October 28th, the Kickstarter campaign for the game is still open if you’re interested in supporting the game.