Necropolis is a Dark Souls-like game which relies on tense combat against overwhelming foes. While the title has humor, its sole focus is slashing your enemies to bits. Before we begin this review, let me stress how hard this game is. If you thought games like Volgarr the Viking were tedious, Necropolis takes everything to another level. It’s unforgiving and you’ll have to grind to earn enough tokens and unlock various codices.
Necropolis adopts a trial-and-error approach because it doesn’t tell you what you have to do to progress further in the game. The only instructions you’re given are the controls and a giant pyramid giving you a set of challenges to complete. The more enemies you kill, the more objects you destroy, and the more items you craft, all lead to Tokens of Favor which can be used to purchase codices. Now, codices are tricky. You can only equip one and it offers you a perk like reduced stamina cost and others. It’s up to you to keep on buying them and finding out what ability suits your playstyle.
I wish that the game had given me some direction because for the first hour or two I was so confused and frustrated. I wanted to give up. I had no idea how to better myself and why I wasn’t earning enough tokens to afford much of the perks. Hopefully the people who pick up this game will appreciate the pointers I just provided because they would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.
Necropolis has varying levels and is procedurally generated. Each level is different even though their aesthetics are similar. The good part is that each of the areas feels unique so you don’t really get lost. The real challenge comes from the unforgiving enemies.
There are a number of foes like old men with swords, giant swamp creatures and metallic spiders like those found in the dwarven ruins of Skyrim. While the spiders might be easy to destroy, the towering enemies can kill you in a few hits so you have to be very careful. Healing before you head to the next clearing is helpful but you have to ration your food and potions. Inventory management and learning when to strike are necessary for success.
Unfortunately, the combat is slow and clunky so learning when the strike actually occurs is key. I would’ve preferred a slightly faster approach to combat—as in it being more fast-paced—but you can’t have it all, I guess. This adds to why Necropolis is so challenging and takes a few hours to get used to. Once you’re used to it though, you’ll be taking out monsters with ease and progressing further than before.
While I wasn’t able to get to the end because the boss battles are absolutely insane, the game does have an ending where you face off against a towering giant. There are clear objectives and places to go. It’s not an endless loop of combat. I imagine the purpose is to prove your worthiness in combat and then leave the Necropolis. At least that’s what I gather from talking to other writers who have finished it. Simple but effective, like Ziggurat.
Necropolis is best played in co-op mode because, I’ll be honest, it’s just incredibly difficult on your own. You don’t want to pull your hair out and smash your controller. I doubt many of us have the skill to complete it too, at least I don’t. It’s impossible if you don’t have someone watching your back. Players are almost always swarmed by enemies so having more than one challenger is key to taking them out quickly and preserving health. It’s also key to distracting bosses so one player can keep chipping away at them from behind. The game is definitely more complex than it appears on the surface and I appreciate that.
Summary
Overall, Necropolis is a fun combat-focused game which will keep you engaged for dozens of hours. It’s brutally difficult and even I had trouble despite being an expert at Dark Souls 3. Keep that in mind when purchasing the title. The pastel-looking visuals give it a unique aesthetic and in general it’s quite polished. I just wish the combat was less clunky.
Xian was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 162 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative.