Orbs of Chaos - Early Access [Impressions]
Orbs of Chaos is an intriguing survivorslike that still needs a lot of work.
Orbs of Chaos. Credit: Noisecore
Orbs of Chaos is a survivorslike recently released in Early Access from Noisecore with a unique look and gameplay mechanic.
From the developer:
Orbs of Chaos is a horde survivor action roguelite with bullet hell/heaven mechanics that immerses players in The Chaos, a realm filled with thousands of enemies and seven formidable bosses. Players control The Caster, a mysterious sorcerer who corrupts herself with the essence of Chaos to reign over it. In her unholy journey, The Caster destroys thousands of enemies, faces bosses, and uncovers secrets.
Its unique spell combination-to-casting system, inspired by Dota 2’s Invoker, distinguishes it from other survivor-like games, delivering immense satisfaction from manually casting spell combos in real time. At the start of each run, players choose 3 orbs from a set of 5, providing a total of 35 spells. Each run unlocks 10 unique spells through various orb combinations, ensuring diverse gameplay and high replayability with 10 different starting orb combinations. During each run, players continuously grow stronger by leveling up their spells and purchasing items from the shop. Additionally, between runs, players can unlock permanent talents from the Corruption Tree, providing a robust meta-progression system.
Orbs of Chaos. Credit: Noisecore
While based on the developer’s description it sounds good on paper, I didn’t enjoy the game’s core mechanic. You’re only able to hold two of the spells you create at once, and when a spell goes on cooldown, it’s useless, and you have to replace it with one of your other ten available until the original cools down and you can hold it again. Replacing a spell is done by pushing the keys corresponding to the orbs in sequence; the overall effect is like playing Vampire Survivors with MMO-style cooldown management but being forced to memorize and input simple fighting game special moves to pull off any of the attacks. I think that experience is, to put it frankly, miserable.
I appreciate that Orbs of Chaos is doing something different with its orb combination system and real-time spell creation. However, the key here is that it has to be fun rather than tedious. The control mechanisms make the gameplay too unwieldy and unnecessarily complicated, and until the developer discovers how to streamline the process, the game isn’t ready for prime time.
Orbs of Chaos. Credit: Noisecore
Orbs of Chaos is on to something with its look and music. The music strikes a mood, and the messy, pixel art, metal-aesthetic visuals are hypnotic. It just needs to go back to the drawing board to rework its controls and player experience. I admit I didn’t spend much time with the game because I disliked the core experience enough to want to turn it off and not spend any more time digging into the game’s Corruption Tree upgrade system. I’d be happy to try it again when it nears 1.0 release.
Orbs of Chaos is available now on Steam Early Access.
Played on: Steam Deck
