Godfall: Ultimate Edition Review • Codec Moments

Godfall was an action role-playing loot ‘em up that hit with the first wave of PS5 titles shortly after Sony launched their latest console. It was a timed exclusive to their tower of power and to be fair, beyond making everything look very shiny, the Gearbox published title failed to make a real impact. That was about a year ago and there’s been a lot of water under the bridge in more ways than one, and the exclusive timed console deal has ended – meaning that Godfall has made its way to the Xbox, along with a few upgrades. Godfall: Ultimate Edition – a sort of complete package of everything to date, which gives you the base game including all the DLC there has been so far (and for the moment, all for a discounted price). Oddly, there has been next to zero fanfare for the game launching on the Xbox, which never bodes well as history shows titles that launch like this are often sent out to, well… die. Having played for let’s say a fair bit of time, that’s far from the truth as this one is very much alive and kicking.

Godfall is set in a high fantasy world called Aperion that is split into a number of different realms like Earth, Water, and Air, where you are the last of the Valorian knights – god-like warriors able to equip Valorplates, legendary armour that transforms the wielder into unstoppable masters of melee combat. Your goal is simple: stop a major apocalyptic event from happening. This event happens to be triggered by your brother who has visions of being a God after kicking your backside right back to Earth at the beginning of things, so you have a long road to get back to power to face him. On the whole it tries really hard to forge a lore heavy tale that will likely stick with some, but not others. It throws a lot of terms and ideas at you right off the bat, yet as long as you remember you’re the good guy you’ll be fine.

Gameplay is an interesting blend of other titles in ways, it’s a bit of Destiny and Dark Souls with a pinch of Warframe and a dash of Anthem all blended together to create a weighty melee combat focused battler. Where you hack and slash your way to bigger, better and shiner loot (and bear in mind Godfall is a Gearbox game and they know how to do loot systems… yes we’re looking at you Borderlands); expect stat juggling and re-rolling kit more often than not. You’ll also unlock new Valorplate suits across your play time, which all look cool and each of the 12 add buffs – the core skills you have been working with, i.e., adding to bleed time or more powerful elemental effects. Your main goal is to defeat a number of sub-bosses, then the realm bosses before getting a shot at taking on your brother again. You can take on the sub and realm bosses as you wish, including the ability to take on the realm bosses right away, but beware they will be extremely powerful if their sub bosses are still around.

To be fair, once Godfall has shown all it has, things quickly become a little repetitive. You fight very similar enemies in similar backdrops, though teaming up with two other mates does breathe a bit of life into things. It ultimately will end with the three of you just button bashing into overpowered bosses at the same time. The Ultimate Edition allows you to skip the main campaign if you wish however, and head straight to level 50 with the ability to access the endgame content. The endgame adds some interesting new mechanics to the existing loop, but doesn’t add in enough to warrant any more of your time if you had played the story and had your fill. Skipping through means you can still access the story missions at your own pace though, and the endgame does add some modes too, like the new Spirit Realms mode and Trials.

Visually the game is as shiny as it was on the PS5 and thanks to this being the Ultimate Edition there are a few more dials to tweak to your set up spec to get even more out of the game. The camera system is a bit hit and miss at times and trips over itself in the heat of battle if you’re fighting a few enemies at once, so beware of that. The updates that Godfall has had since launch have made a then disappointing game better, and you’ll certainly get your money’s worth (especially with the launch discount). There is fun to be had here if you’re a newcomer, but its mileage will really depend on how much you like loot ‘em ups and melee fighters.

Godfall: Ultimate Edition is available now on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5 for around £35 depending on platform (though you’ll no doubt find it a lot cheaper than that).

The Verdict

6Fair

The Good: Fun core gameplay | Updates raise up the core game

The Bad: Story can be hard to keep track of | Endgame content feels like more of the same | Too repetitive in ways

Bio
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Stuart Cullen

Scotland’s very own thorn in the side of the London gaming scene bringing all the hottest action straight from The Sun… well… The Scottish Sun at least, every week!