33 Immortals is this weird combination of mechanics - that being MMO-style, large group co-operation, Hades-esque gameplay, and Genuinely Putting Trust in a player named IamScaredofWomen99 you met two minutes ago to keep you alive - that rightly shouldn't work, but seems to pull it off somehow. Having been part of the alphas/playtests, I've seen a fair bit of this game's development, all the way up to the complete revamp of relics on steam launch - it's solid. It's literally Bozja Southern Front(tm) from Final Fantasy XIV(tm) with a whole Dante's Inferno coat of paint. If reading that caused you to lean forward a little, then yeah, it's probably exactly your kind of game to boot up after a productive two hours running around a player hub doing exactly nothing in your favourite MMO.

Now, speaking completely objectively here, I need you to look at me. I need you to read the next sentence carefully. I need to you understand that the idea of making a game that requires thirty three crackheads to participate in The Great Biblical Jumping as Forseen By Big G Themselves is NOT a feasible, long term premise. That's half the reason the game's price point is what it is - the design, the premise, the moment to moment gameplay? Raw sauce. The concept that this game's gonna get thirty two other goobers to join you in the first area in like, two months? Delusional take. It's a great game, an amazing concept, and that unfortunately comes with the very real downside of being one co-op roguelike in a very, very expansive market.

You'll read a lot of reviews that state it 'scratches an itch' for a lot of people, and that's honestly a very apt description; it's sort of like an MMO raid start-to-finish, except you're all in one-man parties (or an ACTUAL party of four, though I've only ever been in one in my gametime sofar and it changed basically nothing) desperately trying to co-operate. If you die twice in a row? The server moderator kills you in real life, removing you from the server. What ends up happening is this weird little simulation of darwhinism each run, where the most feral, talented, or just downright lucky raid members survive until the end to throw down with the final boss. The bosses themselves have great designs, are pretty easy to sight-read, and shouldn't be anything too insane to anyone who's played an MMO, but I should also preface this by looping this riiiiight back to the sentence before I asked you to pay attention to.

While you CAN have an utterly insane build cooking and you CAN carry people, the entire premise of 33 immortals is that you're a rogue army. Army being the operative word here. These bosses WILL eventually start throwing out undodgeable, unblockable mechanics at you if your team just can't dish out enough damage, or have enough people to do their mechanics. I've had runs basically end the moment we step into the boss arena because the six whole people who made it have made eyecontact with each other and collectively agreed to give up and not waste fifteen minutes in a bossfight we just can't clear. All of that to say; you either all make it, or none of you do. And you can only do so much to keep people in the game.

33 Immortals does a lot of cool stuff - it's comfort food for people who like Hades and MMO-style games, and will definitely have a lot of players hooked with its long-term metaprogression. It's a fun, face-paced raid-like. The Sword of Damocles that is its whole 33-people lobbies is also just there in the corner. Don't think about it too hard and enjoy throwing hands with God.

After just an hour of playing, unlocking three weapons, 2 perks, and experiencing 3 dives into 33-player coop inferno runs, I am VERY excited to see how this game grows and players evolve to the challenges.

So far, really enjoying it. The visuals are clean, combat is rewarding with a load of progression, and the skill curve/learning curve is quite steep, which results in the combat being extremely rewarding when you get everything right from the timing of power/quick attacks, blocks/parrying, and combo attacking with allies.

Great start to the game, I am pleasantly surprised at how good the game is.

Keep in mind this is early impressions and subject to change, but so far, this has been a real treat to play.

The loop is solid with combat that's reminiscent of hades with fast paced get in/get out gameplay, depending on your class/weapons (at least that was the case for me as I was a dagger wielding rogue type). You'll enter a world with up to 33 other players and plays through a multitude of phases.

Phase 1 has you wandering the map with players, killing mobs and the odd elite, levelling up until god literally tries to smite the ♥♥♥♥ out of you.

Then you you split up and enter portals to complete objectives, further levelling you up and gaining relics that help customise your build.

Rinse and repeat these phases until you all gather for a battle resulting in your "Ascension" where players still alive and kicking will then be transported to a boss arena for a final climactic battle where you'll need to pay attention to MMO raid boss style mechanics like stacking and dropping puddles (preferably not on top of your team) and dealing with immunity phases then pummel the boss until pulpy goodness.

That was just the first part, anyway, as I said...subject to change but that's been my experience so far...very fun!