Sancticide Preview: Long Way to Go

Following in the footsteps of FromSoftware, we have been bombarded with souls-like games in the past couple of years. With the recent critically acclaimed releases like Lies of P and Stellar Blade, a lot of Indie devs have jumped the Gun. Such is the case with
Red Square Games and Sylen Studio‘s Sancticide.

Sancticide is a third-person action roguelike and Souls-like RPG set in a biblical apocalypse. It was released in Early Access on February 12, 2025, and is currently available on PC via Steam. Inspired by a popular Polish book series, Sancticide sees players become Ezechiel, a sin collector in service of Them at The Top, as he makes his way through the remains of our world during the End Times. 

Sancticide hosts a dark, apocalyptic world that takes inspiration from various biblical themes. Its world is bleak and oppressive, effectively conveying the sense of a world on the brink of destruction. The main hub, the Citadel, has a Roman aesthetic, which is quite reminiscent of Caesar’s Legion from Fallout: New Vegas.

The game’s campaign revolves around Ezechiel’s journey through the End Times, as described in the Bible. His mission is to destroy those who sin against God, creating a narrative that explores themes of religion and brutality. While this is intriguing in terms of setting up the premise, the story in its current state lacks cohesion and almost feels nonexistent. There are barely any cutscenes to set up the plot, and once you start the campaign, you will have to figure this all out with bits and pieces of crude dialogues and pieces of lore lying throughout its world.

Speaking of in-game dialogues, it is also one of the weakest aspects of Sancticide, its crude dialogues and voiceovers. It feels robotic and lacks emphasis. To make matters worse, it feels somewhat AI-generated as well. In terms of story and dialogues, it’s practically non-existent and feels lacklustre.

Considering that the game will remain in early access for the next 5-10 months, the dev teams need to add curated cutscenes with dialogues and lore that add depth to the game’s narrative.

Where Sancticide truly shows a bit of potential is in its gameplay and combat mechanics. In terms of being a third-person action RPG with roguelike and Souls-like elements, it is quite decent for an early access title. It mostly emphasizes melee-focused combat, with a variety of weapons ranging from swords and axes to modern firearms like pistols and rifles.

The combat system is somewhat challenging and has a slight learning curve to it. However, it also feels very unresponsive with parry windows and attack frames. I have tried playing with a keyboard, mouse, and controller, and yet the experience remains far from perfect. While the Rogue Lite elements add a little layer of replayability, given the current state of its combat, that should be the dev team’s first priority.

The lacklustre story and combat aside, the performance of Sancticide is decent on low-end and entry-level hardware. However, it’s missing a lot of options in terms of visual tweaks. The character models do not look that great, and the lighting feels quite bland. The soundtrack is not great either and gives the impression that the game is far from complete.

The developers have outlined a roadmap for Sancticide’s future development. They plan to keep the game in Early Access for approximately 5 to 10 months, during which they will refine and expand the experience based on player feedback. Planned additions include a broader arsenal of weapons and abilities, new locations, enemy types, and more varied encounters. It’s difficult to tell what the future holds for Santicide.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

Sancticide’s current state is far from being complete, even in terms of being an early access title. Despite its interesting premise, its story is practically nonexistent and is riddled with crude dialogues and AI-generated voice-acting. While some of its roguelike elements and arsenal feel enticing, its combat feels very unpolished and, at times, unresponsive.