Unto The End

Unto the End combines hack-and-slash side scrolling with cinematic platforming, as well as a wonderful art style, to create one of 2020s most unforgettable gaming experiences. Taking a totally curatorial approach to game design, indie devs 2 Ton Studios proudly boast that every instance in Unto the End is carefully crafted to fit neatly into the game’s harsh and barren world.

Journey Onward

You play an unknown man on the search for his family. In the desolate wasteland that Unto the End is set in, you’ll traverse damp caverns, long, snowy hillsides, and you’ll battle your way through plenty of enemies in the hope to find your loved ones.

Taking many philosophical leanings from games like Dark Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Unto the End promises a combat and story experience that doesn’t hold the player’s hand. Players will need to evaluate each situation carefully if they hope to survive, and they will need to hedge their bets on whether someone is a friend or foe. Not all the NPCs in Unto the End are hostile, but neither are they all friendly.

Master Swordsman

Unlike many games, where abilities are unlocked after leveling up, filling out skill trees, or spending skill points, Unto the End supplies you with all of the fighting mechanics from the get-go. There’s a beautiful mix of complexity and simplicity in this. While the game’s combat is easy to get a basic understanding of at the start of the game, players will need to use the system in skillful and creative ways to get through the game’s unique enemy encounters.

In fact, in some encounters you don’t need to fight at all. Players can simply choose to sheathe their weapon if they wish to appear unthreatening (with the risk that their enemy might get the first strike). These choices are very basic game mechanics, but they slot into the game world effortlessly, and they present a multitude of choices in each and every enemy encounter.

For instance, one troll prince doesn’t need to be killed in order to progress. If players approach with their weapon raised, the monster will attack. Approach less threateningly, and he’ll kneel and provide you with a gift. This encounter also includes repercussions after the fact, as the prince’s brothers will attack you later if you do choose to take him down—just another way the game explores actions and consequences in a streamlined and stripped back manner.

Be Careful

Sometimes the enemies aren’t what players need to be on alert for. Sometimes the environment can be just as deadly. Players learn this early on in the cavernous early stages of the game's introduction, and the precarious nature of the snowy environments reinforce a slow, methodical approach to progressing through the game.

Players quickly learn the hard way that running through the stage as fast as you can will usually just get you killed. Just like in Dark Souls, players need to have a keen eye on environmental cues to either avoid being killed, or use the environment to their advantage to take down their foes with greater ease.

PROS

• Wonderful combat system
• Hand-crafted enemy encounters with different combat options
• Amazing sound design

CONS

• Very difficult
• Unforgiving