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Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate is an action roguelite adventure from Moving Pieces Interactive. It was previously only available on the Epic Games Store for PC or Xbox One/Series X|S, but has been available on Steam since August 12th. Although it is simply Shoulders of the Giants In the previous release, the title was updated to reflect the Ultimate Changes that have been made to the game since then.
Frog and Robot – another dynamic duo adventure
There have been many video game duos over the years: Ratchet and Clank, Sam and Max, Jak and Daxter, Kratos and Boy, etc. Although the Froggie in Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate would argue that the robot is the sidekick, I think you could definitely argue for the latter. When you think of other gaming duos, which one is the most memorable to you? Let me know in the comments. That’s after you check out my thoughts on the game below!
Gameplay
Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate is called a roguelike, but is technically a roguelite. I touched on the difference in a previous review, but I want to address it again here. The main difference between the two is that a roguelite is less punishing, as it gives players the opportunity to make certain progress that they can use in new playthroughs. This is the case with the gameplay loop in Shoulders of Giants: UltimateEach run brings new weapons, cores (to change your robo-friend’s starting abilities and appearance), and experience that you can use for permanent skill upgrades.
The goal in Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate is to defeat the encroaching forces of entropy. You do this by traveling to select planets, defeating the forces there, and gaining HEAT for your success. You also lose HEAT if you die on a planet. When you select a planet, each planet will display information on the environmental factors to expect, as well as potential rewards. Each planet also displays how many levels that run has, so you get an idea of the length in advance. The abilities you find during each run make each run unique, as you may not always have the same ones as the previous or next run. During each encounter, you’ll alternate between primarily melee attacks as the robot, and attacks from a distance as the frog.
Completing a run will reward you with experience, weapons, and, depending on the planet, new cores. You’ll also find bonus objectives throughout. Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate which increase the rewards at the end of your run. Investing your hard-earned experience in skills seems to be the best way to progress further. Through the skill tree, you can gain improvements not only to your frog and robot skills, but also to various aspects of the game. For example, how many planets you have to choose from when selecting your next run.
I actually only have one big complaint about Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate. The complaint is that there is no map or some sort of compass to give you a better idea of where you have been and where you need to go. Enemies seem to appear constantly, so it was pretty easy to end up stopping and turning around for combat. In some levels, I could have spent half the time if I had actually known where I was going and not wandering around.
Graphics & Audio
Looking at Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate gives me Rain risk 2 Vibes. They definitely share the same aesthetic, if nothing else. The UI is also pretty simplistic, as are the polygonal enemies and environment. But the overall feel is good, especially since the game runs on Unreal Engine 5. The level environments set the scene of a small section of a much larger world very effectively. I spent most of my time in the game on my Steam Deck, but of course playing on desktop offers slightly sharper detail.
Cores and varnishes allow optical adaptation in Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate. Both your robot and frog are given matching paint jobs in a matching style. However, beyond that and the weapons, there doesn’t seem to be any further customization options. What’s there is sufficient in my opinion and, to be honest, more than I expected.
Audio input Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate is subtle. Most of the sounds come from constantly battling enemies. The background music is quiet and I mostly heard it while hanging out in the hub world.
longevity
I honestly feel like I have only scratched the surface with Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate so far. Given the number of different weapons, cores, and abilities you can upgrade (and craft), there’s definitely the potential for this to be a very time-consuming experience. I’m not sure how long it takes to reach the end of the game, but I imagine it’ll take quite a while. Thankfully, the randomness of the levels and the abilities available provide enough variety to get you through.
Final thoughts
In total, Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate is, in my opinion, a solid entry into the roguelite library. The gameplay loop can feel a little repetitive at times, but that’s how roguelikes and roguelites are generally built. With only some minor frustrations, the game offers a lot of variety in both structure and building your character to suit your style.
I think this game is worthy of Thumb culture gold price!
Disclaimer: A code was received to write this review.
If you liked this review, check out my other reviews here.
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