Maid of Salvation Review
Orange Popcorn’s latest features responsive, high-speed Soulslike combat.
Maid of Salvation. Credit: Orange Popcorn
Maid of Salvation from Orange Popcorn is a fast-paced, top-down action RPG. If you overlook the story, you’ll have a fantastic time slashing up monsters with its Dark Souls meets Devil May Cry meets Zelda gameplay.
The game’s story is silly and poorly written, delivered flatly through dialogue by uninteresting, carbon-copy NPCs. It’s something about warriors who save lost souls in purgatory, but all the warriors are maids, in maid outfits. Here it is, straight from the devs:
"Shizuka, a maid of purgatory, fights to bring salvation to lost souls.
Entrusted with a special mission from the Sanctuary’s Overseer, she crosses the portal into a Purgatory overrun by Fiends.
Yet as her journey unfolds, Shizuka begins to realize that the salvation she believed in—and the truth of this world—is far more twisted than she ever imagined..."
Maid of Salvation. Credit: Orange Popcorn
Moving past that, the game feels great to play. As Shizuka, you explore maze-like dungeons, occasionally solving puzzles to progress, as you hack and slash waves of monsters along the way. The combat is somewhere between Devil May Cry and Dark Souls, with speedy melee and ranged guns, powerful mana-consuming special moves, surprise backstabbing, a stamina system, and dodge-guard-parry mechanics. The feel of combat changes slightly depending on the weight of your weapon, but all are equally viable and are fun to use. I found some of the puzzles obtuse, with no environmental hints as to a solution, but it may have been my fault for not paying attention to the dialogue.
I only have two minor qualms with the combat. First, you can only backstab enemies when they’re standing still. Second, and most importantly, the mana gauge only refills by landing hits on enemies or consuming items. There are times when you’re powerful enough to take down enemies too quickly to gain much mana. It would have helped to refill the mana gauge over time, even if very slowly, just to give you an easy way to pull off the specials you occasionally must do to open up paths forward.
Maid of Salvation. Credit: Orange Popcorn
The leveling system will be familiar to anyone with some Soulslike experience. Each level you assign to one of four stats requires an increasing number of Karma points, which you drop on death. In addition, each level you gain rewards you with stones used to unlock nodes on a skill tree that boost specific abilities, amount of healing provided by the flask equivalent, defense, and the like. As long as you keep up with levels and equipment upgrades, the challenge level is relatively low, at least on a first playthrough, especially against regular enemies. Bosses provide a greater test of your skill, because they can destroy you quickly if you get careless. I didn’t try New Game+.
Quests assigned by the various NPCs add some spice with additional goals, but most can be completed by just playing the game. Some quests may have had to do with the game’s story. I couldn’t really tell you, since I stopped paying attention to any text very, very quickly. At least you earn some valuable items, gear, and upgrade material rewards.
Maid of Salvation. Credit: Orange Popcorn
The game’s graphics resemble something you might see on the PlayStation 2 or PSP. Environments and models aren’t detailed, looking chunky even with the camera hovering far above the action. The enemies and bosses have some interesting though not very memorable designs. However, Shizuka and the rest of the maids look similar enough to be interchangeable. Visual effects such as particle explosions and slashes help give your hits power and add weight to the combat. The visual style seems more like a budgetary necessity than a creative decision, but I can forgive it because the game is so much fun.
If you can ignore the story and world, Maids of Salvation is a great time. Fluid combat and engaging dungeons make it a game worth playing for a nice, quick fix for your Soulslike action-RPG addiction.
Maids of Salvation is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 7/10
Played on: Steam Deck
