Shadow of the Colossus’ lonely world and epic battles against towering foes makes for an almost unrepeatable experience, so one new indie game is instead giving that formula an action-strategy twist where you’re commanding a big beast across the world, rather than slaying it, while building a fortified tower on its back.
Burggeist quietly stomped onto Steam earlier this month, on October 14, but its central premise should have probably made a lot more noise than it did on release. Just like the influential PS2 classic, Burggeist has you searching for a way to wake up a cursed, slumbering loved one in a scarce, mysterious, sometimes eerily quite open world.
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The difference here is that you’re not simply fighting massive beasts – you’re commanding the titular Burggeist, a great white creature that’s hunched over from the weight of an ever growing tower, from a third person perspective. Think Brutal Legend, but there’s also a tower defence angle as you’ll be reinforcing the beast with new turrets and other devices over time, turning the friendly giant into the ultimate walking weapon.
Surprisingly, the game doesn’t skimp on its sick-looking, magical ninja movement either. You have a bunch of magical abilities to help you gain higher ground, so you can more efficiently give Burggeist instructions or rain fire from above. Some of the ways you can chain aerial skills even reminded me of Forspoken’s underrated traversal since it has you flinging across the battlefield with quick dashes, double jumps, and even a witch’s broomstick. It looks fast and frantic, and you can keep growing your arsenal by exploring the world.
Burggeist hasn’t attracted a massive crowd, but the reviews it does have on Steam are basically universally positive. “Jank throwback to the late PS2, early PS3 era,” one player wrote. “Wonderful movement tech in a hybrid action RPG tower defence game based around height difference determining damage. Definitely influenced by stuff like Nier/Drakengard and Shadow of the Colossus. Insane that it doesn’t have way more people talking about it.”
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