Morkull Ragast’s Rage is a game I was desperate to enjoy. On paper, it has everything I love: humour, hand-drawn graphics, a dark atmosphere, and challenging gameplay. However, once you scratch the surface, you realise that things aren’t quite as they seem. If you then chuck in corrupted saves, bugs, and a sense of unfair frustration, this game falls way short of expectations.
This action adventure title was developed by Disaster Games Studio and published by Selecta Play. Moreover, it is a single-player game with a Metroidvania edge. This edgy title should have stood out from the sea of average indie titles. Yet, its poor execution and dull gameplay left me wanting.
Morkull Ragast’s Rage tells a familiar plot.
Morkull is the God of Death and Destruction. He has been imprisoned in Ragast and wishes to break free. If he can complete his task, he hopes to rule the overworld and show everyone what he is made of. En route, he will tell some “hilarious” jokes, and he regularly breaks the fourth wall with his cutting dialogue. Sadly, though, the jokes fall flat, and I found myself skimming through the one-liners rather than laughing as intended.
The action follows familiar Metroidvania traits, and this will be a joy or a pain in the arse depending on if you like or dislike the genre. The constant back-and-forth becomes tiresome, and it isn’t helped that every enemy is a damage sponge. Fights take too long, and no matter how powerful you become, there is always the risk of death and failure. Death wouldn’t be so bad, but checkpoints are few and far between, and the in-game currency of souls is halved every time you perish. Consequently, death becomes a real pain in the behind, and frustration kicks in.
Interesting puzzles.
Though dying was my main gripe and the shout of “Get Gud” echoed around my brain, I enjoyed the interesting puzzles. Each area has switches to activate, lifts to ride, and items to find. Moreover, there is plenty of precision platforming to execute and loads of obstacles to avoid. This element of Morkull Ragast’s Rage was fantastic. I loved dashing through the air and clasping onto walls. Additionally, avoiding deadly spiders and projectiles was a rewarding challenge.
The exploration and puzzling elements were phenomenal, but the lack of checkpoints and the guarantee of death ensured that failure was always around the corner. What’s more, exploring the same area a hundred times because of death and mistakes quickly became tiresome. This issue could have been avoided had more checkpoints been included. I understand that the developers wanted to make a tough game, but this was borderline offensive.
Morkull Ragast’s Rage caught my eye.
Morkull Ragast’s Rage delivers an aesthetical mixed bag. The environments, atmosphere, and colour palette are a joy to experience. The developer clearly loves this project, and they’ve invested plenty of time and effort into the world and unique backdrops. However, the same cannot be said for the combat animation! The odd 2 or 3 frame movement looks rough as it doesn’t match the highly polished backdrop.
The music, unfortunately, follows suit. It feels like an afterthought, as the songs are repetitive and the sound effects are dull. It is as if the developers chucked every metaphorical egg into their overall appearance and forgot that lots of components deliver an aesthetically pleasing product.
Odd hitboxes.
Melee combat and parrying are not new ideas. However, Morkull Ragast’s Rage has a weird take on this rudimentary concept. The hero can unlock new combos when he has collected enough souls. New combos should be exciting, but every enemy absorbs his blows like they are nonexistent. This is extremely frustrating and made much worse by the odd hitboxes. Some creatures can be smashed with ease, and others are nearly impossible to take down. This cements the feelings of imbalance and increases the rage and frustration levels just a little higher.
I’ve read mixed reports on how long this takes to finish. I invested plenty of hours, but I had to restart the game 3 times as my data never saved. This was understandably annoying and the main reason I never finished a playthrough. Moreover, it is one of the reasons my review is so negative. Replaying the same hell multiple times was not good, to say the least. If you somehow get around this issue, you should be able to complete a run in around 6 hours.
Morkull Ragast’s Rage was a mess.
I would have loved Morkull Ragast’s Rage to be a raving success. However, it is plagued by issues and the game stutters and crumbles. I don’t mind a challenging experience, but this pushes things to the next level. Too many flaws undermine an already tough title, and the dialogue isn’t enough to bring a smile to your face. As such, unless you are a massive fan of the genre, I’d give this a miss. More information can be found here, though! Can you escape and fulfil your destiny? Learn new skills, overcome every obstacle, and become the deadly God you were destined to be.
