The intriguing flavor of Scandinavian folklore married to a post-apocalyptic world sets Vessels of Decay up as a fascinating prospect, but is that enough?
That aforementioned flavor is needed because post-apocalyptic worlds have been done to death. This pixel art RPG features a modern post-apocalyptic world with dilapidated buildings and overgrown streets, but by infusing it with folklore and the supernatural, a blend of old and new emerges that’s quite unlike most attempts. It’s akin to taking an established fantasy series and bringing it into the modern era.
In Vessels of Decay, protagonists and sisters Freja and Mud inhabit a world where civilization has collapsed, leading to the resurgence of beasts from Scandinavian mythology as the new rulers of the land. As a result, they battle ancient monsters among the ruins of man.
The game is presented in a near-top-down fashion, with enough distance to really take in the world that developers Simon Jakobsson and Aurora Punks have built. I’ve already gone on a bit about this fusion of eras, but seeing is believing with Vessels of Decay. The pixel art visuals have been skillfully utilized to showcase a beautiful, ruined world in all its somber glory.
Part of that is down to how empty the world feels from a human perspective. This isn’t a place where humanity is trying to find its footing once more; it’s had its chance, and the only signs we were ever here are in the ruins of towns now overgrown and often inhabited by beasts and monsters. There’s a sense of melancholy and newfound wonder about exploring this world as Mud and Freja encounter the ghosts of the old world and the ferocious spirits of the new one. Skeletons litter the ground, depicting the final moments in typical locales such as lush parks and once-grand shopping centers.
When you do stumble across the extraordinary, it often feels like it has emerged from the rubble and ruin of what once was, yet also like it was there, hidden under the surface, for centuries before.
Vessels of Decay Review: Nordic Attack All Day
The game alternates control between Mud and Freja at various points throughout 10 chapters, utilizing their unique skill sets and upgrading their abilities along the way. Interestingly, Vessels of Decay has tried something quite ambitious with its combat. Going beyond a simple hack-and-slash old-school Zelda-style adventure, this game has an impressive level of context-based variety in battle with each new adversary. It’s a move that makes each encounter a brand-new curiosity.
There’s a gleeful joy to discovering a new move, such as swinging an enemy around by the feet and launching it into another, or dramatically and savagely skewering a downed foe. It’s not always the smoothest experience in action, but the coup de grâce moments stand out due to their superb animation.
The action becomes quite frenetic as it gets going, and in that, some of the grace and fluidity hit a stumbling block from both a design and technical standpoint. There are a few bugs that stick you in the scenery or make the visuals look disjointed, and at times, the size of an arena for a fight, big or small, doesn’t feel right for the moment, and interrupts the flow of things with lulls or limitations. Thankfully, it’s not always the case, but the frequency at which these things impact combat does sour the overall experience.
The boss fights tend to find the right balance. There’s careful planning going on in these multi-staged affairs, which not only showcase the combat at its best but also provide some of the game’s most impressive visual spectacles.
Outside of combat and exploration, there’s some light puzzling and platforming. Both are solid enough without sticking out. The developers know exactly where the game’s strengths lie, and use these facets to supplement them.
The goal for Vessels of Decay appears to be to create a sense of wondrous spectacle. The game may have some shortcomings in action, but it achieves that goal. The usual caveat applies regarding bugs being a problem now, but maybe not tomorrow. However, even with those frustrations, it’s hard not to be dazzled by Vessels of Decay’s pixel art post-apocalyptic world.
Score: 7/10 – Good
Developer: Simon Jakobsson, Aurora Punks
Publisher: Headup
Reviewed on: PC
Vessels of Decay review code purchased by review author.
Vessels of Decay is out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.
