It’s nothing new in the rogue-like titles that the forces of the living mortals takes on those who occupy the underworld, we have seen that before with most games of that category especially with the growing increase of popular titles. However, developer SouthPAW Games offered an alternative approach which still has the theme as a basis, but redirects how you would expect the story to be told.
Instead, the game’s focused story falls behind the footsteps of titular protagonist ‘skul’, a animated skeleton who’s the last of his undead kind that was not captured and imprisoned like the rest. Now the boney main character is left with a journey to take on his fleshy foes and help free the caged demonic allies.
Beyond the plot that breaks tropes of pretentious storytelling in the genre, the same can also be said regarding the gameplay once the controller is in your hands. The demo commencing in the Demon King’s castle, Skul equipped only with a skeletal appendage jumps from the scene above the clouds down to the mortal plane and initiates the first passage of his long journey ahead of the story’s protagonist.

Introduced to the combat, the control scheme while framed easy to understand also is adaptable to understand when in the ruff of an encounter. The game plays smooth which is a plus seeing how fast the character can move among the foes he’ll face throughout the playthrough. Offering simple attacks varied by air strikes when jumping is the core gameplay. However, the amount to do is also accompanied by a special which the player can reach after a certain amount of time is met.
Abilities are provided through certain skulls which the player can bounce between when stumbling upon. In the full game, you will have the opportunity to juggle two which is fair yet still troubling to give a challenge when playing further into the game. At certain points of the demo, you will approach idling chests that when opened will offer a new skull which of course gives the player different abilities whilst altering Skul’s appearance which complements also.
With my hands-on, I discovered roughly five different skulls honing unique abilities and attire that dressed the main character. Ranging from a spear-wielding suit of armor, chain-swinging biker with a flaming head, razor-clawed werewolf, knife-throwing jester, and heavy-handed brute are just some of the few that are offered in the base game. Given the chance to play each provided a diverse experience which ultimately kept the game from going stale.
When playing, you will also stumble upon different items that can be utilized in battle. That alongside quintessence which is essentially summoning magic to change direction of battle. When you die, you will respawn at the Demon King’s castle, but speaking to one of the minions will provide a menu to upgrade traits to better your outcome the next time around.

The setting of the first segment of the game that was available to demo was beautifully colored and sheds in-detail pixel art adding depth that works well on the eye. The cliffs, trees, ambient skies, and desolate stone structures paint the composition to be very engaging while still only holding a simple arrangement for a background. The world is also destructible which you will notice almost instantly when scouring the lands of the living. The smaller details is always something that should be noted even if not entirely necessary to be implemented.
Even more, witnessing how appealing the world is regarding the amount of detail that is injected into the game, you would keep a keen eye for potential game stuttering. Especially with how much damage will be dealt to the littered props in the background that can be demolished, that is not the case for Skul: The Hero Slayer. Instead, the game shows to still preserve its performance integrity which does not lessen or disenfranchise the overall experience when playing.
Unlike may showcased independently developed titles at PAX East, SouthPAW Games’ title is already available on Steam via Early Access. The team ensures more is scheduled to be added while in this phase of the development, offering three story chapters, 20 gameplay changing skulls, and characterizing foes/bosses & mini-bosses.
You can purchase Skul: The Hero Slayer on the game’s Steam page for $14.39 thanks to the timed launch discount for 20%. The developer project the full version to arrive sometime in Q2 2020; pricing has yet been decided for the complete base game.