Tyrant’s Realm Review
Grimy roguelite Tyrant’s Realm is a soulslike that channels the PS1 era.
Tyrant’s Realm. Credit: Team Tyrant / Skystone Games
Team Tyrant’s Tyrant’s Realm, published by Skystone Games, is a love letter to Dark Souls made as a roguelite. While the game is far less complex or polished than its inspiration, it’s a fun experience, largely thanks to its chunky 32-bit visual style.
The hero awakens in a forgotten cell of a dingy dungeon. From there, he travels through many realms, cutting down enemies in his way. His single goal: to defeat the Tyrant, an oppressive, ancient being who seeks absolute power. If the hero dies, he begins the journey again. There isn’t much to this story, but it’s enough to hold together the game.
Tyrant’s Realm. Credit: Team Tyrant / Skystone Games
The game’s melee combat follows the rhythms of games like Dark Souls. It’s heavy and all about managing your stamina and recognizing enemy attack patterns. Strike, block, parry, and dodge—the moveset is straightforward. You can also build up power in a special gauge that allows you to perform an execution move that will finish off most enemies with a single hit, but only after a successful parry, a rather risky maneuver. Overall, combat feels clunky, especially depending on your weapon and its attack animations. Some weapons feel less polished than others and can be a liability despite their higher attack power.
The game’s environments are diverse, and some provide unique gimmicks. Levels are procedurally generated on each playthrough, providing some extra variety, though you’ll become familiar with the various room layouts. Enemies, however, don’t feel very unique, and while the bosses are cool, none provide too much of a challenge over regular enemies.
The game features typical roguelite meta-progression. In between levels, you meet a merchant who takes your gold in exchange for permanent upgrades or weapon unlocks. If you don’t have enough gold, he’ll still take it toward an item, and you can finish paying for it on subsequent runs. Weapons and armor are color-coded; you’ll find skull shrines that will boost a color of your choice for the duration of the run.
Tyrant’s Realm. Credit: Team Tyrant / Skystone Games
Tyrant’s Realm nails its grimdark atmosphere within the limitations of the 32-bit style; I’m a fan of the game’s chunky PlayStation 1 graphics. Of course, the game features some more advanced effects, but the models, textures, and animations do a great job of channeling that era of gaming. The game’s settings include options to enhance the look, such as a CRT filter, for extra nostalgia. However, if not for the PS1 visuals, the game would look a bit generic. You won’t find the unique, idiosyncratic designs you’ve come to expect in a From soulslike.
I had a good time with Tyrant’s Realm, though it’s not a roguelite I’ll often return to. The game doesn’t have quite enough variety to keep me coming back, and I don’t feel the same sense of addictive exhilaration that I get from similar games with quicker gameplay, such as Dead Cells or Hades. Still, I’d recommend it as an interesting experiment in producing a 32-bit soulslike.
Tyrant’s Realm is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 6/10
Played on: Steam Deck
