Skautfold: Usurper Review

Skautfold: Usurper is set in London where the outer-worldly Citadel has unleashed Eldritch horrors across the UK city. It’s up to the players, as Saragat, to fight off the endless hordes of evil forces and restore peace to London. Meanwhile, Waltham, leader of the Weimar, uses his own forces to ascend the Citadel in order to challenge its leader, the Navigator, for his own devilish purposes.

Skautfold: Usurper is a 2D Metroidvania Soulsborne Action-RPG where the combat is highly lethal, slow and methodical. With your arsenal of weaponry, which you start off with a sword, you’ll need to be patient before attacking and carefully use the dodge mechanic to avoid (almost instant) death. You also have a stamina meter than will drain when attacking or dodging, so you need to be mindful. You can also block enemy attacks; which will allow you to recuperate some stamina.

As you kill enemies and explore some areas, you’ll be rewarded with experience points referred to as Vitae points and collect Yth Stones. A handful of different attributes can be upgraded such as your attack, defense, luck, intelligence, luck; among others. Not only this, but with Vitae, you can also purchase new skills & spells from a diversity of merchants; such as a skill that allows you to fire arrows and attack from afar. While another merchant will let you exchange Vitae for Yth Stones which are required to upgrade attributes.

The game’s presentation is decent; the whole game has a gothic Castlevania like atmosphere, albeit not as detailed Konami’s flagship franchise. Areas are dark and creepy to explore; it does feel pretty meh to explore; does not help when you keep having to re-do the same areas constantly after dying constantly. And while other areas that pretty much force you to die because you’re missing something to progress is of questionable design. As for the score, don’t expect something as majestic as Castlevania.

As Albert Einstein said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. This game is exactly that. Skautfold: Usurper will beat you into the ground by making you do the same thing over and over and over again. When you die, enemies respawn. Now, true, with your Vitae and Yth Stones you can upgrade the protagonist, but it feels completely inconsequential. I upgraded my defense to start things out, and my health would still go from 40 to 1 HP with a single hit no matter the enemy. Also accidentally landing in areas where you’re clearly overpowered or missing a specific skill with no way out will result in completely unnecessary and frustrating deaths. Please note that when you die, you also a percentage of your Vitae points.

If you’re a fan of the Soulsborne genre and don’t mind constant repetition is a soulless Metroidvania setting, Skautfold: Usurper will be right up your alley. Don’t let its visuals fool you; while it does have a Castlevania like aesthetic, it’s everything *but* that. The area feels boring to explore, the map is completely useless. Sure there are quite a few ways to upgrade the protagonist, but it all feels like fluff and unnecessary. If the mix of Soulsborne and Metroidvania appeals to you, definitely look up Hollow Knight instead. Jump in at your own risk.