It's all Greek to me.
Upon checking out Achilles: Legends Untold before requesting review code, I was rather impressed with the cinematic nature of much of its presentation as well as the small bits of story that encompassed its early access preview. As the title has been in early access since May of 2022, it has undergone several changes to entire sections of the game and its story completely replaced. While the finished product is certainly a better playing affair, some moments that were rather intriguing from the early access builds over the past year are noticeably absent, causing certain scenes and character reveals to be shared much later.
Achilles: Legends Untold is a Diablo-esque soulslike that is rather enjoyable but can feel a tad limited in its gameplay, despite a wide-ranging skill tree, plenty of weapons and skills, and a host of different foes that you will cleave in half or boot off cliffs. It's certainly entertaining and while its story is largely forgettable, I still found myself quite taken with what developer Dark Point Games has done here in their debut release. It's not always perfect, but it certainly shows promise.
Achilles: Legends Untold has you taking on the role of the titular Greek soldier during the Trojan War. During an encounter with the Prince of Troy, you are killed and then resurrected, unknowingly brought back to life a decade later. You'll hear voices for a while, and be guided on the path here and there, but you'll ultimately discover your current benefactor to be none other than Hades himself. In previous early access versions, this was known right from the jump, here, you'll discover this a bit further in.
The same late reveal changes to the 1.0 version apply to additional characters as well. While newcomers will likely never put two and two together, fans of the early access builds will already know who a certain ally is and his agenda for aiding Achilles in his fight alongside Hades, even if neither Achilles nor his ally are placing any genuine trust in this particular fiend. While you'll encounter a small cast of characters throughout the roughly 20-hour journey, the entire game is voiced, even if the delivery is more school play than theatrical production.
While there is a decent chunk of story and character interactions alongside the violence that Achilles will bring to his enemies, the overall narrative tends to be just light enough that you’ll have the bare minimum to keep you at least moderately engaged and understand your current objective. There is an underlying plot surrounding Hades and the underworld, but so much of that doesn't start to play into the story until much later, pitting you against another evil force bent on destruction. While the story is based on real-world history, and obviously flourished with several fantastical elements, you do run into those sporting real historical names, even if they are largely just obstacles to get in the way and nothing more.
Most of these mini-boss encounters end with you being able to kill them or spare them. I didn't see much reason for either option or at least a narrative awareness that their death or life meant anything to the story or the deeper mechanics within. I ended up killing those who deserved it and staying my blade at those that I felt deserved a second chance or a reason to continue living. Again, I'm not sure what the game rewards you with between each choice, but that option is there should you desire it.
Achilles: Legends Untold brings its gameplay through an isometric view ala Diablo but with a few loose threads toward the soulslike, such as enemy forces respawning when you rest, as well as some difficult bosses that can hit extremely hard. As with every soulslike that changes to another genre or gameplay style, it can lose some of that charm in the process. If anything, the elements it pulls are loose at best, similar to how the Remnant series is considered a Soulslike despite some stark differences and gameplay changes from the normal soulslike such as the recently released Lords of the Fallen or Lies of P.
Early Access versions of Achilles didn't feature a map, making navigation a chore despite being able to fast travel to each resting place, which was made even more awkward as you never knew where those locations sat within the world. Thankfully, a very decent map has been added to aid in helping you find your way. Resting shrines are fairly frequent, allowing you to snag your fallen experience at the place of your death. Achilles also features a few difficulty settings to allow you to tackle this adventure on your own terms.
The locations you'll visit are rather expansive, and impressively detailed and fit the era. You'll also find Diablo-esque basements and cellars that act like mini-dungeons, often with a chest or two lurking below. Chests are also found on the overworld, with several locked behind a light puzzle system of tracking down a few symbols that need to be targeted, either with throwing darts, explosive throwables, or easily enough with your shield. Chests often hold weapons or shields, which come in numerous styles of swords, axes, lances, and the two-handed variety, making the exploration of the map to its fullest to be something worth doing. And since weapons can be broken down into coin, it can be worth it to track them down even if you don't plan on using them.
As you explore, you'll find shrines. I've mentioned them before, but apart from allowing you to fast travel, you can rest and refill your potions as well, should you have some in reserve. You can also use shrines to upgrade your skills across a constellation system that allows you to increase your vital stats such as strength, vitality, and endurance. Additional skills that affect your core systems are also present, but a solid portion of this upgrade system is to affect those three core stats. Each upgrade node can be upgraded several times, making new game plus a way to really flesh out the entire board as a full playthrough won't get you anywhere close.
As you equip yourself with more powerful weapons and enhance your abilities through the stat/skill constellation, you'll be working through the hordes of threats that will stand in your way. From various soldiers to wolves, to giant scorpions and skeletons, Achilles will have a lot to cleave in two. Some encounters can be rather challenging when you get swarmed, whereas one-on-one encounters can be easily dealt with by side-stepping, dodging, or simply moving around them as they attack. However, those hordes are where you can be cut down rather fast, largely due to the lock-on system making combat extremely frustrating as you'll often swing away from the enemy you actually want to hit. Thankfully, you can turn off automatic targeting and make it a far better experience by not relying on the lock on; at least that is from my experience with the game.
Achilles will have a few options and abilities, such as a spartan kick, a shield toss, as well as even setting your own weapon ablaze. While you can coat your weapons in various substances, some abilities shortcut that feature. I found the kick to be very useful in knocking down some of the more tougher foes, at least until they blocked it and made me move around for a clean kill. There is also an ability that allows you to knock down everyone around you which is rather useful, but by the time you move to react to them, they are back up. While the abilities can still aid in helping you in combat, I found just swinging away with a large axe, two-handed sword, or wielding a one-handed option to work rather effectively. Combat isn't anything in-depth with intricate combo strings or special attacks apart from your few abilities, but it's nonetheless serviceable and does work well enough here to keep you playing.
As combat is stamina-based, you’ll want to concentrate on the skill tree to upgrade your endurance. Dodge rolls and running affect your stamina, as does swinging your weapon. It can be all too easy to run out of stamina when you have a clear opening, so retreating to let it charge back up can be a viable option, especially if you time it right with your spartan kick. While you can also block attacks with your shield, I found numerous instances where the block just wouldn’t work as intended. It wasn’t something I found to happen too frequently, but it was certainly noticeable and made me hesitant to rely on it.
Ultimately, Achilles: Legends Untold doesn't tackle anything original in its gameplay or narrative. It succeeds largely due to its elements being enjoyable and familiar, allowing you to know exactly what you're getting. Its evolution through its early access is certainly noticeable, even if some aspects are not always for the better. Still, if you enjoy a challenging diablo-like built around a real world setting, then certainly give this a shot, as I can certainly recommend it.
Developer - Dark Point Games. Publisher - Dark Point Games. Released - November 2nd, 2023. Available On - Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4/PS5, PC. Rated - (T) Blood, Violence.
Platform Reviewed - Steam Deck / Steam - Windows. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.