Serpent’s Gaze enters Early Access on May 25

Serpent’s Gaze now has an Early Access date. Developer Feeble Minds will launch the co-op action RPG on Steam on May 25. The game is pitched as a blend of tactical soulslike combat, epic bosses and one-to-four-player co-op. Players take the role of a scion of the tree god Magnolia, battling fallen gods and usurpers across handcrafted levels while building around blessings, gear and curse modifiers. The Curse system is one of the more interesting details because it allows players to stack difficulty modifiers in exchange for better rewards. That gives the game a flexible challenge structure, which is useful for co-op groups with different skill levels. Soulslike co-op can be difficult to balance because bosses need to feel threatening without becoming unreadable chaos when four people are hitting them at once. If Serpent’s Gaze can make positioning, roles and builds matter, it could stand out from the usual wave of small dark-fantasy action RPGs. Early Access will be the real test.