Cult of the Lamb Review: A Perfect Blend

Worship of the Lamb, is one of those releases that I have had on the agenda practically since the first teaser. A unique title, in many ways, and which comes under a quality label such as Devolver Digital. Likewise, The team of massive monsterjumped into the pool creating a proposal that brings together different genres to create a unique mix.

In this new game we will have to put ourselves in the shoes of a cute and adorable little lamb who was going to be sacrificed in the name of ancient gods. However, just as this happens, another dark deity offers us a deal. If we want to come back to life, we will have to serve him and create a sect in his name. The answer to this treatment is more than obvious, so we will be forced to create their faith, just as we will have the mission to defeat these four deities in order to free our lord. Thus begins an adventure that will lead us to manage our sect, defeat ancient gods and spread our faith. But how do you mix it all up to be a good game?

Welcome to Cult of the Lamb

Worship of the Lamb, he uses every tool at his disposal to create an almost perfect blend. In this sense, the game begins to use a 2D art style with very varied character designs. In addition, this character design is clearly powered by lots of contrast. And it is that, behind the adorable design that our characters hide, the game has a rather dark background. Since then, we can’t forget that we are creating a sect for an ancient god.

In this sense, I speak of contrasts when we see the happiness and tenderness on the face of our protagonist. A tenderness that quickly turns bizarre when we have to pick up the bones of our enemies or make sacrifices. As you can see, this is something that shocks many. However, the team is fully aware of this and generates a duality full of details. On the other hand, his enemies are quite far from this conception of an adorable character and show us the true face of Worship of the Lamb.

That said, needless to say, the artistic section is a real marvel. For some old guard players, this design may recall the bloody streak of Happy tree friends. Moreover, the sound section is perfectly consistent, not only with its melodies, but also with a magnificent translation work. Along with this, it should be noted that the team chose to create some kind of language for their gods and creatures. With pleasant and fine sounds for certain creatures and others more guttural and dark for what borders on the unknown.

Preparation of the mixture

Leaving aside this brief comment on the technical part, I must enter the strong point of this title; its playability. Worship of the Lamblike a good indie title isn’t afraid to be different. It is for this reason that it takes two quite different genres and interweaves them perfectly, in addition to having the time to spice everything up with new mechanics. In this sense, the game has two different parts, on the one hand we have a roguelite section and on the other hand we have its management aspect.

The first of these fields is surely the most standard. And that’s it, our character must enter different dungeons to obtain resources and defeat the four ancient gods that hold our lord prisoner. This section meets everything expected in the genre. In this way, each time we start a race we will have to take a random weapon, as well as a curse or a random combat ability. Once done, we will go through the different rooms until we get to the boss of the area. Once defeated, we can leave the dungeon. As usual, if we die during the trip, we will lose all the resources we have obtained during the race.

As you can see, himself, the operation is not abnormal if you have already played other games of the genre. Also, during the race we will obtain different resources that will allow us to improve our sect later, in addition to being able to obtain new followers. To be a small bridge between these two playable pillars.

Simple but effective

On the other hand, the combat of the game is quite simple. During this one, we will have at our disposal three actions; attack, dodge and use curses. A system that in a way we can call simple, but which works perfectly. Additionally, within this fight, there are several elements that add some variety. An example of this is that each weapon has a unique combo, as well as different effects. Another point that adds great variety are the curses, usually being quite different from each other.

That said, the game has a good variety of enemies that will require different combat strategies. However, I should mention that their final bosses aren’t particularly flashy and often feel like an extension of the standard enemies.

To end this section, it should be mentioned that there are many very different rooms in the dungeons. These will have different events and benefits or damages for the player. Thus, we can find more resources or select tarot cards that will help us obtain advantages during the race. On its own, the system works perfectly and would only improve its final boss fights.

praise the lamb

Our worship is the other great pillar of this game and is perhaps the differentiating element of this adventure. Thus, to manage our faith we will have to go to some small ruins where our sect will be installed. First of all The game presents us with several factors that we will have to pay attention to in order for the cult of the lamb to spread. One of the first elements to take into account are the followers. The adepts that, as we mentioned before, we are going to recruit in the dungeons, have several functions to perform.

Once we have indoctrinated a follower, we can command them to perform various functions, such as collecting resources, generating devotion, or even sending them on missions. In a way, they are going to help us make everything easier, since they are the engine of our sect. Of course, they have needs that we must meet. Our cultists will need to have food, they will need to have a place to sleep, in addition to having strong loyalty to our sect or they may defect. They can also get sick if our land is dirty, so we will always have things to do.

Once our subscribers are cared for and pampered, it’s time to enjoy it. Thanks to their dedication, we can unlock all kinds of buildings to continue improving our sect. In addition to this, we can use them to perform rituals with which to increase their loyalty or obtain different benefits. Keep in mind that the sacrifice will always be there.

In addition, we will be able to raise the level of our followers, succeed in feeding on their loyalty to generate new doctrines for our faith. The doctrines will allow us to gain advantages and develop the values ​​of our cult, which means that they will greatly affect our style of play.

Originality as a trademark

Without a doubt, play Worship of the Lambis to play a totally unique game. Starting from its outstanding art section, the game manages to generate a unique atmosphere, which comes with a mix of genres that it was hard to imagine them working so well. However, the team managed to strike a perfect balance between its management elements and its roguelike component.

The way we behave with our subscribers is one of the points that I appreciated the most. And it is that, in this sense, the player can choose how to use them if as simple resources for the sacrifices or direct their worship towards a more benevolent sect. Everything is fine and the game gives you plenty of tools to create the style of play you want.. I think that’s where it shines Worship of the Lamb, taking the basics of management games and including interesting new mechanics, such as doctrines and rituals. Moreover, the progression in the game is quite satisfactory and it is very pleasant to enjoy the adventure.

To finish, Worship of the Lamb, is a brave game and with which it is easy to enjoy hours and hours. Its formula is fresh and the truth is that after finishing it, I can only ask for more. As always, we have to thank the team at cosmos blanket for the code that allowed us to perform this analysis.

Don’t forget you have this and many more analyzes here.