The Serpent Rogue throws players into a procedurally generated world on the brink of annihilation. The fields and valleys are strewn with deadly thorns, a corrupting influence mutating wildlife into vicious monsters, violent storms tear the landscape asunder, and the dead rise from their graves.
However, our hero is not a mighty barbarian with a giant sword or a wizard but a doctor on a quest to cure this diseased world, one potion at a time.
Taking on the role of Soloman the Warden, you explore the ramshackle wastes and provide aid to the desperate populace while researching the effect the blight has had on the world and grabbing everything you can find that isn’t nailed down to craft weapons and potions.
Each area has herbs to pick, enemies to defeat and pillage for parts, logs to chop, and holes to dig to help you find a myriad of ingredients used to craft better gear, potions, and make meals that help you on your journey.
Everything you find is useful, from wood and metal used to craft axes and swords to the extensive selection of fauna and flora you can collect to make all manner of potions. These range from things you find in any RPG, like potions to increase your attack and defence, to more fun brews like transmogrification potions that turn you into different animals like dogs and chickens.
Though the map layout is the same every time, the items, enemies and NPCs you stumble across are not.
Sometimes you will leave town to gather ingredients and return to find it deserted or inhabited by surprisingly cordial skeletons. Leaving dead bodies to rot after a battle will attract corpse-eating ghouls, and aiding NPCs will often have unintended and unexpected consequences further down the road.
This is a clever way to approach procedural generation because it has allowed Sengi Games to create a detailed and engaging world while making every playthrough feel unique, impactful and shaped by the player’s actions.
The combat in the game is best described as Soulslike. In as much as it is slow, methodical, and mistakes are punished harshly. The problem is that the only studio that has ever managed to get this type of combat to work well is From Software.
Solomon is slow to strike, and without the ability to dodge or roll every time any monster uses an area of effect attack, you invariably get caught by it. Also, while you can block, you can’t against successive attacks, which will leave you wide open. Likewise, all of your equipment can break and may as well be made out of lollipop sticks. The number of times I had to run away after my weapon broke mid-fight was too many to mention.
This uphill battle is even more irksome because Solomon can’t carry that many items. Early on, you are given the ability to construct a portable lab. After flinging it over your shoulder, Solomon sets off on his adventure. The problem is that the lab is bloody heavy, and the weapons aren’t much lighter.
I get that The Serpent Rogue is about making tough choices, but creating potions forms such a big part of the game that not having the means to do so at all times is a massive pain in the arse.
These issues are alleviated a little by the animals you can tame and take with you on your journey to do some of the fighting for you.
When you inevitably die, you respawn back in town with all of your items gone and you need to remember where you were to get them back. Die on the way there; you lose them forever. Though you can fast travel between different areas, it can be hard to remember where you dropped your stuff.
There is a ton of stuff to find and use, but weirdly, in a game about an alchemist wandering around with a portable lab – there is no room for experimentation. Every ingredient you discover needs to be researched, and then you need to find recipes to successfully use it in a potion. On the plus side, you have a journal that keeps track of the state of your research and recipes, which becomes increasingly vital as the amount of junk in your pockets stacks up.
Stylistically The Serpent Rogue reminded me of Darkest Dungeon. A limited colour palette of dark blues, purples and browns conveys an oppressive atmosphere and helps convey the feeling of a world besieged by an ever-pervasive Lovecraftian evil.
If you’re the kind of person who thought The Witcher series lost its way when every fight didn’t require seven different potions and a three-week correspondence course to win, you are bound to enjoy The Serpent Rogue.
For the rest of us, your mileage may vary. However, if you are looking for a challenging survival game with a decent story, rewarding exploration, and a literal compendium of crafting recipes to discover, The Serpent Rogue is one decoction worth imbibing.