Witchfire feels like it’s just a smidgeon away from being unfair more often than not, thanks in no small part to the difficulty increasing disproportionately to your actual improvements. Making it out alive involves some serious risk-reward decisions, and while I appreciate the learning curve, this is one area that seems like it could benefit from some balance adjustments. They are, understandably, not pleased about that and send even deadlier foes to make sure your expedition ends.

Harvesting Witchfire, the game’s eponymous resource, improves your attributes, but it also alerts the local witch to your growing power.

You power up at your own peril in Witchfire. There’s a much deeper and more interesting network of systems under all of that, though, and it’s where Witchfire’s unique identity and identity crisis come from.įor starters, it’s one of the most innovative roguelites I’ve played in ages thanks to how it turns the genre’s core ideas on their head. Witchfire looks like a demonic fusion of existing ideas on the surface, with its roguelike structure, Soulslike challenge, and Darkest Dungeon-like flourishes. Witchfire is one of those games that just feels good to play, but there’s a bit of a problem with its main idea: You’re actively encouraged not to engage with one of its key features. I spent a while with it and came away with mixed feelings. Witchfire from The Astronauts is in early access after six years of development, an ambitious roguelite-slash-Soulslike-slash a few other things thrown in for good measure.

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