Review | Steelrising

A Steel review

Steelrising is an action role-playing video game developed by French video game developer Spiders (GreedFall) and published by Nacon. The game was released for Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S in September 2022.

The reason I've played it recently is due to numerous bugs and technical issues that were present at launch—so I had to wait, and I knew I was going to have the best experience when they patched things up. It's still a bit flickerish, with occasional frame drops here and there; but overall, it was a solid, stable experience on performance mode on my PS5 Pro. The biggest issue is that the game feels like a cheap soulslike title, but it has its ups. That sluggish feel can drive people away; I know I was at the brink of quitting.

So, think of the game as a fast-paced soulslike with some platforming elements like air dashing, with Bloodborne Paris vibes, and some great ideas that were executed rather poorly. Let's steel our way into the review.

I just can't digest such characters from this game; they all feel the same, and even though the story was good, I just couldn't get into it. Visuals are nice, although not top tier at this point.

Story and the characters

In an alternate version of the French Revolution, King Louis XVI has created an army of clockwork automatons, simply called Automats, and rules Paris with fear. You, on the other hand, are also an Automat by the name of Aegis, sent out by Marie Antoinette as her bodyguard to find her children and find out what happened with the king. Long story short, you will be the one to reveal all of the secrets, including Automats history and how they even exist.

The best part of the story is that it's quite good. The issue is really dull characters that all look the same and feel a bit uninteresting. The concept of the game is also awesome, creating a story-driven adventure to uncover on your own, making every quest feel like the main path, even though there are more side stories than the main branch. I feel like that is a great concept in games in general, as doing side content throws more lore at you and shines a light on the story and events in general.

The issue? Well, pacing, for one. All of the stories are a bit intertwined and consist of many parts, out of which you heavily need to backtrack many times, without using fast travel. That was really tiresome. Although I've loved the locations, finding something again and again—even with the pointer—was a bit tedious at times.

In general, I find the story to be one of the better ones in the soulslike genre, but due to shallow characters, all of that kind of felt dislocated.

Dress your doll and go on a killing spree. You are kind, but you can also throw a punch.

Game design, exploration

So, the whole concept of the game is exploring and destroying other Automats. The level design is great, always offering something to explore, although the rewards are mostly experience and other items. There are also armors to be found, and some weapons, but most of the time you will be happy to find some hidden path just to find some boring item at the end.

You can jump, and even dash later, and there are a couple of skills to be found so you can reach other areas on the maps. There are a couple of maps, and they are really good; it's just the backtracking and finding your way that can be a pain at times. You activate checkpoints where you can level up, but you cannot fast-travel between them. Instead, you can travel via carriage to visit other maps, and even for that you mostly need to get back to the start to do so. It gets very tedious very fast.

The biggest upside is the game’s concept of quests and the story. Side stories feel like the main quest, and I strongly advise you to do them, because not only do they unlock many locked areas, but they feel like they should be the core of this game. The downside is the constant backtracking to previous areas, which can be painful without fast travel, and because even though the locations are well designed, they feel a bit repetitive and confusing. Without a map, you're basically dependent on the compass pointer, which helps, but not often. When you unlock a shortcut, it feels so good. The level design felt really interesting to me, especially with platforming bits that fit perfectly.

These are some heavy Paris Bloodborne vibes here. What's not to like?

Combat

Ah, the combat. At first, I was struggling to even continue playing the game. The combat felt stiff, bad, unresponsive... It took me like 10 hours to finally accept it, but I've never enjoyed the combat fully. Dodging is really fast, and you can dodge multiple times. Of course, there is a stamina bar. It's best to dodge and then chain attacks, because dodging in the middle of a combo almost never works. It's a weird concept, because I expect to dodge to the side, but that works really badly.

When you grasp the main idea, you will probably beat the game from that point without dying. Light, light, heavy combo—repeat. I like the cooldown prompt—basically, when you deplete your stamina, you can press the cooldown button at the right time to refill the stamina and continue with your combo. It gets you frozen if you do it often, but that is better than getting hit multiple times.

The weapons are unique, and they all have special attacks. It can be a guard, counterattack, some special move... I like it. Leveling is simple; you just invest points to be stronger, nothing special about it. You can also help yourself with core slots that you unlock by getting keys from foes or chests, and you can upgrade your healing flask as well. Regular soulslike stuff.

I wish the combat were more progressive—what you learn at the start usually means it's like that until the end. Too bad, considering there are mentioned terrain skills that could also be used in combat but feel utterly underwhelming and clunky.

Boss fights are easy and not really special. It's all about dodging and mashing.

It's always dark and spooky. What's not to like, eh?

Side Content

As I've mentioned, side content ideas are great, just poorly paced. Having multiple endings doesn't really help; I don't like this concept of replaying the same 90% of the game just to see a different scene at the end.

Good luck collecting everything in a single run—it's a huge pain tracking everything down. If you complete all side quests, you will mostly find all there is, and then you can mop up the remaining stuff like upgrade bits and all outfits. In terms of getting stronger, all of this is not really required; the game is quite easy. It's less punishing than other similar games, but expect losing your experience if you die without recollecting your soul where you've died.

This studio knows how to design content, but they just don't know how to pace it properly. It's really confusing tracking everything down; it all feels needlessly complicated and confusing, especially some quest outcomes, which also means missables. I don't really like that in games.

You might want to finish the side stories—some of them are better than the main plot.

Conclusion

Steelrising is a game full of strong ideas and an intriguing setting that doesn’t always live up to its potential. While its story concept and side quests stand out as some of its best features, shallow characters, clunky combat, and poor pacing hold the experience back. The lack of fast travel and excessive backtracking make exploration more frustrating than rewarding, and the combat rarely evolves beyond its early mechanics. Still, beneath its flaws lies a solid soulslike that can be enjoyable for patient players who appreciate atmosphere, lore, and experimentation over polish. And loves them Bloodborne vibes!