[PREVIEW] Downhill – Action RPG where the protagonist is aware you’re controlling her

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I might have slightly missed the Kickstarter campaign for Downhill, but luckily, the demo is still available on Steam. This action RPG, developed by Sisterhood Games, recently had a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised 31,379 £, surpassing its 20,000 £ goal. Set in the fantasy realm of Raghned, where day and night exist as distinct Dayworld and Nightworld realities, the game follows Fade, a protagonist who is aware of your control over her actions.

And that’s the main selling point of this game: the ability to have an actual conversation with Fade and choose the dialogue you want is a very interesting idea. Your dialogue choices shape her actions and personality towards you. You can respect her wishes or even impose your own, which impacts the story. Sadly, the demo is just a simple vertical slice, so it only introduces the core gameplay elements.

The combat is quite fun, but the demo doesn’t do the game justice

The game features top-down, action-based combat with Soulslike inspirations. You’ll use real-time mechanics like light and heavy attacks, dodges, and spells. In the demo, you’ll face creepy, insect-like creatures, which requires you to balance offense and evasion. Fade’s revival mechanic is quite forgiving, allowing you to respawn unlimited number of times without reloading saves. In fact, combat feels responsive, with tight controls that make each dash very important.

Nightwalking, on the other hand, is a unique puzzle-solving mechanic, though the demo’s puzzles are fairly straightforward. It allows Fade to shift between the Dayworld and Nightworld, letting her manipulate environments or enemies frozen in time. For example, shifting to the Nightworld might reveal a hidden path or freeze an enemy mid-attack, allowing you to strike them back.

Everything shown in the demo looked really polished, well-thought-out, and promising. I’m looking forward to see how the skills will evolve throughout the playthrough, how much the 2D pixel art style with a dark fantasy aesthetic expands the story, and what enemies we’ll be fighting. The game features proper RPG mechanics, and while the Soulslike combat elements don’t overwhelm you, they still make it quite challenging, especially when it comes to boss fights.