Duil Review
Perhaps replay Dead Cells instead of this lackluster clone.
Duil. Credit: JL Studio
Duil, from developer JL Studio, offers a competent, if unremarkable, take on the side-scrolling action-RPG formula of Dead Cells. It plays like a less polished, slower version of that game.
The game’s story follows Duil, an immortal protagonist who escapes captivity to seek vengeance against Vezruvil, who destroyed the kingdom of Targat and executed Duil’s family. The story is a bit cliché, but it earns points for weird character encounters and the moral choice scenes, which add unexpected flavor.
Duil. Credit: JL Studio
The moral choice scenes present binary decisions that determine the fate of characters in the scene, and in turn, whether you receive runes or nothing, shaping both immediate rewards and the eventual ending. For example, one scene has you decide whether to let a confession of infidelity from a husband fall into his wife’s hands, while another has you decide whether to save a boy who will fall off a branch while trying to rescue his cat. Some of these are more grey than others.
The game is entirely linear. Each level is a maze, usually with a single exit, that only becomes accessible once you unlock it by dropping a bridge, finding items, and the like. Doorways in the levels lead to small to medium-sized sub-areas housing NPC encounters, bonuses, or challenges. Boss fights punctuate progression every few levels, but don't provide real challenge.
Duil. Credit: JL Studio
Combat resembles a sluggish Dead Cells. Attacks lack fluidity, and the dodge mechanic is frustrating. Color-coded abilities map to different buttons, the most common being red melee and blue ranged attacks, while most others are limited-use abilities that discouraged me from experimentation, thanks to their finite nature, which isn’t very fun.
If you do die, you lose a single item and get sent to a purgatory—a large, featureless maze with a single exit. Perhaps the choice is thematically relevant, but from a game design perspective, it’s irritating and tedious. It only serves to delay getting back into the game; it feels like a punishment. In terms of things that aren’t fun, this is worse than the limited-use abilities.
Duil. Credit: JL Studio
Magic affinities appear randomly on weapons or attacks you find. These occasionally break corresponding barriers—walls, statues, and chests—for bonus loot. Grey items modify stats; most of these, along with the attacks, are upgradable at any time if you have enough gold. I constantly found myself managing my inventory. Items dropped almost too frequently, and I often felt unsure of which was truly the better one to keep. I would have preferred fewer, but more meaningful, upgrades.
Visually, Duil embraces its gothic darkness but remains a bit dull. The environments, while appropriately gloomy, are repetitive; you'll traverse countless identical hallways with little detail to distinguish them. Enemy designs are grotesque, but the execution sometimes felt messy despite the fluid animation. Duil himself is memorable for the wrong reasons. His design is plain compared to all of the creatures you fight, but you’ll never forget his garish magenta cloak. At least it pops from the background.
Duil. Credit: JL Studio
Duil is a competent but unpolished sidescrolling roguelike that just made me want to replay Dead Cells. It recalls many of that game’s best ideas, but fails at the crucial task of making the game feel truly great to play.
Duil is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 4/10
Played on: Steam Deck
