Deaths Gambit

I finished Death Gambit Afterlife a few years ago, but after stumbling upon some videos, I thought writing a review would be a good way to show my appreciation for it.
When I started playing it before the Afterlife rework, I dropped it at the Bulwark (second boss of the game). I really didn't enjoy it and felt it was sluggish and way too hard for nothing. However, with the numerous changes of Afterlife, I had a much better time and went up until the end.
This game is my absolute favorite story wise, I keep getting teary-eyed when rewatching some scenes with Death, the way the story is written along with interactions is genuinely extremely good. Although I'd say it takes until at least the mid-point to third half of the game for the story to go from "decent" to "amazing". You can see the various inspirations the devs had from other famous indie games, which I obviously won't mention to avoid spoiling the "surprise".
The ending itself is among my most cherished experiences, I've recommended the game many times because of that last half that just blew me out the water the first time.
Gameplay wise, I think it's fine. However, making some choices (like choosing the Acolyte of Death class at the start) are really important, it makes the game less of a hassle as some bosses can be really unforgiving. I personally didn't try out the other weapons, the scythe is well-rounded so I always went with that one.
NG+ on heroic bosses is actually not fun because of how you don't really stand a chance, felt more like a slap in the face than a challenge, but the base game difficulty is well-thought-out.
As for the music, I've been so surprised of how good it is, the main leitmotif is something that stuck with me through the journey. Be it from bosses or just certain biomes, I'm always remembering them fondly, this is not your average OST that doesn't stand out.
An example :
I absolutely recommend this game if you enjoy challenging games and a story that has one of the most beautiful souls I've ever seen. Thank you for making this game
Death's Gambit 2 will probably never happen, but I'm happy even if it ends this way.

ENG/ITA REVIEW
I underestimated Death’s Gambit Afterlife for years, since its mixed reviews and somewhat low profile i always assumed it was a mediocre attempt at a 2D soulslike, one of my favorite genres. But i finally gave it a chance… and you should too.
At first glance, it plays like a standard soulslike set in a dark fantasy setting, then the game progresses, and it starts weaving in humorous undertones that, surprisingly, didn’t feel out of place, only for then change completely into something unexpected and the story begins to spiral into something much deeper and stranger than i ever anticipated.
What seemed like a straightforward fantasy narrative transforms into an experience full of complex, layered themes. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say it’s far more futuristic and philosophical than it initially appears. Somehow, despite the wildly diverse topics it touches on, the game manages to keep everything coherent, even emotionally resonant. Toward the end, it all clicks in a way that’s both dramatic and genuinely moving.
The final acts of the game are incredibly well made. The music, boss fights, and weight of the path you have walked all come together in an epic crescendo. There’s even moments that breaks the fourth wall in a way i never saw coming but brilliantly implemented.
Gameplay wise, combat feels more fluid than Salt and Sanctuary, though not as fast paced as Grime, it's a solid middle ground. There’s a decent range of builds and abilities to explore, though some of the heroic boss fights felt unbalanced but that might just be my skill level.
This game surprised me on every level. Don’t sleep on it.
RECENSIONE IN ITALIANO:
Per anni ho sottovalutato Death’s Gambit Afterlife. A causa delle recensioni contrastanti e della sua bassa notorietà, ho sempre pensato fosse un tentativo mediocre di creare un soulslike 2D, uno dei miei generi preferiti. Ma alla fine ho deciso di dargli una possibilità… e dovresti farlo anche tu.
A prima vista, sembra un classico soulslike ambientato in un contesto dark fantasy. Poi, man mano che si avanza, il gioco introduce toni umoristici che, sorprendentemente, non stonano affatto. E proprio quando pensi di aver capito dove vuole andare a parare, tutto cambia: la storia si trasforma in qualcosa di molto più profondo e strano di quanto avessi mai immaginato.
Quella che sembrava una narrazione fantasy piuttosto lineare diventa un’esperienza ricca di temi complessi e stratificati. Senza fare spoiler, posso solo dire che è molto più futuristico e filosofico di quanto sembri inizialmente. E nonostante tocchi argomenti molto diversi tra loro, riesce comunque a mantenere una coerenza sorprendente, arrivando persino a toccare corde emotive. Verso la fine, tutto si incastra in modo drammatico e davvero toccante.
Gli atti finali del gioco sono realizzati in maniera eccellente. Le musiche, le boss fight e il percorso che hai sceltoculminano in un crescendo epico. Ci sono persino momenti in cui viene rotta la quarta parete in modo totalmente inaspettato, ma perfettamente sensato con alcuni dei temi sopracitati.
Per quanto riguarda il gameplay, il combattimento è più fluido di Salt and Sanctuary, anche se meno frenetico di Grime, un buon equilibrio. C’è una discreta varietà di build e abilità da provare, anche se alcune boss fight eroiche mi sono sembrate sbilanciate… ma forse è solo una questione di git gud.
Questo gioco mi ha sorpreso sotto ogni aspetto. Non ignoratelo.

Don't let my low playtime fool you, i've beaten this game multiple times.
This is one of the best 2D Soulslike Metroidvanias of all time and it's not even debatable.
The Bad:
- It's a bit glitchy here and there, but i've never had something truly gamebreaking.
- Standard Keybinds are whack, but you can reassign them easily.
- Some Bosses have some weird hitzones & bs instant attack animations.
- Sometimes when you drop an Item, it just vanishes lol. Don't accidentally drop items.
The Mid:
- Bosses are pretty easy early on, but they eventually get a lot harder.
- Zone layouts can sometimes be a bit confusing even with the Minimap.
- Grinding is sometimes required.
The Good:
- Top 5 2D Metroidvania Gameplay ever honestly. It's super fun & addicting.
- Progression is super clean and imo. borderline perfect.
- Buildcrafting is really good. You have a LOT of options on how to play your char.
- I like the Story & Writing, but i know that's extremely subjective.
- Actually good Mouse Support for a 2D Metroidvania. Very rare in this Genre.
- The Metroidvania Aspect is REALLY FKN GOOD. A lot of Hidden Items, Backtracking, Interconnected Paths. IT'S SO GOOD.
I love this game. It's honestly a really good 8/10 to me.

1) go to an area with a robot dog believing its easy
2) accidentally go too close
3) boss hits you with massive explosion
4) wake up at the wierd statue with a guy roasting you for dying
9.5/10 would do it again

When I started the game, I felt it was clunky, I didn't love the art style and in general I don't like Souls-likes.
Well, I did not only finish the game, I even started a New Game+. Something I literally never did for any other game before.
tl;dr: I can really recommend this game.

The TL;DR Positives:
Gorgeous visuals.
Classes/abilities are fun to experiment with and most of the collectibles are at least worth finding to try out.
Excellent dialogue and voice acting (for the most part.)
Great sound design.
Story is somewhat predictable, but is still thought provoking and a joy to experience, even for subsequent playthroughs.
Now for Criticism. But before going any further, here are My System Specs:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7800X CPU @ 3.50GHz 3.50 GHz
16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
Not high end modern system to be sure, but decent enough that you would think that I shouldn't have any technical issues running this game.
Performance & Stuttering Issues:
You can do some online searches for how to address these issues, but the TL;DR is that Ti cards have been known to have particularly bad performance issues with Death's Gambit. But they can be addressed... to a degree.
Regardless here's what you should know going into this game.
FPS tracking will not help you because the performance issues typically don't directly affect the frame rate at all. During some of the worst instances of performance/stuttering that I experienced, my frame rate was consistently at a steady 55FPS at worst and capped out at 60FPS during most of my play time.
Death's Gambit Afterlife is a memory hog and you can expect it demand at least 50% of your system memory during combat especially boss fights, which are particularly poorly optimized.
Steam Link is likely to make these issues even worse, and if you haven't setup your steam link settings to maximize game performance already, you should, because this game deserves to be played on a big screen.
The temptation to button mash can be overwhelming, and even with button buffering it can be weirdly effective because input delay/failure bugs can occur during combat. However, button mashing can make performance and stuttering issues worse, especially with player or enemy abilities/attacks that generate VFX with more complex animations.
Input Delay/Failure Bugs and Button Buffering:
You are guaranteed to experience seemingly random button input failure and or delay at least once and it typically occurs during intense boss fights. I usually encountered the issue during the heroic forms of bosses. Possibly one of the best examples of this problem is the Tundra Lord Kaern boss (even during the 1st fight,) because the player needs to alternate between ground slams and air dashes. It's a boss design that would otherwise be interesting if it weren't so plagued by this issue. The Phoenix Rider boss is another great example of how performance issues combined with button input delay/failure can really burn the player experience.
Like many modern games after the early 2000s, Death's Gambit Afterlife has mandatory button buffering imposed on its controls. This is to discourage button mashing and to keep the player from bugging out the game with button mashing or sequence breaking button precision karate like they're playing in a GDQ. Button buffering, in my opinion, is dumb and a cheap cop-out from designing more stable gameplay. It is already bad enough that air-dash and ground-slam are locked to the same button press, but the button buffering combined with button input delay/failure bugs can cause massive frustration even when game performance is running perfectly.
Unfortunately, there is no fix that I know off to effectively address these button input delay/failure issues. You can try remapping your controls to see if that helps you. Best suggestions I can offer is do what you can to correct any performance issues first as these will only make your input delay/failure experiences even more soul-crushing, and then be prepared to die around 5 times at the minimum to any bosses where these issues manifest with the goal of getting a feel for the optimal button input strategy and timing rhythm for said fights.
Final Thoughts:
Death's Gambit After Life is absolutely worth playing for any souls-like fan and for any 2-D Action Platformer fan. If you like this game, try Salt & Sanctuary 1 too; you'll find similar appeal and issues with both.
Personally, I would not bother trying to "git gud" at this game, because so much of the late game content challenges are poorly optimized and some bosses are so cheesy they give some of the worst ATLUS games boss fights a run for their money. Instead, if you want to unlock different ending options that are challenging, such as the breaking the death contract and no-save-point-run, save yourself some time/energy and install a mod to make the game easier. I certainly won't judge you for it.

When I realized that this game was basically a 2D Dark Souls, I feared the worst, namely getting stuck on its difficulty. I did not, but I did sometimes get stuck on where to go next, or what to do. I had a good time nevertheless. it looks good, it sounds good, ans the atmosphere is great, punctuated by a bit of humor. I'd happily buy a sequel.