Overview – developed by Disaster Games and published by Selecta Play, Morkull Ragast’s Rage is a comedic Metroidvania with a focus on platforming and action. Morkull, the God of death, seeks to escape from the Ragast where he has been imprisoned, after discovering that he is a character in a video game. This title is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series systems, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank the rep for Selecta Play who provided the copy of Morkull Ragast’s Rage that was used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. I will be covering the core gameplay of this game, as there are some elements of the game that I don’t wish to spoil for players.
Story – Morkull, the God of death has found himself trapped in the Ragast, imprisoned within it. He has decided to break out of his bondage, becoming aware of his existence as a video game character. He has recruited the player to aid him in this quest, as he wishes to combat the developer and escape the confines of his programming, seeking to bring his evil to the world.
Gameplay – Morkull Ragast’s Rage is a rather simplified Metroidvania, where the player takes control of the eponymous villain and god of death. The game features a rather straight forward gameplay loop, focused on platforming and action, with a little exploration. When the player starts the game, they will be moved through a simple tutorial, teaching the player the basics of the game. This introduces the players to basic combat and platforming.
As the player gets further through the game, there will be new mechanics that get added to death god’s skill set. These include the ability to block enemy attacks and parry, this is alongside the ability to dash and cross large gaps. As the skill set increases, the player will be able to reach new areas that may have been inaccessible beforehand. This means there is a little bit of back-tracking during play, but it doesn’t impact the gameplay too much.
During exploration of the different areas of the Ragast, the player will come across various foes. There will be enemies that can attack on the ground and in the air, alongside invulnerable monsters, which can deal serious damage to Morkull. To battle the dangers of the labyrinth, the player can use two attacks, consisting of a light and heavy attack. The move-set is limited at the start, but can be upgraded during the course of the game.
Enemies will have a variety of attacks that can hurt the player, dealing significant damage to him as he is rather frail in battle. Morkull has a health bar that is shown onscreen, which will be depleted from enemies as well as traps in the dungeon. These traps include acid pools, spikes and rolling boulders. In order to recover health, the player can heal up at special points and use potions, with one to start but more can be obtained.
When enemies are defeated, the player will gain souls of varying amounts. These souls are added to the players total, with no upper limit that can be obtained. The souls can also be found in hidden areas, where they can be picked up once as a bonus. If the player dies during the course of the game, they will lose half of their total souls as punishment. The souls that have been collected serve an important purpose during play.
At set points on the map, the player will come across arches, where they will be able to talk to Morkull’s servant. This vassal of the death god provides a very important service for the player, the ability to unlock new skills. By upgrading the skill tree, the player can get new combo attacks, additional potion slots and more special skills. Morkull can also heal at these points and fast travel between them, as well as respawn at them.
As this title uses elements of the metroidvania genre, the player must open up locked gates. The gates are locked in three ways, the first and most common is via keys, which are obtained from defeating enemies. Then there are the switch gates, which can be opened by triggering a switch during exploration. The last type of gate is the encounter gate, where Morkull is locked in a battle, which must be cleared to pass the gate.
Then we have the boss battles. These are challenging battles where Morkull is trapped in an arena, fighting to the death against a powerful opponent. Entering these battles will push the story forward, giving the player new special abilities and special cutscenes. But these are not the only cutscenes that occur during the game, as Morkull will break the fourth wall and talk to the player, as well as other NPC characters in the story.
The last thing to discuss is the collectable system. During the adventure, the player will discover special items that are scattered throughout the dungeons. These are added to the collection screen, where the player will be able to view special abilities, enemies encountered and more during the adventure. This is a very useful screen, as the player will also be able to access the skill tree, alongside the expanding map on this screen.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – the control system for this game is laid out in a comfortable manner, with all of the most common inputs on the face, and secondary actions on the shoulders. This gives the game a straight forward and beginner friendly feel, allowing newer players trying the genre a good foundation to get started. However, during play there are moments where the inputs can be missed, which is very likely to cause frustration for players.
Difficulty – in terms of challenge, this game is balanced fairly well for the most part. But there are moments where the difficulty can spike, due in part to the non-linear nature of the game. This can cause players to enter some areas unprepared, be swarmed by enemies and killed quickly, losing souls in the process. These sudden jumps in challenge can be frustrating, but with patience and resilience, they can be overcome.
Presentation – visually Morkull Ragast’s Rage looks fantastic, with hand-drawn art and frame by frame animation. This enhances the overall feel of the game, making characters and movements feel fluid and lively. There is the occasional hiccup with performance, but it isn’t prevelant enough to be considered a detriment. The sound for this release is a good accompaniment to the visuals, with atmospheric music for exploration and heavy tracks for battle.
Final Thoughts – I do enjoy a good Metroidvania or Search Action game, with a fondness for those that do things a little different. So I went into Morkull Ragast’s Rage with some enthusiasm, with mixed results. The general game experience is fun, with the fast but simple combat offering a good challenge, combined with platforming that doesn’t feel sloppy. I also enjoyed the humor and fourth wall breaks, as they add a little more spark to the game world.
Unfortunately, the game doesn’t come without flaws. The frequency of save gates where upgrades can occur is much lower than I had hoped. This can be a significant frustration when trying to get back to one with a large amount of souls, due to the penalties for death. There were some minor bugs during play too, but these will likely be addressed in the future. In general, I can recommend this to those who are looking for a fun Metroidvania style adventure.
In the end, I give Morkull Ragast’s Rage a final score of 3.5/5. This is a charming and entertaining Metroidvania style adventure, with solid humor, satisfying combat and simple but challenging platforming. Unfortunately, it is brought down by a couple minor hiccups during play. if you want to check this game out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Xbox version (HERE)
Link to Steam version (HERE)
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