God of Weapons (PS5) | REVIEW | An Innovative Inventory Based Survivors-like

Published by Ultimate Games S.A., God of Weapons comes to us as a fresh, and simple yet complex take on the survivors-like genre. This interesting isometric 3D action indie, based upon timed survival, and the micromanagement of inventory and inventory space has you taking on class based character roles, each with their own weapon based mechanics, and stat benefits. All to the tune of five increasingly hard difficulties, and a randomized shop system that makes purchases, and placement in inventory crucial to the endgame.

Through two different entry points on castle grounds you will take one of eleven class based characters into an arena to survive floors filled with waves of pursuing enemy creatures. All to a short countdown timer that has you getting as many kills as possible for experience and currency sake while avoiding lethal damage. 

As you level up you expand upon an inventory space several square slots at a time allowing for equipment and weapons to be bought, placed, and swapped out as seen fit. Maximizing the perk-like benefits that come with adjacent placement and equipment type are to be considered in this process. Beyond that it is a heavy handed grind wherein the end goal is to ultimately face off against the final elite bosses, and to unlock everything that the game has to offer, from rewards via the Wishing Tree to new equipment, and new classes of playable characters. That as well as new difficulty settings, and new starter equipment based upon feats rendered, be it stat or collective based.

Speaking of the unlockable features You will find that the only way to unlock most of anything is done through required stat boosts, and feat milestones. Outside of that there are alternative currencies earned through achievements listed at the Wishing Tree that can be spent to unlock new equipment items that can drop the next playthrough.

Playthroughs, in general, last from 30 seconds to one minute depending on which entry point you took. Each playthrough starting off with a character class selection, their main weapon out of four choices, a supporting item out of four options, and the difficulty settings which unlock up to five different selections. 

In these floor by floor arenas that act as the main objective the challenge spikes via enemy type, and enemy difficulty. All according to attack patterns, and attack type. Making updated equipment loadouts imperative along the way. While killing, and collecting the loot for spending at the shop between each floor is part of the game's loop the other main goal is to survive until the timer fully counts down on each floor, at which point all remaining uncollected experience crystals and currencies will be drawn to your character. Something that can benefit your gear growth via purchased rarities, or tiers of weapons, items, and accessories.

The experience earned in these playthroughs allows for the addition of multiple new loadout squares within the inventory space, dependent upon floor performance. Strategically choosing these squares will effectively determine what type of weapon or item you can place within the inventory loadout. Each weapon or item takes up a certain amount of squares, and in a specific arrangement or orientation. Sometimes adjacently placed equipment will boost stats and weapon efficiency via perks. Something that is detailed in the item/equipment description footnotes.

Getting to the point of completing a full run in God of Weapons depends mostly upon how well you manage your inventory loadout, and how much the RNG of the shop was on your side. There is a good amount of luck to each run as the skill requires only enough weapons to stave off the mobs as you constantly move and dodge/dash around the arena. Avoiding/utilizing traps, and other hazards is also a part of this. Leaving the barrels full of randomized power-ups and health food items to be the sometimes saving grace in a sticky situation.

The Presentation ...

From menu to menu, and hub world to the floored arenas you might get the impression that God of Weapons is still a work in progress. Though fully realized mechanically according to the included sum of it's features there's a lingering lacking in polish in regards to much needed tutorials, and pop-up info that would let you know what each feature does. 

There's no hand holding in the game whatsoever, and figuring things out is a hands-on ordeal. Visually the game is impressive, regardless, with it's cartoonish 3D isometric view and 3D character/creature models. The characters, in particular, will actually have weapons equipped visibly floating around them as you progress.  Each weapon activating in turn as animated mobs of monster pursue you back and forth in the small arena enclosure. The class outfits also change in color according to their sub-class which brings with it a different set of base stats, both positive and negative. The soundtrack is, itself, okay. Nothing to write home about, but is fitting of the fantasy setting. 

The Verdict ...

I truly wish the developer had invested more time and resources in a proper tutorial. This would have helped relieve any doubt I had in interpreting what the game had to offer. There's features that aren't outright explained, and the hub area is so minimalistic in regards to bonus modes or locales that the grind isn't quite as appealing or rewarding as it should be. In fact the rewards are lessened in comparison to survivor-likes such as Vampire Survivors. It just doesn't hit that dopamine high. That issue and the short lived arena floors leave a lot to be desired from a survivors-like standard. 

I do, however, admire their attempt to do something different with the loadout system, but it still falls short of making God of Weapons great, especially without proper rewards at play. I feel larger environments, longer timers, and some kind of constant reward system outside of the loadout squares would have benefitted this experience. Maybe instead of having a shop that sells equipment you could farm equipment Diablo-style, and have those drops drop during gameplay. As is though, it feels too short, too repetitive, and not rewarding enough each run to be considered fun. That's about all I can say.