The Land Beneath Us PS5 Review. Roguelike and roguelite games have become more and more popular over the past few years. With offerings such as Hades and Returnal helping to bring this somewhat niche genre into the mainstream, it is no wonder that we’re seeing an influx of the genre.
Of these, The Land Beneath Us is a shining example of what this genre could be. With a blend of roguelite elements, a turn-based combat system, and the grid-based combat puzzles that this game presents its players with, it is a wonder that it has not received more widespread attention.
The Land Beneath Us (PS5) Review – Fight for Your Life in a Combat Puzzle Purgatory
The Land Beneath Us puts players in the shoes of the Ultimate Soul Harvester robot, or U.S.H. for short, in their quest to find the Creator, who has been captured by the rulers of the underworld. U.S.H. is guided on their quest by Main PC, a computer programmed by the Creator. Main PC operates as a tutorial guide, quest giver, and narrator throughout your journey.
There are a handful of other characters that the player will interact with, such as merchants, who players will be able to gain new items and upgrades from. Unfortunately, not every being U.S.H. encounters on their journey is willing to help them out. The creatures found in The Land Beneath Us are grotesque beings that will attack on sight.
Well, almost. The turn-based nature of the game means that the enemies don’t move until the player does, and then only one grid space at a time. Different enemies will have unique movement patterns and attacks, but whether they want to punch you, shoot you, or rain hellfire down on you from above, they are going to use every turn to get themselves into position to attack without mercy.
Thankfully, the enemies like to tell U.S.H. exactly where their attacks will fall. When they get ready to attack, the spaces where the attacks will hurt U.S.H. will turn to yellow.
If the player finds themselves in one of those spaces, they will need to move out of the way quickly if they want to avoid the attack.
Fight Back Against The Hordes
Fortunately, there’s plenty of opportunity for your to strike back against your foes. The first room in each run gives players at least one weapon and at least one relic. Each weapon has its own area of effect and some weapons even have extra perks for your character’s stats.
When you get a new weapon, you are immediately faces with two choices. You must first choose one out of three available weapons to use, and then you have to choose which direction you are going to equip it to.
Each direction on the D-pad will have its own weapon equipped to it, and thus each direction can have its own style of attack. Relics can also help U.S.H. out in the fight. Each one will give the player a perk, which can end up changing the game entirely.
These can range from destroying all breakable objects in the room when the last enemy is killed and picking loot up automatically to adding 20 HP, healing U.S.H. after the room is clear, or giving U.S.H. an extra life during the run.
Certain relics being found during the run can completely turn things around, or make it the run that finally gets you through the next boss encounter.
Think Fast!
This combination of systems leads the gameplay to feel more like a puzzler than a hack-and-slash adventure. These mechanics and abilities unlocked along the way make later stages even begin to feel like a chess match in each room, where careful planning from the beginning can mean the difference between success and the end of a run.
My biggest issue with the game is the character, Main PC. While the other characters in this game, including U.S.H., are shrouded in mystery and feel very interesting, Main PC seems to be intentionally annoying from the beginning.
As a result, my tolerance for the character began to wear very thin very quickly. This is tragic since Main PC is the primary character that U.S.H. is bouncing thoughts off of throughout this journey, and because the rest of the game is so excellently constructed.
Overall, The Land Beneath Us feels like a fantastic example of the roguelite genre that fans of the genre and newcomers alike could both get a lot of enjoyment out of.
It is not only great for those who have enjoyed the genre for a while, giving it a twist by adding turn-based puzzle combat, but it is also a fantastic entry point into the genre for those who may have been hesitant to try it out in the past, and I recommend that they do.
Given the fact that this game also has a free demo on PlayStation, there is no reason not to at least give The Land Beneath Us a try.
The Land Beneath Us is now available for PS5.
Review code kindly provided by publisher.