Have you ever wondered what would happen if Super Smash Bros. was made into a roguelite? How would the chaotic arena battling of Nintendo’s finest platform brawler work within the rinse and repeat loop of Indie developer’s favourite genre? Those seem to be the questions Gentle Giant Games asked themselves. Their answer? Spiritfall.
With a bold Saturday-morning cartoon aesthetic, Spiritfall instantly charms the eyeballs. You play as a little dead dude with a flaming head who must battle and defeat a whole bunch of creatures and bosses to free the realm from bad stuff. Or something. Look, I have to admit, the plot held my attention for about as long as a TikTok video. It’s generic and hardly compelling, but thankfully it doesn’t get in the way and can mostly be ignored whilst you crack on with all the beat ‘em up fun. And what stupendously enjoyable gameplay it is!
From a map screen, you’ll choose which arena you want to enter next, mostly by appraising which of the many exciting rewards on offer will help you to complete your run. With that decision made, you’re straight into the action. Played from a 2D perspective, combat is fast, frantic, responsive and oh-so-silky smooth. Enemies will spawn and you get to hitting them with an abundance of style, as if Devil May Cry’s Dante went 2D. The more you hit your foes, the higher your combo meter builds and the more your victims bounce around the arena, obliterating themselves against walls, plunging off the edge of the level, or – even better – taking out a few of their evil chums in a satisfying chain reaction of explosions. Just like Super Smash Bros. it’s all about controlling the space, using your directional attacks and charged specials to send enemies flying before they can surround and overwhelm you.
Enemy types are wide and varied, each working with the other in interesting variations of attack pattens to try and catch you out. You thankfully have a very effective dash that will help you reposition to strike from safety, perhaps from a platform above or below, or with an arena wall to your back. The enemy hordes are constantly probing for a weakness in your strategy, leading to demanding dynamic combat encounters that keeps your fingers clicking and your eyes from never blinking. Frankly, it’s ridiculously addictive and kept me coming back for more as the hours rolled by.
This being a roguelite, there’s a conglomeration of power-ups that you get to keep for the run, and a whole bunch of collectibles you can gather to unlock permanent upgrades in the central hub. Spiritfall is delightfully generous in the rapid pace of the progress the player makes, as you are always rewarded with something by the spirits you meet. From damage-dealing dashes, the ability to shoot lightning bolts, or to set fire to the many minions you face, the configuration of character builds is bewildering in its vastness. Overall, the difficulty is configured just right for that one-more-run buzz, with upgrades coming thick and fast, ensuring you make enough progress each time to feel compelled to try again, rather than dispirited and put off by the reset back to the start.
Like Hades, there’s an entire armoury of weapons to unlock, each one encouraging a different playstyle and approach. There’s something for everyone, from a straightforward hammer, to a quartet of rapid-punching fists, a bow with long distance attacks or a very complicated chain scythe thingy. I’m sure in the hands of someone more skilled that latter would be deadly, however, in my clumsy hands things got very messy, so I went back to the safe embrace of the hammer instead.
Whilst the gameplay is thrilling and eminently addictive, the characters you meet are bland and empty merchants. Unlike the best examples of this form, there are no intriguing relationships to build here, everyone you come across has just a few limited text boxes to offer by way of characterisation, but little else. Thankfully the combat, pace, and deliriously compelling roguelite loop more than make up for this, resulting in a game that is perfect for the Switch and for facing another train delay with a smile on your face. After all, the lack of a train driver means there is time for another run after all.