| Mythforce | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Beamdog |
| Publisher(s) | Aspyr |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 5[1] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Roguelite |
| Mode(s) | Single-player,multiplayer |
Mythforce is a 2023roguelite video game developed byBeamdog and published byAspyr. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
Players control one of four heroes based onSaturday-morning cartoons and enterprocedurally generated dungeons. The characters include a melee-oriented knight who can throw her shield, a rogue who can teleport behind enemies and backstab them, a ranger who can shoot fire arrows, and a mage who casts fireballs.Mythforce is played from afirst-person perspective[2] and is adungeon crawl game withcel-shaded art.[3] Like modernroguelite games, players retain some progression after losing the game, and they can use gold found before they died to improve their next character. It has cooperative multiplayer that supports up to four people.[2]
DeveloperBeamdog is based inEdmonton,Canada.[4] Studio co-founder Trent Oster said he was dubious of the concept when he first heard it, in part because they proposed to useUnreal Engine, which was known for photorealistic graphics. Oster gave the developers three months to prove the concept. When he saw the result, he agreed to make the game. Beamdog consulted with Mark Cappello, an artist who has worked on both cartoons and video games, to get the aesthetics correct. The cartoon-like graphics require what they said is "a surprisingly large amount" of custompost-processing. Because they were avoiding realistic graphics, many premade tools designed for the Unreal Engine were not usable. For the soundtrack, Beamdog askedRoss Lara to compose something reminiscent ofThunderCats,M.A.S.K., andSilverHawks.[5]Mythforce enteredearly access on April 20, 2022, andAspyr released it for Windows, Xbox One and Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Nintendo Switch on September 12, 2023.[6]
PC Gamer, who reviewed the game in April 2022, said that the focus on roguelite meta-progression seemed to be at the expense of variety during the current run and causing the combat to be too punitive.[3]Eurogamer reviewed it the same month. Though they praised the art, they found the gameplay "simultaneously overwhelming and glacially paced". They felt the characters were underpowered, which they said was "especially jarring" compared to its cartoon influences, which they felt implied that they would be playing as powerful heroes.[7]
Mythforce received mixed reviews onMetacritic.[8]Rock Paper Shotgun said they were not blown away byMythforce and were expecting something funnier and more reliant on its cartoon-like aesthetics. Though they said it lacks the variety and staying power of its competitors, they recommended it to fans of cooperative multiplayer games who are looking for mindless fun.[2]Nintendo World Report said they encountered so manysoftware bugs and performance issues on the Switch that it was "playable only by the skin of its teeth". They recommended against playing on Switch until it received a patch, though they said it was, at best, "a fun but uninteresting game".[9]