App Army Assemble: Watcher Chronicles - "Does this 2D souls-like provide a satisfying challenge?"

Watcher Chronicles is a 2D souls-like that recently released for both iOS and Android. It tasks players with battling their way through plenty of tough enemies and bosses, gathering new gear as they progress. It's a game that promises a challenge then, so we decided to hand the game over to our App Army to see if they were up to the task.

Here's what they said:

Jojó Reis

Simply amazing and addictive! This game is roguelike style with a souls style footprint, a game with increased difficulty more very rewarding. Graphics and sounds are great and very good gameplay, all of this makes this game a great choice for those looking for a challenging game, I loved the game. The game has 120fps support, perfect!

Mark Abukoff

I really like the art style of this game…. it’s a lot of fun, and the music and sound effects are invigorating and appropriate. But also a bit distracting, so I turned the sound off. I’ll admit to a bit of frustration with the onscreen controls… I prefer being able to swipe for movement, or having virtual controls that aren’t static buttons. It’s just a play style that I’m comfortable with. And while there is some limited customization available, I couldn’t adjust them to a comfortable instinctive setup. I did try it with my Backbone controller and that improved things. But that first boss is still very hard and a bit frustrating.

It is a roguelike Souls-like game, so I expect to die and to have to work hard. But the combination of a hard first boss and not-ideal control layout makes this one a bit frustrating. I haven’t given up on it because I like the look and fairly simple play. But I’m also not going to throw myself at the same beast forever. The game does have co-op multiplayer, but only local. It’d be awesome if you could connect with other players online. So I’d say try the free trial. It’s worth looking at absolutely and has good potential. But also a bit of a frustration issue for me.

Jerard He

A good roguelike style game with amazing graphics and sounds. The music can be a bit more sinister or eerie though I feel to make the experience more immersive. Controls were ok, simple enough till the boss fight. Maybe give us a bit more gear or tips on the 1st boss fight to not get 2 shotted. The looting elements are well thought out, making you think of ways and try to get that elusive chest that you miss the first time. Overall a good game, try the trial and hopefully there’s a patch to balance the initial stage.

Pierpaolo Morgante

I really enjoyed playing the game, as it’s a nice rogue-like game with cool visuals and music. I got stuck at the first boss, but I’ll keep trying and defeat it. Like others said, the controls are intuitive but somewhat awkward, and maybe having a bigger screen than a phone or a controller might help and improve the play experience. The game is honestly great, and if you’re a fan of the genre it’s a must-get. The nicest touch from the developers is the opportunity to play a little bit for free before unlocking the full game, and for sure it is worth it. The game is really well done and addictive. I am not a fan of multiplayer, so the fact that it’s only limited to local networks is not a huge deal-breaker for me, but you might want to consider that if you prefer playing with friends online.

Oksana Ryan

Watcher Chronicles on iPad Pro. I was all set to fight my way through the dungeons, killing monsters and collecting cool stuff along the way. To be fair I did manage to kill lots of skeletons and collect a few treats but then I hit the first boss and it all went downhill. I’d struggled with the controls from the start but when it came to defeating the boss nothing seemed to flow for me and I had a feeling of Groundhog Day as I continuously found myself unable to react quick enough to defeat the boss and kept dying. The game itself had good graphics and had a dungeons and dragons vibe and the game seemed to have everything going for it but to have the boss so difficult to defeat so early in the game was just annoying. Sorry but not for me.

Dries Pretorius

The first thing that struck me about Watcher Chronicles is how punchy the combat is, whether you are getting hit, or dealing blows the exchange of force is visceral. The soundtrack surprised me time and again as familiar patterns opened into new arrangements. The art is moody and quite unique in the genre of 2D Soul-Likes, which is developing a rich tradition on mobile devices, with titles like Dead Cells and Rogue Legacy.

If you are like me, owning both those games and wondering whether Watcher Chronicles brings enough new ideas to warrant a purchase: movement Feels less nimble and intuitive than Dead Cells, but that is not a bad thing, the shift toward a more meticulous and cautious rhythm was not as sharp as it was with Rogue Legacy because the character feels a lot more powerful, and health management is more generous. Forward momentum can evoke the joy that made tearing the undead a new one in Punch Quest such a compelling experience, especially when bones and skulls go flying from the newly dispatched.

A big difference here is that the world is not procedurally generated, instead, areas are spread out from your hub area in different directions, each holding a variety of satisfyingly complex bosses to understand and overcome. You can drive along an area until your skill or powers are outmatched. When you die, your loot is dropped, and your next mission is to retrieve it without dying. I really enjoyed this mechanic and the shift in focus from pushing territory to retrieving and retreating sets a nice gameplay rhythm.

Altars for resting serve as teleporters, and they occur with relative frequency to mark your push, so you can leap to any altar from any other, navigating the world is never a chore. Watcher Chronicles is a confident and fun addition to its genre, with a unique voice and plenty of polish. I would love to see two device multiplayer implemented in future updates, lack thereof is my only complaint.

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