Eldest Souls
Eldest Souls
Game
Game2021
Curse of the Dead Gods
Developer Passtech Games
Curse of the Dead Gods is a 2021 roguelike video game developed by Passtech Games and published by Focus Home Interactive. The game was released via early access in March 2020, and in full in February 2021 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
222 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Oct 24, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
67
Fresh
118 positive · 59 negative
95% range 59–73%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 118 | 59 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 3 | 4 | 19 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
3,637 of 4,401 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
66% recommend · 117 yes, 59 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 176 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (7,706 of 9,244 positive).
Players praise the combat system, especially the parry and curse mechanics. [1][2][3] Some reviewers criticize the late-game difficulty and RNG. [4][5][6] The game is often compared to Hades, with mixed opinions on which is better. [1][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
Game is great until the third and fourth tier of the temple. Once you get into the later levels the gimick of nearly every enemy you face is teleportation. Everything you are fighting moves around the screen and gains invulnerability in the middle of your attacks. There is a boss where this is the entire gimik of how he fights. The game is great, right up until you have to deal with a screen where every enemy …
- [6]
It's TEMU Hades. No story , no dialogue, nothing to keep you invested. no lore. NOTHING! Gameplay is good but it game becomes really unfair towards the endgame. Most of the weapons are trash (if you don't get a shield and a heavy weapon that can't break walls just restart, trust me). After many struggles I have reached the final boss of the long temple. I was about to give it a positive review but the fact that it …
- [1]
I like the combat better than Hades - there I said it. The parry system is a nice twist and combat is meatier. Also more weapons and effects than Hades. Hades is better in terms of environment, storytelling, art style, but I really like the combat better here and it feels more "fair". Progression is also better than Hades imo (which was slow at first). Solid game 8.5/10 To those complaining about the stamina system …
- [21]
Curse of the Dead Gods is a game I have very mixed feelings on. Initially I was planning on giving this game a negative review, but I've changed that to positive because I feel too many people rate this game poorly simply because it's a bad "roguelike", which, to be fair, it absolutely is. The reason most roguelikes are so addictive despite how much repetition they require is because they're usually based around …
- [8]
Randomly picked this up on sale, and holy smokes - an S-Tier action roguelite that I never even heard of before! Reminds me of Dead Cells in the best way possible. Hot take: This is better than Hades, unless you're very story oriented (there is pretty much none in this game). Progression feels pretty grindy at times, but the core gameplay loop is super fun and there's a good variety of weapons, plus the usual status …
Summarised from 34 of the 222 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 9, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
66% of the 176 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Curse of the Dead Gods. The complaint that keeps coming up: late-game becomes grindy and unfair. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The game received generally positive reviews upon release according to review aggregator platform Metacritic. Stuart Gipp from Nintendo Life praised the game's combat system and compared it to Hades. He expressed his disappointment regarding the lack of a narrative focus, though he praised its "focused, crunchy gameplay" and rewarding exploration. He concluded his review by saying that Curse of the Dead Gods is a "breezier, simpler game than its clear inspirations". Mitchell Saltzman from IGN called the game a "standout roguelite", and praised the combat system, the accessibility, and the enemy variety. He singled out the curse system, which added a strategic layer to the game's combat and…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 222 · most liked first[Meta] Soulslike(-adjacent) Giveaway 2: Electric Boogaloo!. Edit: Please note that being subscribed to the community is a hard requirement to enter! Your comment will not be counted as an entry if you aren't subscribed. Hey guys! As another little thank you to the community, I would like to give back to the community: I’m giving away a number of soulslikes and soulslike-adjacent titles (PC). Here is what you can win (a choice of one per tier): Tier 1 (1x winner): - Lies of P (code) -…
neutral · AI labelView post →Game is great until the third and fourth tier of the temple. Once you get into the later levels the gimick of nearly every enemy you face is teleportation. Everything you are fighting moves around the screen and gains invulnerability in the middle of your attacks. There is a boss where this is the entire gimik of how he fights. The game is great, right up until you have to deal with a screen where every enemy becomes invulnerable, changes position, and launches area attacks that fill up half…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm playing and rating all "Hades-like" games; simple list to help you, from 1. best to N. good Hades II Realm of Ink Hades Splintered Fate BeatSlayer Reignbreaker The Eternal Die SWORN Curse of The Dead Gods FELLCHASER Will update above list when played: Cinderia Life Core Grim Trials Aksun Rise Again Lone Soul Lethal Honor Heretical Shape of Dreams Warm Snow If I'm missing any, please tell me! And sorry for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weekend PC Game Deals: Focused specials, stealth bundles, and free heists - Neowin. Game Deals Atomic Heart – $39.59 on Steam HITMAN World of Assassination – $34.99 on Steam Aliens: Dark Descent – $29.99 on Steam DARK SOULS III – $25.98 on Gamebillet Dying Light 2 Stay Human – $25.19 on Fanatical A Plague Tale: Requiem – $24.99 on Steam Sifu – $23.99 on Steam Need for Speed Unbound – $20.99 on Steam Chained Echoes – $19.99 on Steam DARK SOULS: REMASTERED – $19.99 on Steam…
neutral · AI labelView post →Hell Clock was excellent too, sorta Diablo-ish style game with an artstyle that reminded me of Curse of the Dead Gods, y'know that sort of Mike Mignola inspired style? And the historical Brazilian setting was very neat. store.steampowered.com/app/3563400/...
neutral · AI labelView post →The Brazilian history setting is something very unique, I don't think I've ever played a game with this specific period and place, and the game is definitely all the richer for it. Visually, it kinda reminds me a little of Curse of the Dead Gods, with that kinda heavy comicbook look.
neutral · AI labelView post →If you love roguelikes and want a game you can jam with you friends, check out Ravenswatch! Grimm fairytales, stylized visuals, and easy to jump into from the get-go! From the developers of Curse of the Dead Gods as well, taking what they learned and expanding from that game. youtu.be/HBPOoJMi3iM
neutral · AI labelView post →At first glance, Curse of the Dead Gods seems to be a slower paced isometric hack and slash roguelike. It has a cool light and dark system that has the player light braziers so they can spot traps and take less damage. Hell, they can even set enemies on fire and have them illuminate the area. There's also a curse mechanic that builds up as you explore or trade your blood for more trinkets and eventually results in debilitating effects. And they work well, for the first two levels of temples.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Metallic Child is underappreciated & on sale. Here's a 1-hour analysis tearing it apart:. I'm shamelessly shilling my shitty youtube video. But I'll atleast include a TL;DW: + +High effort production value despite budget roguelite + +Really fun combat loop & decent post-update content grind + +Alot of unexpected heart & care put into the story + --Scummy microtransactions + --Meta progression system blows + --Combat has objective issues that makes it worse than other roguelites…
neutral · AI labelView post →I keep returning to this game one or two times a year when I want to play something like Hades that I haven't finished. Each time I am overjoyed by the familiar, and one hour later recall why I still haven't finished this. Progression is there, but requires hundreds of hours. And at best is a marginal boost. Normal difficulty is downright gamed against you unless you have those hours. What could have been a great game is reduced to a grindy annoying chore. This game is so close to greatness,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →4/10. Buy Hades instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Steam] Curse of the Dead Gods ($3.99 / 80% off).
neutral · AI labelView post →Haven’t been posting as much this weekend because v busy but 1. Finished Curse of the Dead Gods — or at least calling it done after beating the final boss and unlocking the harder modes. Great game A+ 2. I think delaying posting my chapter was the right thing to do, I definitely feel less of A Way
positive · AI labelView post →[Steam] Curse of the Dead Gods ($4.99 / 75% off).
neutral · AI labelView post →Another game I finally had some time to play is Curse of the Dead Gods. It's been on my radar for a a while and man, it starts pretty tough but gets easier as you learn each map and the enemies. Pretty good game so far very happy I finally got to play it
positive · AI labelView post →Such great potential wasted. The game plays just fine and it's that kind of game that doesn't need a story, the gameplay is the jewel here, the combat more exactly. The Story So, basically you play as an explorer who seeks riches in this one cursed temple. Not a big deal at all, find gold, bla bla, fight ugly and very annoying (especially the electric babies) monsters until you reach the end of the temple, were you (I suppose) are to become the new "champion of death" bla bla, the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like the combat better than Hades - there I said it. The parry system is a nice twist and combat is meatier. Also more weapons and effects than Hades. Hades is better in terms of environment, storytelling, art style, but I really like the combat better here and it feels more "fair". Progression is also better than Hades imo (which was slow at first). Solid game 8.5/10 To those complaining about the stamina system - there is an upgrade you can get pretty early that fills the stamina on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This WOULD actually be a really good game for me. The only one big downside which makes this game unplayable for me is that they stick your death counter right in your face at the start of every run. For me personally this tilts me off to no end and completely prevents me from enjoying the game. I know this is often intended by the devs for these kind of games to show the death counter because they want to show you that its normal to die a lot in the beginning and its part of the game, but I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is really well designed. It is a fine tuned experience, the enemy/room and weapon variety is limited and there are no crazy synergies, but that allows you get familiar with the game and once you get a hang of its mechanics and learn the enemies, its up to your skill and knowledge to do the rest and react accordingly to the challenges the game throws at you. It really is a SKILL based ACTION game. The roguelike part is really there to add some spice and often make it harder for you.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boring, reflex-demanding roguelike
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Actually had a whole review typed up, a nice one too. Talking about the good and bad and even had some extra moments......then I was dumb enough to make it go from "no don't recommend" to "Yes" and the steam review maker it completely deleted my review. So I will make it short. The Good: *Graphics and sound quality is 20 out of 10 good. Game has lore build into environment and gets you thinking about stuff in game. Perfect Dodge sound is a Death Whistle, which is a great touch and helps with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a streamer, it sucks that sometimes I will play games for myself and think "Damn I should stop playing this, this would be a great stream game" =w= ...which reminds me, I'll probably play Curse of the Dead Gods off-stream to grind for the Upgrade Skulls just because it takes too long on stream
neutral · AI labelView post →Dark Souls meets Hades And I can't believe I'm actually saying that. But it's true. It's not as fast-paced as Hades, but its roguelite structure is very similar. Combat is slow-paced, as is meta-progression. You won't be unlocking mirror upgrades or weapon aspects at the same pace as you would in Hades. It's slow, but it works for this game. NOT unlocking extra weapons actually plays in your favor somewhat (if you have preferences). It's addicting in that "well, f**k you too" kinda way.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of my favorite rougelikes of all time, but that being said I can't recommend this to people who are just starting to play the genre. There are lots of issues in the back half of the game that make it feel really rng based and slow. The first three temples are fun and well paced, and while I don't mind the idea of a really grindy final temple they way overdo it here. The amount of elite enemies who serve as nothing but health pools are really repetitive and annoying, but you have to deal…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best combat system in the genre. The game needs a sequel.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Curse of the Dead Gods is a game I have very mixed feelings on. Initially I was planning on giving this game a negative review, but I've changed that to positive because I feel too many people rate this game poorly simply because it's a bad "roguelike", which, to be fair, it absolutely is. The reason most roguelikes are so addictive despite how much repetition they require is because they're usually based around speed. But when you take a genre where you're meant to go fast, and design every…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game. Enjoyable difficulty ramp. Parries are satisfactory. Good Art. Maybe more unlockables would be great, other than that, 9/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's...okay? There are better roguelikes, but this isn't the worst. The combat and curse loop is cool, but runs are exhausting and the loot drops can be dull.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, I love roguelites, but this game feels like an unbalanced early-access mess. There are so many mechanics all at once, but every run feels the same. The curse mechanic doesn’t really affect your run in most cases (unless you get to the last stage, then you just drain your HP and die if hit once). All the things you can buy in the lobby don’t really create any meaningful difference. There’s a lot of meaningless grind, watered down by unbalanced boss fights (some are impossible to kill,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't dislike it, it's brilliant, the epitome of SupergiantGames' beautiful craft, but I just can't play Hades, it released after I had already burnt out on Dead Cells, Curse of the Dead Gods, Grime, Enter the Gungeon, Blasphemous, Gunfire Reborn, and whatnot, I can't bring myself to play it because I had already explored the genre so many times...
neutral · AI labelView post →| Game | What is it? | Heard of it? | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | [Lies of P](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1627720/Lies_of_P/) | 3rd Person Action | ☑️ (played) | This game is fantastic. It really feels like a Souls game. | | [Enotria: The Last Song](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2102450/Enotria_The_Last_Song/) | 3rd Person Action | ☑️ | | | [Hollow Knight](https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/) | 2D Metroidvania | ☑️ (I own it) | For years I've planned to play it…
neutral · AI labelView post →This roguelike I would easily recommend to anyone. Amazing combat, interesting light/darkness mechanics, great replay value. I 100%-ed this game on EGS, now it is time to do it again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Here's my #NintendoSwitch #indiegame highlight for today! 🎮👍🏼 Game - Curse of the Dead Gods Developer - @passtechgames.bsky.social Publisher - @focus-entmt.com Release date - February 23, 2021
neutral · AI labelView post →Curse of the Dead Gods build suggestions?. I just started playing Curse for the first time the other night, and the gameplay/mechanics have been so much fun. I've tried claws, machete, pistol, and whip so far, but I'd love to hear about which weapon combos or full builds you found the most fun! What all did you like about them?
neutral · AI labelView post →Don't buy this game if you care about 100%. I honestly hate devs that make achievements like memoirs. It's disrespectful to the players.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's TEMU Hades. No story , no dialogue, nothing to keep you invested. no lore. NOTHING! Gameplay is good but it game becomes really unfair towards the endgame. Most of the weapons are trash (if you don't get a shield and a heavy weapon that can't break walls just restart, trust me). After many struggles I have reached the final boss of the long temple. I was about to give it a positive review but the fact that it has a SECOND ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ PHASE just tilted me. with no hp of course I died. ♥♥♥♥…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ive been playing Curse of the Dead Gods (from the giveaway- thanks again!). I'm currently through 3/3 of the first tier runs and 2/3 of the 2nd tier runs (then 3x3rd tier and 1x 4th tier from what i can tell without spoilers). I'm having quite a bit of fun with it. It's a roguelite that has some interesting combinations of your gear (weapons+relics) + curses (which are generally bad but some have bonuses in addition to the bad). Last run i did i had a relic that gives +1 constitution any…
positive · AI labelView post →I'm one run from beating the game and I'd genuinely rather let the gods stay dead Edit: Beat the final boss, it wasn't worth it
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just didn't feel fun with the current pacing and scaling. Sometimes dodges wouldn't trigger when I still had stamina. I think if the developer would make some minor tweaks with damage it could make the game play better.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →for a game that doens't offer much content, it got too grindy and too difficult near 6++ hours mark, not a fun game especially compare to top in the class like Hades
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After this game, I don't have any desire to play other rogue like game, the best of it's kind
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommended but with caveats. If you haven’t played Hades, Hades 2 or even “Cult of the Lamb” I’ll recommend you play those first. It’s not that great but better than good, a solid 7 to 7.5. This game is pure combat, mechanics are super smooths, and parrying makes combat a little spicy. But there is no real story or mystery, so there isn’t much incentive to start another run or beat the game which is where I could see people getting turned off from it. Compared to the Hades, Curse of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"We have Hades at home."
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →meh, pretty, combat is initially rewarding, but after a few runs it became clear there wasn't a lot of depth. The stamina mechanic seems more cumbersome than fun. All-in-all, it's just not very deep. Not a lot of weapons, no fun synergies like Hades. If you're dying for more gameplay like hades with a bit of variation, this might be fun for a few hours, but it won't be a hundred hour game. However, if you've played Hades, you'll probably just find this lacking.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →so far the art is nice/controls are easy but: -no story -slow movement -many skills and weps -a lot of lists (skills/items/buffs) its confusing and makes it difficult to choose your next step! -many things/places/locations/goals are not well identified! (whats the reason of doing this or that?!) -no specific goals or main story tasks to follow (feel lost!) just wandering around and kill! -journey to the unknown! (lol) maybe its fun for the others but those things are important to me. if there…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not for me. And that's okay. There are just instances where the game doesn't feel 'responsive', or it feels too punishing for mistakes or miss-timing. Most of it can obviously be chalked up to 'git gud', but it doesn't feel great when in the right circumstances you can be stun locked into losing half your health. I'm going to try to 'beat' the game at this moment, but we'll see if my patience holds out versus my desire to complete the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Verdict: Really well done action roguelike with Aztec theme. With little polish and boss variety, it could have been great. + Positives + + Steam trading cards (3 drop, 5 to make a badge) + Steam achievements (30, multiple playthroughs required) + A lot of meta-upgrades + 12 different weapon types in 3 categories + Tons and tons of relics + Love the risk/reward system (blood or gold payments) + 21 blessings to pick from (you pick 3 per run) + Light (less rewards and incoming damage) vs Dark…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Curse of the Dead Gods. It's more akin to Dead Cells as it's a roguelike. Multiple weapon choices, stamina system, it's not one I hear about often.
neutral · AI labelView post →CURSE OF THE DEAD GODS SPOILERS AHEAD Finishing the game just to find out that "Haha you buffon! You thought that was the ending? What if there's a HARDER MODE!!!" after suffering so much to finish it really killed me
negative · AI labelView post →I love roguelites and enjoyed the first 10 or so hours of gameplay until I discovered that there is virtually no meta progression. Almost none of the unlockables are worth your time. You won't get stronger after each run, you just start over and over again praying to RNGesus so you can maybe beat more bosses. There is no combat variation, because it doesn't really matter which weapon you use. Just make sure it's not a slow weapon, because they are bad later in the game. Generally, there is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Randomly picked this up on sale, and holy smokes - an S-Tier action roguelite that I never even heard of before! Reminds me of Dead Cells in the best way possible. Hot take: This is better than Hades, unless you're very story oriented (there is pretty much none in this game). Progression feels pretty grindy at times, but the core gameplay loop is super fun and there's a good variety of weapons, plus the usual status point RNG to make each run feel different... so it's not a big deal. Very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I saw northernlion play this and it looked interesting. I picked it up and put it down a few times, and while I’d put it down all my friends played hades and were gushing about how great it is. Fast forward to now, I picked dead gods back up, I’m into the game and warmed up to the isometric view (not always the case). I don’t want to review this game by comparison, but hades rocked the industry with a goty win, in the same genre a year before this game, yet dead gods is so much more thought…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →From the ones listed I have played Remnant 2 the most and also enjoyed it the most. Only thing I like less is that it's 3 man co-op and our group had 4 people who have the game. So we always ended up excluding 1 person. Hollow Knigt and Curse of the Dead Gods I own and tried but it just didn't click at the time, perhaps I just need to give them another chance.
neutral · AI labelView post →Its an ok game, for a rouguelike its really repetitive, it is not that hard of a game, so you just venture to the dungeon doing everything all the same, the weapons doesn't really matter, so unlocking them is not that useful. the combat is fun, repetitive but fun, the curses may be stressful or fun depending of the level of masoquism one can handle. The GREAT CON for this game is that it really is repetitive but not in a fun way as some other rouguelikes tend to be. The illusory of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bad. The entire game only gives you three stages to choose from. Each stage has its own enemy type and gimmick, and you might expect that going deeper into a stage would introduce new enemies or traps — but it doesn’t. You just fight stronger, tanker versions of the same enemies and repeat the same gimmicks all the way to the final boss. After beating the game, you unlock new stages (sorry if that’s a spoiler). You might think this finally means new content — but it doesn’t. They’re simply…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →negative review because you cant play in borderless fullscreen. this is a baseline expectation tbh. the game is great but the no borderless fullscreen is a deal breaker for me
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After beating 4 temples out of 9, I've decided to uninstall the game and call it a day, it's just not fun, especially with the cheaply designed stamina system, almost everything cost stamina and most of the time I ran out of stamina to perform last hit or roll away in critical moments, even soulslike games have more stamina than this ♥♥♥♥ lmao. Weapons are also pretty lackluster, I found myself only using whip and dagger because they are actually decent, two-handed weapons are fine but they are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →imma be honest, i feel like giving up on this game. i've beaten 6 of the 9 temples, and i can confidently say the only interesting parts so far have been the dead cells collab weapons and the very beginning of the game where runs were short and as a result the game was a lot more colorful due to the rapid switching of the environment i was in. while the parry and dodge systems are pretty cool, the actual gameplay is pretty stale. it definitely shows it's age, specifically the time the game was…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Having completed this game on both PC and PS4 i can say this is one of the most (mechanically) fine tuned roguelikes out there. The combat is great and i personally love the relic and attributes system. While enemies don't have too great a variety the increasing difficulties works with this to allow learning and how to become consistent. The 'dance' like combat system feels crisp with all bosses offering a great chance to express skill. I would highly reccomend if you like souls like games or…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You ever play a game that has all the makings of a good one yet every time you play it, it just disappoints you and you just don't have any fun? Yeah. That's this. I can see the vision they were going for but it just isn't an enjoyable one. Parrying doesn't feel intuitive at all, to the point where you're just better off dodging to avoid things. Some weapon types are just objectively better than others, and you're screwing yourself over by trying anything else. Eventually they spam the elite…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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