MythForce is a stunning roguelike RPG that uses a Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic. Is this combination a winning one? Read our review on the game and find out whether it's worth your attention and money.
MythForce Review and Score Explanation
MythForce Score Explanation
| Overall | If you want to play with friends and hack through dungeons, MythForce is a fun one to pick up. It offers an equal dose of roguelite and RPG gameplay that is easy to get a hang of. The game can either be a satisfying and addictive experience or a completely repetitive and tedious one, depending on the player. |
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| Story | The game’s story is simple; MythForce is a band of champions brought together by Victoria to journey to the Castle of Evil and stop the vampire lord Daedalus from taking over the world. The game is not as narrative-driven as I thought it’d be, especially since they talk so much about being influenced by Saturday morning cartoons, but there were barely any plot developments to keep track of. It’s a bit of a disappointment as they could have fleshed out the classic cast of heroes they have, but I guess to be fair, it is a game that highlights dungeon crawling. |
| Gameplay | Kill enemies, loot items, upgrade and level up. Those are the main things you’ll find yourself doing in MythForce and it’s a pretty straightforward gameplay loop. The game is heavy on grinding for XP and farming, which tends to make playing feel repetitive. However, I liked the difficulty scaling in MythForce. As you go through each chapter, the enemies get tankier and more varied, survival encounters become more intense, and each level’s boss presents its own unique challenge. |
| Visuals | MythForce is a visually captivating game, even more so during animated cutscenes. The aesthetic imbues that Masters of the Universe feel, and I was impressed that the color grading shared the same certain distinctness found in vintage comic books. |
| Audio | There are unfortunately only a handful of voice lines in MythForce, and more often than not, I’d hear the same dialogue repeated between the characters. The voice acting, though, is great and added flavor to each hero. Sometimes, I get funny interactions when I play with other players on the same hero, like when I had another Maggie on the team. Maggie having conversations with,, as she refers to them, "Other Maggie" and "Evil Maggie" added a comical flair. |
| Value for Money | MythForce is a decent game for $29.99. It's an enjoyable game to play with other people, and appeals to those who enjoy a grindy roguelite. |
MythForce Review: A Polarizing Stunner
MythForce charms with super polished cartoon art style, fun music, and colorful characters. It's a fun roguelite that has lots of room for potential. The gameplay loop of dungeon crawling and looting felt repetitive, but rewards were always high in each run and that made playing addictive especially as you turn towards upgrading your hero and weapons. If you’re the type of person who enjoys the long grind for leveling up, I’ll say you won’t easily tire of MythForce.
Playing solo tended to get boring especially in the first 4 episodes. But I found myself having a lot of fun as more enemy biomes were introduced and dungeon rooms became more punishing as I progressed through each chapter. I felt that the game really picked up by Episode 5, and I started to see the 80’s cartoon chaos that MythForce promised.
While the heroes are all likable and each fun to play, it's hard to form synergies together as a team. I found the gameplay forced me to focus all my attention on managing my ability cooldowns, my stamina, and staying alive; teamplay was the last thing on my mind.
The first-person combat is easy enough to grasp, straightforward, but it lacks any real depth. Meleeing feels a bit clunky, and I started to prefer playing the ranged heroes like Maggie, as they suited the slower-paced, methodic playstyle of the game.
The Energy Points (EP), which serves as the stamina system in the game, offers quite the challenge. I constantly had to time and manage movements as well as the use of abilities. Wisely using the space in the dungeon is a must; it can help you turn the tide in some runs and prevent you from getting overwhelmed by the waves of incoming enemies. Having to manage your EP also makes the repetitive gameplay loop somewhat a bit more engaging and fun.
If you want to play with friends and hack through dungeons, MythForce is a fun one to pick up. I recommend waiting for the game to be updated with more content. I hope to see mini-games that let players farm rare loot, and more cinematic cutscenes, as I felt that MythForce lacked those for something inspired by weekend morning cartoons.
MythForce Full Game Review
Pros of MythForce
| Things MythForce Got Right So Far |
|---|
 Well-balanced Characters Engaging Boss Fights It Gets Increasingly Difficult Abilities and Perks RNG is Exciting |
Well-balanced Characters
Despite the fact that the four heroes are distinct from each other and are of different classes, playing one over the other didn’t put me at any kind of disadvantage or make me feel like I was missing out. Maggie the Mage and Hawkins the Hunter are excellent for ranged combat and utilizes a playstyle that relies on evasion and AoE attacks. Rico and Victoria are better suited for close-quarter combat, with Rico the Rogue perfect for securing kills, and Victoria the Knight fitting the role of the tank.
As I played and progressed through the dungeons, it didn’t feel like one hero better suited any particular level. This means it’s fine to just stick to one hero throughout your runs. And honestly, this makes the cycle of dungeon crawling and looting (plus the deaths) become a lot less frustrating, especially since investing and upgrading one hero fully becomes worth the time and effort.
Engaging Boss Fights
Boss fights definitely provide the funner parts of MythForce. Each big bad presented their own unique set of challenges, demanding that I switch up my playstyle in a flash. Each run through the dungeons could feel a bit repetitive, but during the boss fights, things could go 180º at any moment, and the fighting felt the most engaging during those times.
Going up against Hexstar in chapter 2 was chaotic and challenging. The combination of the room design, Hexstar’s combat style, beam mini-objective, and the endless horde was the perfect recipe to get the most out of the fighting in MythForce.
It Gets Increasingly Difficult
MythForce is surprisingly tough to beat and I felt the jump in difficulty across every 3 chapters. The most notable things are how enemies grew in number, were more frequently resistant to elements, and the combination of tactical and projectile-throwing enemies got deadlier.
Dungeons are composed of tricker rooms that can be quite punishing if you miscalculate your movement around the area. One careless mistake could have you setting off traps or leading a wave of enemies into a narrow dead-end hallway with you.
Trinkets and Perks RNG
You kind of have to wing your build every run as trinkets and perks are randomized all throughout. It adds an element of excitement to every run, as you have to come up with strategies on the spot using the perks you’ve claimed and trinkets you’ve equipped. Trinkets and perks can be upgraded at The Emporium and The Conclave, and investing on these help a lot in the long run, as it assuages the frustration with leveling progress.
Cons of MythForce
| Things That MythForce Can Improve |
|---|
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Dungeon Design Chapter Progression Pacing Comm Channels More Ability Augmentations |
Dungeon Design
Each chapter’s dungeons feel way too similar to each other. While the difficulty increases and maps get more complicated as you go on, I just wish there was more variety to the design of the dungeon. It could use more obstacles other than the statue heads that breathe out status effects and more platforming type areas to get through, especially since verticality in the game is a complete afterthought.
There’s no adventuring aspect in exploring dungeons either; the level design is pretty clear-cut with a start and finish, with several hidden nooks that hide collectibles. The lack of interactivity with the world makes the experience somewhat flat. It would’ve been cool to be able to interact with world objects that provide snippets of lore or give hints about situations to expect in the dungeon.
Chapter Progression Pacing
Chapter progression in MythForce happens fairly quickly, each episode lasting about 40-60 minutes. Clearing dungeons becomes clockwork, and before you know it, a cutscene plays as the intermission to the more difficult next chapter.
It felt jarring to get to the middle part of the game at a single digit level with minimal deaths, even on a solo run. And just as I knew it, I struggled with the jump in difficulty each chapter. This forced me to play through previous episodes. I spent most of my time farming for and working on the character attributes at The Sun Disc before jumping into the next chapter, but by then, I’ve stopped caring about what happened in the cutscenes and the plot, and only wanted to become an overpowered mage and clear dungeons in a single run.
Comms Channels
MythForce desperately needs to add in a way for players to communicate with each other in the game. Just the presence of a text channel would be enough. I get that there’s discord, but in open lobbies matching with random people, there’s just no way to talk with your party. Tagging pings and using the command wheel just don’t cut it in some cases.
Needs More Ability Augmentations
The abilities for each hero are fun and impactful, but there aren’t many options to upgrade them. At most, the game has three augmentations that you can upgrade. I think adding more variety to ability augmentations could add to the fun factor of combat, and allow players to do more with the abilities.
MythForce Overview & Premise
The game lets players use one of the four heroes who make up the MythForce. Players must delve into the dungeons of the land and traverse The Cursed Lands to the Castle of Evil and defeat the vampire lord Daedalus.
Who Should Play MythForce?
MythForce is Recommended if You Enjoy:
• Vampire Survivors
• Nevergrind Online
You should check out MythForce if you enjoy roguelite games. Players who live for the grind and get a kick out of investing their time in leveling up would find MythForce right up their alley. It offers a light and fun experience and will have you gnawing on your fingernails, hoping that you don’t die from a random projectile.
Is MythForce Worth It?
Lower Your Expectations or Wait For More Content
MythForce is a decent game for its price point. It doesn’t necessarily bring anything revolutionary to the table and falls a bit short in combat, but it does pack that cartoony chaotic fun as the game gets increasingly difficult to the end.
It ultimately suffers from repetitiveness in level design, so it’s probably better to wait for more content to be added to truly get a kick out of the game. Three additional Mythic difficulty modes can be unlocked, but apart from yielding more items and glyphs, and generating more enemies in rooms, they don’t offer anything new.
MythForce definitely has a good foundation to build on. Hopefully, if they add more in-game content in the future, I might just see myself coming back to rip this game up again on the computer.
How MythForce Matches Up to Recently-Released Games
| Games That Came Out Recently | Why Get MythForce? | Why Get the Other Game? |
|---|---|---|
 Thunder Ray |
MythForce is one of those games you won’t quit on simply because farming gets addictive and motivating. If you’re looking to spend hours away on a game, then play MythForce. | Thunder Ray is more suited for quick gaming sessions. And if you’re looking for a game that requires timing and precision, then go for this game instead. |
 Sea of Stars |
Those looking for mindless, gritty fun should pick up MythForce. The mechanics in each mode become more unforgiving, and while much of the game’s difficulty can be attributed to that, oddly enough, that might make you compelled enough to outsmart and beat the game. | Players who are looking for an RPG experience should look into this game instead. Although the total number of hours to finish Sea of Stars might not be a lot, it’s still an enjoyable game with exciting exploration adventures and solid turn-based gameplay. |
How MythForce Matches Up to Similar Games
| Games Similar to MythForce | Why Get MythForce? | Why Get the Other Game? |
|---|---|---|
 Cult of the Lamb |
You’ll find yourself spending a lot of time dungeon crawling to obtain items. Slower-paced but gets increasingly challenging which serves as a huge motivation to constantly upgrade your character. Recommended for those who want a balanced roguelite and RPG gameplay. | Cult of the Lamb lets you create a cult of lambs. It is both eerie and cute, it’s basically Animal Crossing meets dungeon crawling. Nice and short, but packs a punch with the game mechanics and bizarre humor. Perfect for those wanting to play a colony builder with some roguelite elements. |
 Ember Knights |
Definitely recommended for those who are into games where it takes multiple defeats and many hours before progressing. | If you prefer fast-paced combat, open spaces, and speedy hack slash runs, then Ember Knights might be better suited for you. |
MythForce Trailers
MythForce Announcement Trailer
MythForce Gameplay Trailer
MythForce Launch Trailer
MythForce Product Information
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| Title | MYTHFORCE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 12, 2023 |
| Developer | Aspyr |
| Supported Platforms | Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, RPG, Multiplayer, Roguelike |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | Teen |
| Official Website | MythForce Official Website |
