Exanima is a dungeon crawler exploration game with a very unique approach to combat and gameplay, which is both good and bad, depending on your preferences. The world is NOT procedurally generated, and structured on levels. It features perma-death, and this unforgiving nature of the game forces the player to exercise extreme caution, as every wrong decision could have devastating results.

Note that this game is still in Alpha, and there is no way of knowing how the game will change over time. If I notice anything that might alter the review, I will try my best to edit it accordingly. These points are what I think of the current state of the game, and you will see shortly that a pro/cons list is very hard to put together because of the controversy. Some might like an aspect, some would say it's a deal breaker. As such, I have written these from my perspective. Feel free to move them around the list as you please.

• Beautiful Graphics - It's clear that the developers put together the graphical system first, and worry about the gameplay aspects after. The game looks beautiful, the atmosphere is tense, the lighting system accurate and realistic, the objects are detailed and physics-enabled. Engine wise, this game is pretty well polished.
  
  
• Suspenseful Environment - Due to the fact that this game is permanent death, and most of the dungeon is shrouded in darkness, exploring the labyrinth is really exciting. My eyes are constantly jumping across the screen, trying to observe if it is safe or not. The sound of footsteps, squeaking doors and the flickering light of your torch create a creepy vibe that resembles that of a horror game.
  
  
• Physics Based Combat - One of the main features of this game is the combat system. All weapons and armor have realistic stats that reflect how useful they are to you. Things such as body coverage, resistance to different types of attacks, and how good a weapon is at conveying a certain type of swing, such as slashing, crushing and so on put you make you really consider what you are wielding. Also, everything has mass. You are inflicting damage based on how, where and when you hit the enemy, and the animations are realistic and unique because they are not predetermined motions hard-coded by the developer, they are actual physics simulations.
  
  
• Hand Crafted World - Something that really bothered me on other games, like Torchlight or Diablo, was that the dungeons were so architecturally unrealistic. Not here. Here, everything has a purpose. It is clear what rooms serve what function, everything is beautifully furnished and equipped, and you can discern sleeping quarters, kitchens, forges, lumber stations, interior gardens, studies, storage rooms and the such. You feel like you are actually exploring a working, used to be living-in and used castle.

• Unintuitive and hard to master Combat - Moving is relative to the character instead of the camera, and the physics based combat is really hard to master. Prepare to die often. I would suggest entering the Arena mode before attempting to play the main game. You will see what I mean. It's hard to put into words, but the combat is unnecessarily difficult, even if you get the realistic physics, the way you move and the inputs required are unintuitive and a bit too much.
  
  
• Forced Permanent Death - Many hard-core gamers would see this as a challenge and enjoy it, though combined with the horribly hard to master combat system and movement scheme make it too hard. I've often times found myself not exploring parts of the map because I was afraid of well equipped enemies. It's true, this makes the player think before acting, and encourages a stealthy approach, and I appreciate that, however an option to disable it and use some kind of sensible save system would be greatly needed.
  
  
• Arena Mode Levels - In arena mode, you can test your mettle and practice combat, but it is structured on levels, and is permanent death as well. So, for instance, say I beat the first three levels, but the fourth enemy is hard to beat. If I die, I have to redo the first three levels again! And lost health is not restored after winning a battle (only the temporary damage is restored). So it's very hard to get to a higher level and practice tougher enemies, which is exactly what you want to do in the first place.
  
  
• No Random Map Mode - Not really as bothered by this one, as I've listed the detail put into the map in the pros, but if you take into account the fact you'll most probably die many times, you will be forced to replay the same map over and over again, where every item's location is known (except containers, which are randomised), and the path you need to take is also known. I would like to see a random map mode where you can face a new challenge each time.

If you're wondering whether or not you want to purchase this game, here is my advice. Buy only if you want to support development. While I must admit I see great potential in this game and the developers have made a great job thus far, I am generally against Early Access Titles. It is a great game and a greater challenge to face, and you WILL get frustrated by its difficulty at least a few times, but bear in mind - it's still Alpha.

If you liked this review or want to see more of my recommended games, you can view my reviews here, and be sure to follow our curator group: Follow Original Curator Group

[table][tr][td][b]Note:[/b] This is an Alpha 0,5,3 Review, and the key was provided to me for review purposes.[/td][/tr][/table] [h1]Overview[/h1] [I]Exanima[/I] is a dungeon crawler exploration game with a very unique approach to combat and gameplay, which is both good and bad, depending on your preferences. The world is [b]NOT[/b] procedurally generated, and structured on levels. It features perma-death, and this unforgiving nature of the game forces the player to exercise extreme caution, as every wrong decision could have devastating results. [h1]Before we begin:[/h1] Note that this game is still in Alpha, and there is no way of knowing how the game will change over time. If I notice anything that might alter the review, I will try my best to edit it accordingly. These points are what I think of the current state of the game, and you will see shortly that a pro/cons list is very hard to put together because of the controversy. Some might like an aspect, some would say it's a deal breaker. As such, I have written these from my perspective. Feel free to move them around the list as you please. [h1]The Pros:[/h1] [list] [*][b]Beautiful Graphics[/b] - It's clear that the developers put together the graphical system first, and worry about the gameplay aspects after. The game looks beautiful, the atmosphere is tense, the lighting system accurate and realistic, the objects are detailed and physics-enabled. Engine wise, this game is pretty well polished. [*][b]Suspenseful Environment[/b] - Due to the fact that this game is permanent death, and most of the dungeon is shrouded in darkness, exploring the labyrinth is really exciting. My eyes are constantly jumping across the screen, trying to observe if it is safe or not. The sound of footsteps, squeaking doors and the flickering light of your torch create a creepy vibe that resembles that of a horror game. [*][b]Physics Based Combat[/b] - One of the main features of this game is the combat system. All weapons and armor have realistic stats that reflect how useful they are to you. Things such as body coverage, resistance to different types of attacks, and how good a weapon is at conveying a certain type of swing, such as slashing, crushing and so on put you make you really consider what you are wielding. Also, everything has mass. You are inflicting damage based on how, where and when you hit the enemy, and the animations are realistic and unique because they are not predetermined motions hard-coded by the developer, they are actual physics simulations. [*][b]Hand Crafted World[/b] - Something that really bothered me on other games, like Torchlight or Diablo, was that the dungeons were so architecturally unrealistic. Not here. Here, everything has a purpose. It is clear what rooms serve what function, everything is beautifully furnished and equipped, and you can discern sleeping quarters, kitchens, forges, lumber stations, interior gardens, studies, storage rooms and the such. You feel like you are actually exploring a working, used to be living-in and used castle. [/list] [h1]The Cons:[/h1] [list] [*][b]Unintuitive and hard to master Combat[/b] - Moving is relative to the character instead of the camera, and the physics based combat is really hard to master. Prepare to die often. I would suggest entering the Arena mode before attempting to play the main game. You will see what I mean. It's hard to put into words, but the combat is unnecessarily difficult, even if you get the realistic physics, the way you move and the inputs required are unintuitive and a bit too much. [*][b]Forced Permanent Death[/b] - Many hard-core gamers would see this as a challenge and enjoy it, though combined with the horribly hard to master combat system and movement scheme make it too hard. I've often times found myself not exploring parts of the map because I was afraid of well equipped enemies. It's true, this makes the player think before acting, and encourages a stealthy approach, and I appreciate that, however an option to disable it and use some kind of sensible save system would be greatly needed. [*][b]Arena Mode Levels[/b] - In arena mode, you can test your mettle and practice combat, but it is structured on levels, and is permanent death as well. So, for instance, say I beat the first three levels, but the fourth enemy is hard to beat. If I die, I have to redo the first three levels again! And lost health is not restored after winning a battle (only the temporary damage is restored). So it's very hard to get to a higher level and practice tougher enemies, which is exactly what you want to do in the first place. [*][b]No Random Map Mode[/b] - Not really as bothered by this one, as I've listed the detail put into the map in the pros, but if you take into account the fact you'll most probably die many times, you will be forced to replay the same map over and over again, where every item's location is known (except containers, which are randomised), and the path you need to take is also known. I would like to see a random map mode where you can face a new challenge each time. [/list] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] If you're wondering whether or not you want to purchase this game, here is my advice. Buy [u]only if you want to support development[/u]. While I must admit I see great potential in this game and the developers have made a great job thus far, I am generally against Early Access Titles. It is a great game and a greater challenge to face, and you [b]WILL[/b] get frustrated by its difficulty at least a few times, but bear in mind - it's still Alpha. [i]If you liked this review or want to see more of my recommended games, you can view my reviews [url=http://gtm.you1.cn/id/Jadarma/recommended/]here[/url], and be sure to follow our curator group: [url=http://gtm.you1.cn/groups/Original_Curators_Group#curation]Follow Original Curator Group[/url][/i]