Sephiria Review
TEAM HORAY’s Sephiria pairs snappy top-down combat with a strategic inventory system that rewards shrewd build choices.
Sephiria. Credit: TEAM HORAY
TEAM HORAY’s Sephiria is a delightful top-down action roguelite. Its responsive combat is satisfying on its own, while its inventory system adds a level of depth that had me paying more attention to my builds than I usually do in games like these.
As a young bunny, you get a vision that your woodland town is destined to be destroyed and all your neighbors slaughtered. You become a warrior and delve into the inverse tower in the middle of town to find a way to stop the prophecy from becoming reality. It’s a simple setup and more than enough to push things forward in a game where the story doesn’t matter much. Progression sometimes triggers events that add new features through tasks in the village, like an early one that has you repair your house.
Combat feels responsive and snappy. An expanding arsenal of six weapons you can pick from in town establishes your playstyle for a run. Each behaves differently, with unique special attacks, and can change significantly based on upgrades you apply mid-run. The heavy greatsword and its spinning attack feel completely different from the light, ranged crossbow, especially once upgrades like poison damage come into play. Both are equally rewarding. I switched weapons constantly because it was fun. Fights get chaotic as you face more enemies at a time, yet the excellent visual design keeps everything readable. I never felt like I was moving around haphazardly just because the screen got busy.
Sephiria. Credit: TEAM HORAY
Artifacts you get as level rewards or buy slot into your inventory to add buffs and automatic attacks. The game’s large pool gave me plenty to experiment with, and the inventory system makes each choice more consequential. Artifacts slot into spaces on a grid alongside tablets that raise or lower the levels granted by slots relative to the tablet’s position. The inventory puzzle doesn’t rely on size, since each item occupies a single space, but on careful placement to boost the levels of the most useful artifacts. Artifacts also have archetypes that reward specialization, so stacking effects from the same category can be more valuable than swapping in whatever new thing you find. I paid closer attention to my choices than I often do in roguelites, and there’s a deep satisfaction in the power you get from optimizing your layout.
Metaprogression upgrades feel significant. An upgrade tree where you unlock nodes using a special currency adds new artifacts, stat upgrade points, and more. The stat points can be reassigned between different traits in a separate UI, making it easy to optimize your spread.
I love the game’s small, chunky pixel art. Character and enemy designs and animations pack in a ton of personality despite the diminutive scale. The environments have a lot of detail thanks to excellent use of texture, shadow, and limited lighting effects, with black outlines used only when readability between elements demands it. Destroyable objects and plants you can cut down give the environments a little more life, though the world still feels fairly static.
Sephiria. Credit: TEAM HORAY
Sephiria is an excellent roguelite that deserves its current “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam. The game’s fantastic playfeel, palpable progression, and charming art kept me playing, but the true star is the strategic inventory system. It’s an inventive addition that made me consider each run more carefully and adds a lot of depth to what otherwise might be a straightforward top-down action game.
Sephiria
Sephiria is an excellent action roguelite, with a strategic inventory system that gives its fast, responsive combat considerably more depth.
TEAM HORAY’s Sephiria pairs snappy top-down combat with a strategic inventory system that rewards shrewd build choices.