Guidus Zero Guest Review By Celt Brenny

The following review for Guidus Zero, is a guest review by Celt Brenny. At Complete Xbox, we always welcome your views, and we love to share and promote them within the wider gaming community.

Guidus Zero is a real-time, grid-based action roguelike that combines the strategic movement of tile-based dungeon crawlers with the speed and tension of real-time combat. Set within a mysterious dungeon known as The Scar which is both a massive wound in the world and has a double meaning literally and symbolically. It is built up in the story that is an underworld that is under chaos after a horrific event that have imprisoned heroes who have failed to save the world. You take part as one of these who awakes in the scar stripped from power and memory of the events that unfolded. The plot is to climb out of The Scar and find the Truth of what was the source of the corruption.

Firstly, you are probably wondering what on earth is Grid Based action, and I must admit I really struggled to grasp the mechanics but once it clicks it feels unbelievable and unlike many roguelikes I have played. Movement happens one tile at a time, but the action is in real time, and you spend time having to dodge, reposition and think a few steps ahead against enemies. Whilst this seems very difficult, and I found myself dying very early to sill things once you get used to the mechanics and the core gameplay of enemy attack patterns it gives you a very good dopamine rush.

The roguelike loop run, die, upgrade, repeat is addictive. Between runs, players can invest in long-term upgrades that slightly ease the brutal difficulty curve. Progress feels rewarding without undermining the game’s challenge. Once you come to terms with all of this and sink some time into the game it all feels worthwhile and getting the itch to get back into the action when mistakes are made and you are back to square one.

As well as the upgrades there are a few things that aid your playthroughs or currency that help your heroes out. Artifacts are the main mechanics of your build which can be found within the depths of Scar. These are essentially Power Ups that are randomised in chests and with the local merchants that can provide you with aid or help a certain playstyle. Next you get a mysterious power given to you which allow you to collect ‘Power of the sprits’ that may become available when collecting new artifacts and grant you elemental powers that disappear once you die and return to Camp. Finally, there are a few currencies that you can collect during your playthrough that help in Scar and back at camp to aid your next attempts. Black Blood is used as currency at shops and collected from baddies and breaking boxes around you which can help buy Artifacts, Keys and Potions. Then we have Refined Black Blood which is refined and able to take back once defeated and found back at camp to enhance various things such as potions and character improvements.

Visually this game is stunning with the choice of high resolution pixel art and a vast array of well thought our designs not only for the enemies but the overall feel and aesthetic that makes the world around the hero a place of ruin and repair. Each floor you clear you find yourself fascinated about the new colour palette, baddies and the way they handle and forget to dodge everything around you because you are taking it in. Not only that the soundtrack leans heavily on things around you reinforcing the game’s theme of isolation and struggle and giving it that RPG feel.

The only drawback to this is that some of the interactions with NPCS just feel limited with the hint of lore but there isn’t much in terms of storytelling and just a couple of text boxes here and there talking to characters.

The regular enemies in Guidus Zero test your reflexes, but the bosses test your entire understanding of the game’s rhythm and understanding your characters strengths with the tools you have collected and curated. Each major encounter in The Scar is a skill check a brutal but fair examination of how well you’ve mastered positioning, timing, and build synergy which does get easier with time and investment from upgrades and learning the couple of skill sets you get with a skill tree / levelling system. I must admit I felt very overwhelmed in the first couple of hours and frustrated I couldn’t make it past a few bosses to then get humbled very quickly in the next area but there’s just a itch to get back out there and learn from your mistakes.