Perish (Dark Mythological FPS)
I wish I didn’t wait so long to check this one out, hot damn. Actually, scratch that, after a one-year anniversary update, it’s probably good I did. Released over a year ago, this indie dark mythological FPS horror romp was received to largely negative criticism. We won’t go over what or why. And it’s unfortunate, in the long run, but a typical feature of many indie releases these days; they drop too early. In a way, it’s good I waited, because whatever it was before, after some updates and fixes, this game is sick, sick, sick. So please understand this review refers to the current build as of May 2024. As Amyetri, a cursed spirit wandering the wastes of Purgatory, your goal is to escape your liminal existence by gaining power, and sick spiritual weapons, unless you want to Perish.
Upon first entering Purgatory (after the expected tutorial), you’re going to get smashed and wonder WTF you’re supposed to do, but upon realizing the game relies on resurrecting, building up your abilities (primarily through the collecting of danake), and then doing it all over again, it all starts to make sense. One thing to note is that the stages can be completely randomized each time you start from the beginning. This presents different challenges, and an element of unpredictability to play, but what really gets your blood moving into illicit areas of your real-world body is the lore. Holy shit what a genius utilization of ancient Greek and Persian mythos for pure freaking horror. The landscapes are dismally grotesque, the creatures mythological, yet terrifying, and the story dense with existentialism. Rarely do you see an FPS go into this kind of depth and so successfully develop its own world, but Perish also excels because of its more unique gameplay. Trust me, at first, you’re going to wonder what the hell is going on as you barely take out revenants and creepy creatures using a literally broken sword, but once you start wielding better and better weapons, including supernatural firearms, you’re in, and deep.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Perish
ITEM42 (developer) and HandyGames (publisher)
4.8 / 5
