SUCCUBUS (18+) Review: Get Revenge And Dominate Hell

PC Review Code Provided by Madmind Studio

Madmind Studio has finally given players a chance to descend back to hell in a new game and this time we get to take on the role of a fallen Succubus. Instead of the game being focused on the horror of trying to escape hell, players are given the chance to fight their way to the top. With a combat-focused experience in mind, this game took on the opportunity to bring out the gorefest that should be expected in the underworld.

Story

After being humiliated and defeated by the powerful demon Baphomet, who sought to take the soul of your king and lover Nimrod, the only thing that ran through priestess Vydija's mind was to get revenge. Betrayed by her own species, Vydija allows her most primal instincts to take over. With the willingness and power to inflict pain and death upon anyone who gets in your way back to the throne, she will get her revenge and takedown Baphomet and his army.

Gameplay

When you start the game off, the first thing you will want to look into are the settings. Here you can adjust the usual aspects, such as graphics and sounds, but you can also turn the censorship on or off. Regardless of this being on or not, the game will be brutal. The question is, how much do you want to see in detail?

Then you can start the game, choosing the difficulty first. This being a combat-focused game, you would expect to have to be a bit of a try-hard, but they actually include a “Story” difficult option. This option makes the game very easy to get through and makes the game more of a “powerful demon reclaims her thrown” type of experience versus the harder difficulties providing more of a “powerful demon fights her way back to the top” experience. Personally, I went through the game on Story difficulty first, and then you can just reload levels you liked most on harder difficulties. Not to mention that some levels offer a leaderboard option for you to try and be the best fighter compared to others online.

After the first level, you will get your first visit to your home base. Here you can customize everything and upgrade your items. This includes weapons, powers, home cave designs, Vydija's body features, armor/clothing, and more. To unlock options you will need to both progress through the story, complete optional missions as well, and earn the points needed to purchase the items you want. I was a fan of using the horn blades, but there is also the option for swords, scythes, and more. It's really all user’s choice and they did a great job offering a wide variety of options to players. You can always preview items, even if they are locked, so you know what you want.

As you complete missions, there will be both collectibles to find and side missions to complete. These are optional, of course, but they help give you more points and unlock more options in the customization menu. So, if you are looking for a specific style, then be sure to really explore the maps and levels.

Levels are a mixed bag of actual adventuring through areas and fighting enemies in an arena-type area. Some levels are just straight-up arena fights, but the main story ones are going to have you venturing through sections of hell. When you are adventuring through, you will come across climbing sections, which are easy to get through and guided every time, small objectives to open pathways, and fight sections where you will need to clear an area before you can proceed. It's a rather basic level building style honestly, but it works pretty well for this game.

When it comes to the actual fighting, that's where the game has a lot of aspects put together for players. You can always fight with your weapon's melee strikes, but you have a variety of other options. As a horn blade user, I had the added option to throw a blade forward at enemies and have it return to my hand. Then there is the power attack option, which can be changed out but starts off with fireball, the ability to kick foes, which can make them fly into map traps like spikes or lava, and sometimes you will have an extra ability based on your armor. The first big chunk of the game I stuck with the starting armor which gave me the force pull ability and that was really useful for quick stuns and a few other tricks.

Visuals and Audio

They definitely put a lot of time into the aesthetics of this game. On the highest graphic quality, the hell scenario looks pretty fascinating, and even on a lower graphic quality setting, it doesn't look bad at all. All the demons had their own style and variations to them as well. Plus, there are the selfie options that you can take advantage of if you like what your character is decked out in (to put it cleanly).

As for the music and sound effects of the game, it was all very fitting. The style they chose to go with had a mixture of formality and heaviness that brought out the experience of the moment. It was nothing that will blow you away, but it was a good fit for the game throughout.

Replayability

Thanks to the collectibles, side missions, multiple difficulties, and leaderboard, I have to say that this game definitely has some replayability. You might not go through the whole story again, but if you enjoyed the gameplay experience then there is no reason not to at least attempt to climb the leaderboard on your favorite arena levels.

What Could Be Better

The climbing sections in the game felt like a filler. The majority of the time they were short, you didn't have to do anything but push the direction that they prompted to you, and there was no free movement during them. In fact, a good chunk of each climbing section is just watching her move after we input the direction. This is a real missed opportunity to let players climb and crawl around hell's walls as an actual demon.

I'm not sure why the censorship unlock option was put behind a DLC for PC users. This actually caused some issues when I tried to unlock it and I ended up playing through the game with the censorship on. For me, it really isn't a big deal, but I can see this being a problem for others.

Conclusion

Succubus is the adulterated action game players have been waiting for! I've always believed that video games should have titles in them that are simply not meant for everyone. Just as all forms of media, there are some creative items made that are not meant for younger, immature, and sensitive users. Succubus is one of the titles that push the envelope and invites the creative barrier to be more flexible and open to a wider range of players. It is entertaining, well-crafted, and all-around fitting to both the genre and environment the developers were aiming for. Definitely a game I recommend to action-focused players that can handle an adults-only rated experience.