Sony's October 2021 State of Play didn't pull any punches with its opening. The very first trailer it revealed was for Deathverse: Let It Die, a new game from GungHo. Deathverse is a new battle royale set in the universe of 2016's Let It Die, a survival action-RPG with roguelike elements by GungHo and Suda51's Grasshopper Manufacture. In spite of that connection, Deathverse seems pretty independent conceptually. Taking place hundreds of years after the events of Let It Die, Deathverse drops players into a gory battle royale TV show called Death Jamboree that's hosted by a glitzy character called Bryan Zemeckis and former Jamboree victor Queen B.
It's suprising to see Let It Die become a franchise, but it's certainly a win for fans of the original game. However, that's not all it will take for Deathverse to be a success. While the new game's trailer is eye-catching, it doesn't explain Deathverse's core mechanics in much detail, and those it does show aren't groundbreaking. Although Deathverse: Let It Die has a solid aesthetic, the battle royale genre is so flush with games right now that it really has to push some boundaries if it wants to be a hit.
Deathverse: Let It Die Borrows Everything at Once
Deathverse seems to unite a ton of mechanics from different battle royales in an attempt to bring something new to the genre. For instance, Deathverse features PvPvE gameplay in which Zemeckis will sometimes spawn enemies onto the map that hunt down human players. While that's a good way to mix up a battle royale, it's also not particularly new. Fortnite has tried its hand at throwing NPC enemies at players multiple times, and smaller battle royales like Scavengers use PvPvE as a core selling point.
Another selling point for Deathverse is crafting. Between rounds of the game, players can upgrade and unlock weapons to take into battle, designating a unique playstyle for themselves. The crafting sounds like a nice element for Deathverse, but it's also not so different from the crafting-centric Realm Royale or Warzone's system of equipping perks. Aside from these advertised parts of Deathverse, it generally looks like a high-flying and explosive battle royale where players might have abilities to use in battle, but then fast-paced hero-centric titles like Apex Legends have covered that ground too. Lots of Deathverse's central elements look somewhat new, but not new enough to wholly distinguish itself in a crowded market.
Deathverse's Personality Could Support It
The one thing that really sets Deathverse apart from its peers is its aesthetic. While Apex Legends is a battle royale with hosts as well, the specific look and personality of Deathverse's hosts might go a long way. The grinning, unctuous Bryan Zemeckis and excitable Queen B really ground Deathverse: Let It Die in a decadent world where elites and sinister forces collaborate to turn bloodsport into high-brow entertainment. If Deathverse's maps and NPC enemies reflect that lore, the game might develop a strong enough personality to compete with the battle royale market.
Ultimately, the devil is in the details for Deathverse: Let It Die. If it wants to break the battle royale market open, then it needs to do everything it can to show how it's distinct from Apex Legends, Fortnite, Warzone, and so on. If it can't provide something truly distinct, it will probably struggle to find a playerbase. As a PlayStation exclusive, it has to work even harder to win over users, since other consoles' battle royale fanbases are inaccessible. Deathverse won't release for a few more months, so there's still time for GungHo and Supertrick Games to reveal some details that establish a wholly unique identity for the game.
Deathverse: Let It Die releases spring 2022 for PS4 and PS5.