Between trailers, Valorplate reveals, and hands-on previews, fans already have a good idea of how Godfall is going to play, even if the specific feel from PS5's haptic feedback remains to be experienced by the general public. The tight, fast paced combat has led many to believe that the game will play similarly to Dark Souls, with punishing difficulty and an emphasis on frame-perfect dodging, blocking, and parrying.
A new look at Godfall shows off one of these Souls-like boss fights, but one detail of the fight might hint that Counterplay Games is going for a more accessible experience than its influencers. The fight itself does look like it holds onto the brutal difficulty that Dark Souls fans are accustomed to, with the accessibility coming from how the game tracks progression across multiple attempts after dying.
Revealed in ITmedia NEWS' video, it's clear that Godfall's combat mechanics do lend themselves to difficult boss fights, where a few poorly timed dodges or greedy attacks can easily lead to a death. However, dying doesn't necessarily seem to mean starting over from the beginning in Godfall, thanks to the boss' two different life bars: one for health and one for shields. While a death will cause the boss' health to regenerate, the same does not apply for the shields, meaning that no progress will be lost on the second life bar when a player inevitably dies in early runs through the fight.
From the way this mechanic is shown in the preview, it seems as though this might turn what may otherwise be a long, drawn-out boss fight into a series of attempts where players are expected to die regularly. As far as these Souls-like titles generally go, this is a fairly uncommon mechanic, allowing players to keep their progress against the boss between deaths, likely making the experience somewhat easier. However, as the Godfall gameplay footage shows, players will still have to overcome the health bar all in one go, keeping that difficult edge that fans enjoy about these games in the finale of the fight.
With Godfall ready for the PS5's release, fans will be ready to finally get their hands on the game soon, making these gameplay demos all the more important to prime players before launch. Especially considering the game's status as a selling point for Sony's Next-Gen console, going with a more accessible approach than the average Souls-like could help it attract as many players as possible. On the other hand, fans of the genre shouldn't be too concerned, as the fight itself still looks like a decent challenge with or without the persistent shield bar.
Godfall is set to release on November 12th, for PC and PS5.