I’ll be honest, I wasn’t supposed to be doing this Cultist Simulator review. Initially, I requested the key for another of my writers, but unfortunately due to an issue with the region for the code, she wasn’t able to redeem it. Therefore, the responsibility fell to me, and I had to dust off my PS4 despite usually being an Xbox girlie. Fortunately, it was a game I’d been tempted by anyway, so I was eager to give it a try.
Cultist Simulator is a roguelike narrative deck-builder where you have to form a cult whilst also taking care of your body and finances, and evading detection. I’m a huge fan of the roguelite genre, and figured I’d enjoy this despite it being a roguelike. Ohhh, what a difference one little letter can make. This is a complex game that’ll frustrate you to no end, but is it still worth playing? Read on to find out my thoughts!
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Story – An Engaging Tale of Deception and Intrigue
One place where Cultist Simulator really shines is with the writing. The spelling and grammar are both impeccable, and all the sentences flow beautifully. This is fortunate, since story is a big part of the experience. Since it’s a roguelike, each run is somewhat different, although due to the limitations of the game (which I’ll discuss later), there are often large similarities between runs. This means you get very familiar with certain aspects of the story, and it’s exciting learning more.
Depending on your choices, you’ll be playing as different characters. However, one thing remains constant… You want to start a cult. Amidst a dystopian setting of austerity, you gather loyal followers and try to win them to your side. You can choose the lore of your cult, and there are many tomes for you to get acquainted with. Whilst sadly you can’t actually read the books in your possession, you learn more about their contents through snippets of flavour text.
The setting is explained primarily through words rather than images, and you can really immerse yourself in the story. It’s a shame that you constantly get reset, as I’d want to be more invested in the storylines.
Gameplay – Get Your Affairs in Order, Dearie
Be warned, Cultist Simulator is not for the faint-hearted. This game is HARD. There are so many metrics to balance, and you only have limited resources. Add the time constraints on top of it, and you’re in a constant battle against death, despair, and detection. You have to be switched on at all times, always being aware of the potential threats.
Not only do you need to make sure that you keep all 4 of your main stats above 0, but you also need to hold on to cards like Health or Contentment in case they’re needed to put off threats that you encounter as events during the game. There’s simply so much to stay on top of, especially as there are multiple areas requiring your attention, such as Work, Study, Dream, Explore, and more.
You also need to make the time to forge an influential cult on top of merely surviving. With your spare resources, you can discover lore, recruit new followers, and even engage in rituals to elevate your followers through the ranks. It’s pretty exciting finding new hirelings and raising them to positions of status. My favourite part of having a cult was choosing our lore, and conducting ceremonies for the followers.
Figuring Out the Rules
In Cultist Simulator‘s defence, it was very upfront about the fact that there’s no tutorial. It advertises itself as requiring you to figure out the rules yourself. I just didn’t fully appreciate what a complex process this would be. It explains literally nothing. When you start your first game, it just throws you right in there. You’re given your starting cards, and then categories pop up. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I was just basically button-mashing, selecting cards at random, trying to work out what on Earth was going on. Needless to say, I died pretty quickly.
After a couple of runs, I had the basics down. I’d worked out that the cards were how I interacted with the world and that they influenced my choices. I know this sounds obvious, but it’s not. There is zero explanation as to what the cards do, so it took a while to learn exactly how they interacted with the various categories. However, sometimes I wouldn’t be able to play the card I wanted to, and it took a while for me to discover the ‘Eligible’ tab, which made decisions so much easier.
However, I still found myself dying, seemingly for no reason. I was so confused, as I thought I was doing a good job of keeping on top of my stats. Then I discovered that there was a secondary screen where you manage your cult! I hadn’t even noticed it at first since it’s not displayed, and you have to navigate to it with the d-pad (and let’s be real, who uses the d-pad these days?). So all this time that I thought I was making important decisions, my cult had been running in the background with no input from me… Oops!
The Frustration is Real
My least favourite part of Cultist Simulator is how you barely have time to appreciate the experience before the run is over. Now, it could be that I just suck, but I really don’t think it’s that. I love deck-builders and have lots of experience with them, so at the very least I’d say I represent the average player. What I actually think it is, is that you need to put several hours into the game until you get to a level where you’re able to balance all the metrics perfectly, and even then, it’d require some luck. Looking online, it seems like it can take people a good 30-50 hours to get a single successful run, so I’m not gonna beat myself up for striking out after 4 hours.
In the end I did just give up, as I couldn’t take the stress of it anymore. I also realised I wasn’t enjoying myself. Don’t get me wrong, the gameplay can be fun, but with the roguelike nature, it becomes repetitive. I really wish you got something after each run. Perhaps like a stat point to boost you in the next run, or extra cards. As it is, you just choose from the same 4 to 5 starting professions, and go back to a run that for the most part feels very similar. I wish there was some kind of easy mode where you could dodge death once per run or something. It’s just so frustrating not being able to progress when you want to learn more about the story.
Audio and Visuals – Subtle Immersion
Many deck-builders will showcase a world that you get to navigate through, and the cards are accessible within that world. Not here. In Cultist Simulator, the cards are the world. You see a table with all your cards on, and then little drawings of settings are visible on the left when you select a scenario. This actually works surprisingly well. I found myself filling in the blanks using my own imagination, and it helped me feel more immersed. The drawings fit the gloomy, dark vibe of the game. The cards themselves are very simplistic, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just means it’s easy to recognise them based on their appearance.
The music has an eerie, otherworldly tone to it. It’s captivating and creepy at the same time, and absolutely fits the vibe. It was expertly created, and I love how it changes depending on what you’re doing in the game at the time. It becomes more urgent when you’re close to death, for example. The sound effects also add immersion to the experience, with a gentle tick as the time goes forwards.
Overall, even though neither stand out particularly, both the audio and the visuals work incredibly well for the game.
Verdict
I’m going to judge the outcome of this Cultist Simulator review on the merits of the game, rather than my personal experience. I have to recognise that my personal preferences are not the only thing that determine how good a game is, and that not everyone will have the same lack of patience that I do. Whilst I don’t necessarily recommend this, as I expect it won’t suit a lot of people, there will be others who will love it. As such, my score reflects how I think it would be seen by its target audience.
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Cultist Simulator (PS4)
£19.99
Pros
- Incredibly well-written story elements
- Plenty of cards to discover
- Beautiful and immersive soundtrack
Cons
- Runs don't feel productive a lot of the time
- Difficult to get to grips with
- Can get boring relatively quickly
