Skull Kid (PS5) | REVIEW | Roguelike Arena Brawler With Soul . . .

If life teaches us anything it is that immortality in a world full of the living is overrated. History tends to repeat itself in the worst ways, and being around for each historical cataclysm or reset would be an absolute nightmare. This is something the protagonist of Skull Kid learns firsthand. As a member of a cult that sought to bury the mechanism that dealt in life and death for the gain of immortality he sets forth to restore that very device so that life and death can once again run it's course. This endeavor entails going down deep into eight layers of an ancient well that requires the aid of three souls to access. Each layer being guarded by it's own assortment of creatures. Creatures that must be culled for their soul energy in order to gain access to the next layer down.

As the titular Skull Kid you have in your possession three willing souls that will help you in descending the ancient well in order to restore the cycle of life and death. This in tandem with special skills, projectiles, a transformative super form, and melee combos will be the means with which you mop up waves of minions that guard each floor. Utilizing mechanics like the dash to avoid damage while you deal damage will feed the downed enemy's souls into the three souls connected to the current floor's seal.

It takes a certain amount of souls per floor to descend, and certain minions will hinder that process through shield or stun abilities that must be dealt with accordingly. There's even boss-like minions that will dish out stuns regularly if not dealt with promptly. Most lesser minions aim to destroy the souls by draining them via close contact. This must be stopped. If not losing all three souls will send you back to a hub where a keen observer lies in wait to aid you until you complete your goal.

Along with Skull Kid there exists a one-eyed watcher that is trapped in the well with him. Doomed to live out an eternity there until someone comes along and restores life and death. That's where Skull Kid steps in. Through repeated playthroughs, and the completion of each level of the well you will gain access to skill upgrades, and various other items in the one-eyed watcher's hub world. This is how you gain the ability to see your mission through to the end, and without the skill upgrades a full playthrough would be impossible.

As far as levels go you are tasked to farm souls and defend the three assisting souls to a timer. You are timed per floor, and your completion record is tallied along with other statistical feats tied to your repetitious efforts. Your ultimate goal being to make it all the way to the bottom 8th level of the well, and get the life and death mechanism back in working order. This will take multiple playthroughs as you unlock new helpful skills, and boost performance stats.

The Presentation ...

Skull Kid is a dark fantasy brawler focused roguelike with built-in layers that act as arenas. There are eight circular layers with the souls doing their thing center stage in each while you do your best to defend them as the pixelated and animated Skull Kid. Creatures, in general are small in stature as is our hero. Each made up of simple sprites that are well articulated. The action plays out onscreen to a synth soundtrack with the occasional cutscene to compliment the story being told. It's nothing grand in scale, abut visually and audibly it's an almost pixel perfect indie presentation.

The Verdict ...

If it weren't for the forcing of repeated playthroughs, and the artificial difficulty set therein I would be alright with Skull Kid, but to be honest it commits the cardinal sin of making the challenge one that's not so much about player skill, but more so about the mandatory grind to be able get to the end. Upgrading skills, and melee damage seems to do little to make each run easier and upgraded melee damage, in general, does not seem to work at all. It always takes the same amount of hits to kill an enemy regardless of the upgrades. From start to finish it is a chore that's pure tedium, and one that does not let up in challenge to the end. I think the game had potential as a base concept, but the developer leaned too hard towards creating an artificially difficult experience instead of one that rewarded player skill. It is because of all of this that I cannot recommend Skull Kid as a buy unless it goes on sale. It's a roguelike that could have, and should have been better.