The Last Oricru

More fun than Starfield

The Last Oricru is a cynical attempt at a Dark Souls successor. So many aspects of the game fall short to capture the same thrills within the series and its other imitators. With unsatisfying gameplay, a cliche-ridden story, and poor graphics, The Last Oricru is a difficult game to recommend.

The result is a game that, despite the notable effort put forth into its writing and storytelling, is constantly dragged down by technical issues and an unrefined combat system.

The Last Oricru is a masterpiece of bad design. When a game has to warn its players not to invest in half the available skill points because they’re worthless, you know you’ve got something special, and that’s what Oricru is - special. It’s so profoundly wrong it deserves to be studied, dissected, remembered for years. Its creators should tour universities and give talks about their artistic philosophies so future generations can learn how never to make a videogame. If you’d told me aliens had developed it, I’d struggle to argue, such is the incomprehensible absurdity on display.

The Last Oricru is a souls-lite title with a strong RPG edge. Furthermore, it has a dry sense of humour, a rich story, and interesting characters. However, poor acting, tainted visuals, and repetitive combat hold it back. Accordingly, you may wish to look elsewhere to get your Soulsborne hit.

I wanted to like The Last Oricru very much, I was intrigued by the fish out of water story, but the abrasiveness of the main character and the basic feeling combat just killed it for me. There is a case here for a strong presentation, the vistas and some of the levels were a joy to explore, also the fact that the game kept what felt like a solid 60 fps was a big plus in this ‘next-gen’ age but there was always something just keeping me from really enjoying myself. Be it the so-so story, the wasted use of souls mechinics or just Silver himself, sadly The Last Oricru just doesn’t add anything new to the genre.

The Last Oricru was a very ambitious idea, and in its final form, it is not exactly a failure, but compared to other games in its genre, it cannot defend its name well enough. The constant technical difficulties, the cumbersome combat system, and the poorly told story are blows that a knowledgeable player can't shake.

Having said all that, despite the fun that co-op brings, it isn’t enough to turn The Last Oricru into a recommendation, unfortunately. The amateur-hour writing and uneven combat are just too difficult to overlook especially considering just how stuffed the genre is with competing titles that do just about everything The Last Oricru does, only better. Sure there is fun to be hand in exploring Wanderia and its intricate level design, but every “wow” moment is typically followed by a facepalm, as Silver says something that is tonally deaf, or falls to yet another attack that should have had no business hitting him. If you’re after another slice of Soulslike action in 2022, then your $40 can absolutely be spent better elsewhere, with The Last Oricru serving as little more than a pale imitation that struggles to even nail the Soulslike fundamentals.

The Last Oricru can be terrible in some parts, but when it's good, it's delightful - though, I can't recommend it outside of its co-op elements, and I'd avoid it as a single-player title overall.

I would definitely recommend DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS to fans of the series, because they’ll appreciate the game much more than someone who doesn’t know what Dragon Ball is all about. However, the developers also took into account that their game doesn’t have to be just for fans of the universe. Thanks to this, DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS can be enjoyed by anyone looking for a new, fun cooperative game, as this project doesn’t require any prior knowledge of the series. If you have seven friends who love Dragon Ball and can jump in with you, you’re all set. Unfortunately, the lack of crossplay and communication between players does reduce the game’s appeal. It doesn’t help that you can’t kick toxic players out. At the same time, some people might not like that this game relies on a gacha system.