The Devil Within: Satgat is furious and fun | Hands-on preview
It’s a great time of the year to be a gamer, what with countless press conferences making a ton of announcements that might not be on your radar yet. One such game I’d heard little about was The Devil Within: Satgat, but after playing a demo of the 2.5D side-scrolling action platformer, I now have it in my sights for the eventual release. Newcore Games has crafted a fluid and fast-paced title that exposes you to a lot of different enemies, yet you’re more than capable of dispatching them thanks to the wealth of upgrades and moves you’ll unlock as you play.
You play as Kim Rip, a member of the Royal Guard who is sent to destroy the Ebon Sting. You see, years before, this mysterious tower began supplying a mysterious substance known as crimson oil to the masses, eliminating sickness and bringing prosperity to all. However, an evil swept the land, and began turning people into demons possessed by its unnatural and ungodly power. Luckily, you’re a badass, and after the evil hits too close to home, you’re on a mission to wipe it out from existence.
To do that, you must you use trusty sword to decimate the creatures that stand in your way. Kim Rip can execute a range of deadly abilities with his blade. Ground and aerial attacks are effective, but you can use a more powerful slash of the sword to do more damage. Parrying plays a big role as well, especially when, if timed right, you can unleash a special attack that looks awesome and acts as a powerful riposte. You can also dash to avoid enemies in combat, and in my time with the demo, I unlocked a gun known as the Wanderer to attack from afar.
In the demo, I saw a range of different creatures, from rabid dogs, zombie-like creatures, and weird squid men, all with varying attack patterns. Some are shielded, and even after killing them, their shield takes on the form of a butterfly, and if you don’t manage to destroy it, can go and shield another enemy nearby. There’re also bosses, and one of them was a huge bug that kept spawning smaller versions of itself. It wasn’t too difficult to destroy, but the challenge came from stopping its mutant babies from becoming an army. There’s lots of variety in what you face, and each one makes you change up your approach.
As much as I enjoyed combat in The Devil Within: Satgat, some attacks can’t be stopped, so if you’re in the middle of a combo, you can’t stop and turn around to attack a flanking demon. It’s something that could be adjusted with further patches and work because, after all, this is an early sample of what to expect when it releases. Fighting is fluid, but switching focus isn’t. That’s why, at present, combat requires strategy, and while you’re not as punished as you would be in similar games, button-bashing isn’t recommended if you want the best results.
There’re various memory fragments scattered around the environment, which was a broken down city filled with rain-soaked streets and dilapidated buildings, giving you background to what is going on. You can also reach points that act as bonfires seen in Dark Souls, where your health can be replenished as can your medical supplies, as well as levelling up Kim Rip. When defeating enemies, you’ll gather engrams which are used to make you level up, unlocking new technique points to spend on your skill tree. There’re multiple options that range from improving vitality, increasing attack power, and skills across dashing, physical ability, and sword/gun manoeuvres.
Although this was only a small slice of The Devil Within: Satgat, I loved what I saw. The gameplay is satisfying and the enemies are varied and challenging. It’s also lovely to look at despite the monstrosities that have enveloped the land, and the story is pretty cool at this point. I’ll be back come release date (at present it’s some time in Q4 2023), ready to slay more demons and become one powerful warrior with myriad attacking opportunities at any given moment.
The Devil Within: Satgat will have a demo as part of Steam Next Fest, and is due later this year.
