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Two years since its initial release, Liberte finds its way on to the PS5. Is this a hidden gem or should the revolution have been squashed?
Vive la révolution… Or Not?
Now truly is the era of roguelite games, with mega hits like Hades and Dead Cells paving the way for more and more of this once-niche genre and now, Liberté arrives. Developed by Superstatic and billed as a roguelite deck builder, Liberté has a great and unique setting: the French revolution. You play as Rene, a seasoned and hardened resistance fighter who awakens with a bad case of amnesia. The opening of the game shows the player that Rene has in fact been mysteriously revived from the dead whilst the revolution rages on. From here, you are guided by a mysterious voice which beckons you to follow her commands. It’s a good opening that heightened my intrigue about the setting and Rene’s past experiences. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the highlight of my time with this story.
I say it was my highlight because after the strong opening, I had hoped the game would expand on the mystery and lead to exciting reveals and twists in the narrative. I was wrong. To my dismay, I found there isn’t sufficient focus on the narrative from here. You start a run, have some brief conversations with the main four characters and the voice and that’s virtually it! Some poorly created brief cutscenes occur and there is an overall narrative conclusion to the game which I found frustrating and disappointing. With this game also being billed as inspired by HP Lovecraft, I had hoped for more of his horror elements weaved into the main narrative but bar a twist near the beginning, there isn’t much to write home about.
Along with the main characters that you meet and recruit during your runs, you can also interact and converse with five factions: The Crown, The Rebels, The Church, The Tribe and The Bliss. Again, I had hoped for deep interactions with these factions to learn more about their motives and goals but sadly, I was mistaken. Each faction essentially boils down to a perk-based progression system in which you complete each run to monotonously gain more perks and cards from each faction. This narrative could have been so unique and different to other games on offer but it disappoints. However, there is one area of the story that I truly loved and that is the voice acting. Each character is superbly voiced and each actor should be commended for pouring emotion and heart into the characters as much as they possibly can, despite the constraints of the narrative.
Deck Building Direness
With the way in which the campaign was muddled and misguided, I had hoped for an enjoyable experience with the game’s hack and slash gameplay but sadly, once again, my hopes were in vain. The best way to describe the combat system of Liberté is simple and just far too basic. You have the standard melee attack, a ranged attack and some special abilities, dependent on cards for each character. The problem is each attack is so boring and basic there’s no real variety or fun involved in executing each one. Hades mastered the gameplay loop with its slick movement and innovative design which kept you coming back for more. Liberté left me just plain bored. The dodge mechanic is just terrible in this game, mainly due to the fact you have no stamina so you can infinitely dodge around all the enemies constantly. Bizarrely, the way developers have combated this is to have the enemies so powerful that if you can’t dodge around them, you’ll be dead in 2 to 3 hits. Also, Boss fights felt incredibly imbalanced as I felt I would be slogging away for a long time, only to have removed a microscopic amount of health from them. The bosses’ abilities are also bizarre and extremely hard to telegraph, resulting in many deaths to an AOE move which came from nowhere.
Fortunately, it’s not all bad in the gameplay department, in particular the game’s roguelite elements. The amount of cards is impressive, with many different options available to the player from early on. Unique modifiers can be activated which make runs harder but reward you with higher tier gear and more xp to use on your traits and talents. This progression system is well-designed and at least creates replay ability for the player as they mix and match with different cards and traits to cater to their playstyle. It is a shame therefore that the core gameplay loop lets the game down, as all the ingredients you would expect from a roguelite are here. There is one unique addition I feel is worth mentioning, and that is the burning card system. When you level up in a run, you earn multiple cards to use in that specific run but unlike other roguelite games, Liberté requires your magic or mana to consume them. This is thus a cool way of mixing up the forumla, as you have to debate internally which card to use or which card to discard, dependent on your mana levels. The addition of local couch co-op is also welcomed and provides some fun moments playing with a friend.
Empty Chairs At Empty Tables
In terms of graphical presentation, it’s a mixed bag – a common theme I keep returning to for the overall game. Liberté looks and feels last generation in many ways, with low res environments taking away atmosphere from the story and narrative, looking ugly at times. In contrast, in areas like the hub, certain locations look stunning and overflowing with colour and detail and it’s clear the developers have focused on key areas compared to others. With parts of the game taking place at night or underground, the lighting is serviceable and helps to create some tension in those areas. What truly strikes you in the game’s presentation is the art style. The images of the characters during dialogue look stunning and, for me, are the best part of presentation. They look so unique and ripped straight out of a book or comic. Finally, stiff animations for both player and enemies help round out a truly jumbled experience of the game’s presentation.
Conversely, sound presentation and score are highlights for Liberté. Each sword swing clangs beautifully off enemies’ armour or clothing. Enemies snarl monstrously, whilst you hack and slash your way through with the sound design heightening your desperation as your run goes deeper and deeper. As previously mentioned, the voice acting in this game is superb and I truly longed for more conversations with the characters so that I could hear these actors pour life into them – a brilliant job with limited tools for the cast to work with. Similarly, the score for the game is beautiful, conveying the essence of the French revolution era, with great results. The classical score ramps up during boss fights to make them more cinematic and frantic, with the atmospheric music roaring in the background. The developers nailed the sound design and presentation and they should be commended for their efforts in this area.
Verdict
Liberté could have been the latest great game in the golden era of roguelites with its unique setting and interesting premise. Sadly, a story that falls by the wayside almost instantly, basic, yet frustrating gameplay design and at times ugly environments stop this game from reaching its potential. Superb sound design, voice acting and score help soften the blow to a certain extent but I’m left wondering what truly could have been. I’m going back to Hades!
