Godfall Deserved So Much More

From launch to forgotten in eight seconds

Alex Rowe
6 min readAug 26, 2023
The Godfall Logo.
Xbox Series S screenshot taken by the author.

Remember Godfall? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. It’s an action RPG that first launched alongside the PS5 back in 2020, and its hype got totally swallowed by the lavish remake of a little game called Demon’s Souls.

It shares a similar camera perspective and fundamental gameplay style with From Software’s seminal action franchise but adds in a healthy dash of Diablo loot for good measure. It also tried to push the PS5 as hard as any launch window title could, with the shiniest visuals that Unreal Engine could manage at the time and extensive use of the DualSense controller’s haptic features.

The game landed with a soft wet thud, barely managing a 61 on Metacritic, and quickly vanishing from the minds of PS5 ARPG fans who were more than served by the phenomenal Demon’s Souls remake. In a release window where it could have stood by itself, I’d argue that its beautiful production values alone would have elevated its score into the seventies, but it’s really hard to stand toe-to-toe with one of the coolest games ever made.

The shiny main hub of Godfall.
Xbox Series S screenshot taken by the author.

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Alex Rowe

Commentary about Games, Audio, and Music | In my past professional lives I edited audio and wrote for a computer magazine.