Review: MythForce – Saturday Morning Roguelite

Anyone who grew up watching cartoons in the 80s and 90s will remember the high energy and general excitement they had in them. Now imagine being able to play a game inspired by that same feeling you had from those shows back then. This is why MythForce on PlayStation 5 (also avaliable on Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC) sounds like a game that would be right up anyone’s alley who loves that stuff. A first-person role-playing roguelite that lets you team up with a few friends and battle evil together, how could it be any better? Unfortunately, it never truly lives up to that level of hype.

MythForce will have you taking control of a character and battling through locations that are filled with monsters and hazardous traps. Either alone or with up to three friends, you traverse a changing dungeon that constantly mixes up the obstacles you face. In concept, it sounds interesting, especially when you’re equipped with an assortment of weapons, magical attacks, and abilities to bring down the monsters that block your way.

There are four different character classes to use, each with its own assortment of abilities that can be expanded upon as you play. If you have even the slightest knowledge of role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, you’ll recognize many familiar aspects of this. There is a good level of growth and customization to your character as you get deeper and deeper into the dungeon, where you can pick up new items and equipment to further boost your stats and abilities. When you pair up with others online, you can put together a pretty solid team of adventurers.

But the charm of MythForce only lasts so long, because the game’s technical mishaps and boring gameplay loop start to reveal their ugly heads. Many of the locations you enter will become dull and monotonous after a short while, even with the locations of enemies and points of interest being switched around.

Groups of monsters you encounter will often be duplicates of one another, with little to no differences between them. Most enemies you find will either appear out of thin air or emerge from rooms on the corners of the area with dark holes that spawn baddies. It’s hard to miss this when you can predict where most groups of monsters will appear before you, allowing you to get the jump on them if you’re with a group.

Although combat isn’t difficult most of the time, you will encounter some technical hurdles that will make it tougher to deal with. Hazards you find may not always affect enemies in the same way as they do you, with some hazards having an inconsistent damage output. Enemies will often clip through some objects as they relentlessly pursue you and even find themselves being stuck in one place in some cases. If you find yourself alone, you’ll have a much more difficult time facing stronger enemies that appear, which often feel like a complete mismatch. Even if you have a few boosts to your own stats, you’ll struggle with how tough they can be in battle. With a friend or two, it makes things more manageable, but not always easier.

Outside of battles in the dungeon, there isn’t much to do other than improve your weapons and abilities with gold. Unfortunately, you can’t upgrade much early on because the game requires you to play a lot to gather enough resources. You might find yourself going through a few runs and a number of areas before you’ll be able to purchase a decent upgrade from the shop to take with you. You can purchase other things like moves and sounds with the gold you gather, but you’ll want to save as much as you can for the more important upgrades.

MythForce is a good concept that will work for some people, but the execution of it isn’t as good as you would’ve hoped for. It can take a while to find others to play with online while going in alone will diminish in fun after a short time. Maybe after some updates and tweaks to various aspects of the experience, the game can have a better pull for those who enjoy cooperative games. But for now, MythForce just isn’t as exciting as it probably should be.

What do you think of MythForce? What is your favorite roguelite game that you’ve played? And what were some of your favorite cartoons to watch growing up? Let us know everything in the comment section below!