Try playing Witchfire: Dark Fire Destroys Darkness!

Try playing Witchfire – If we combine The Vanishing of Ethan Carter with Destiny 2 , what would we get? And then take this 'combination' game and combine it with… Dark Souls , STALKER , and Escape from Tarkov? And if, hypothetically, a game containing all those 'combinations' were released as a… rogue-lite game, what would that be like?

The above seems hard to imagine, and even the game's developer – The Astronauts – humorously confirmed the bizarre nature of this combination in the game's first trailer in 2017. But to find out exactly what it was, we had to wait six years before Witchfire was released as… Early Access!

So, with such a unique setting and bizarre genre combination, does this game possess any noteworthy potential?

Let's grab our guns, bullets, and magic and 'try' to eliminate the dark forces in the Witchfire demo version !

1. 'Observe and learn!'

In a blog post by Adrian Chmielarz, Creative Director of Witchfire , he stated that the design of Bungie and Destiny 2 heavily influenced how The Astronauts approached basic gameplay mechanics like movement and shooting, to the point that whenever programmers asked him, the answer was always, 'Check out how they do it in Destiny 2. '

This 'loyalty' is quite evident in the final product, as the movement, shooting, and combat mechanics feel very similar to Destiny !

In the Witchfire demo version , the game offers 7 very different weapons for players to use, with a shooting feel that is both light and agile, yet solid and extremely reliable!

But The Astronauts team didn't just learn from Destiny 2's shooting mechanics; they also incorporated Bungie's best elements into the visual design. The varying recoil of weapons is clearly illustrated by dynamic animations, and reloading is depicted with animations that are both quick, precise, and visually appealing!

Adding to the satisfying gameplay and visual appeal, the weapons in the Witchfire demo are further enhanced in terms of design depth. Each weapon, upon upgrade, not only deals increased damage and overall effectiveness but also gains unique skill sets, making the gameplay experience even more engaging!

In fact, these mechanics also learn from and share many similarities with Destiny . Destiny is an online shooter game with both competitive (PvP) and single-player (PvE) gameplay, so the additional skills had to be nerfed to ensure balance between the two playstyles. Witchfire, however, doesn't need this, as it's a purely single-player game, allowing The Astronauts team to freely create incredibly impressive weapon skill sets!

For example, the Hand Cannon has the ability to increase damage depending on the number of headshots the player fires before reloading, along with a special bullet that gives the player the ability to freeze enemies. A set of skills that would surely make the Destiny community swear if implemented in their game, but it fits perfectly here.

And every weapon in the game has such skills! But in addition to the built-in passive functions, the game also has 'spells' that players can activate themselves. From simple spells like ice or fire spells, to incredibly spectacular spells like summoning an electric cross to bind enemies, or a giant golden bell that can stun!

And this is just the beginning of an Early Access game! There are countless more awesome weapons, skills, and spells waiting for players later on.

Despite borrowing heavily from other genres, Witchfire 's visual style is quite unique. It has a Dark Fantasy feel with terrifying monsters, dark spells, gloomy castles, and weapons that are both modern and… surreal. The visuals and graphics of Witchfire are stunning, highly detailed, and incredibly impressive!

2. Rogue-Like, 'Lightweight', 'Heavyweight' Combat!

To acquire the complex and satisfying skill sets mentioned above, players must dedicate a significant amount of time to grinding. Regarding mechanics outside of combat, Witchfire borrows heavily from games like Escape from Tarkov, Dark Souls, STALKER , and a few rogue-lite titles.

Described as 'a Rogue for those… who don't like Rogue'! In the Witchfire demo , players are dropped into an area with a clearly marked map from the start, with enemy strongholds outlined. The game's 'Rogue essence' seems to be limited to the enemy placement, rewards, mini-boss appearances, and extreme weather events.

Typical Rogue mechanics like randomly generated weapons and upgrades are unclear, primarily revolving around temporary upgrades called 'Arcana' that players collect through giant red crystals that drop after defeating smaller bosses.

This also doesn't mean that these fixed upgrades revolve around random conditions during gameplay like in Prey: Mooncrash ; instead, players simply gather resources, upgrade themselves or enhance and upgrade their weapons, and continue the loop until they are strong enough to face the map's main boss.

To upgrade, players must attack randomly placed strongholds on the map and defeat mini-bosses or complete a specific quest, then collect resources and enter the portal to return to base and upgrade, giving the game a feel similar to Escape from Tarkov .

When a player dies, they lose all their collected resources, but they can still recover them if they can return to the 'death spot' in the next playthrough, a direct borrowing from Dark Souls.

Despite these 'flat' upgrades, to maintain the consistent difficulty level of other Rogue games, the Witchfire demo also 'adds' certain challenging conditions after the player upgrades their character, meaning the stronger the player, the harder the game becomes.

However, Witchfire itself is a challenging game with dense enemies, high damage output, and limited resources for the player.

3. Personal opinion

The Witchfire demo incorporates many gameplay and mechanic influences, with very clear traces of Destiny, Escape from Tarkov, STALKER , and Dark Souls !

However, in terms of mechanics, the Astronauts team has skillfully transformed familiar elements from other games into something unique, through explosive, intelligent, and deep design. The combat experience feels like an 'unlimited' version of Destiny , making it a highly promising title.

However, in its current state, Witchfire 's potential remains largely untapped. The significant limitations on the Rogue element mean the game lacks high replay value and doesn't encourage the immediate 'experimental' quality that has become a hallmark of Rogue-lite games in general.

Currently, with only two areas and very few weapons and abilities, the Witchfire demo doesn't yet justify its price, despite the game's immense potential!

4. When will it be released?

Witchfire entered Early Access on PC via the Epic Game Store on September 20, 2023.