Morbid: Lords of the Ire is one of the strangest sequels that I have ever played, and I don’t say this because it takes some wild leaps into another genre or anything, in fact the game is largely unremarkable, – which we will get to. Never in my life have I encountered a game that is a better example of the old saying; one step forward, two steps back.
I never played 2020’s Morbid: The Seven Acolytes, but from the footage I’ve seen of the game, it looks as though Still Running was trying to put its own unique spin on what has become a very tired sub-genre. The idea of stripping a Soulslike experience back to a fresher, more creative pixellated top-down experience is pretty cool. It still allows for the staples of the genre like environmental exploration, gameplay experimentation, and tough bossfights, but through a rarer lens.
So then why would you make your sequel a samey, half-baked, dime-a-dozen Soulslike knockoff? To anyone who has played Morbid: Lords of the Ire, that may sound a bit harsh given that the title itself is perfectly serviceable in terms of being a generic game in a saturated market, but I just don’t understand why you would shed any of your previously more unique identity to deliver something like this.
Morbid: Lords of the Ire is available now on PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox.
Reading back over that intro with the score I am wondering to myself whether I am being too tough on Morbid: Lords of the Ire. This is a decent enough action/adventure RPG with competent slash and dodge gameplay. It doesn’t boast the creature design of something like Elden Ring, but if you are a fan of FromSoftware’s art direction, then you’ll probably enjoy this game’s aesthetic and environmental design.
Maybe it is just me then; if the games play well enough then what’s the harm? Perhaps this is a case of “it isn’t you, it’s me.” As someone has been reviewing nearly every major game that comes out for the past two years, it could be that I’ve just became bitter, jaded by an industry that I’ve been too close to for too long.
But then I had a look on Twitter, went down a few Reddit rabbit holes, and consulted my FandomWire colleagues. Upon doing this, I discovered that, – in the immortal words of the great Kendrick Lamar, – “I’m what the culture feelin’.”
Therefore, if this feeling of weariness is ubiquitous, then surely my critique of Morbid: Lords of the Ire is valid. In this current era of dime-a-dozen Soulike clones, why shed any semblance of creative originality to replace it with something that feels painfully familiar and by-the-numbers at this point?
Here We Go Again
If you are looking to kill some time or have some fun with a fairly uncomplicated Soulslike that while being largely unremarkable, does do the basics of the genre pretty well, then maybe Morbid: Lords of the Ire is the game for you. And if that is the case, then more power to you. I genuinely envy those who can still have fun with games like these in 2024.
With that being said, Still Running seems like a competent studio capable of achieving more that this. The team has proved that it can come up with a visually intriguing art style and a creative gameplay loop, so there is no reason why the next project can’t be more exciting than Morbid: Lords of the Ire was.
In summary, Morbid: Lords of the Ire is a game that is hard to talk passionately about despite the fact that there was undoubtedly passion put into creating it, yet it still feels soulless. For the fairly reasonable asking price, it may be worth picking up if you are a hardcore fan of Soulslike games and are looking to play every one that releases. If this is not the case though, then you can probably give this one a miss.
Morbid: Lords of the Ire – 5/10
