Tombwater

Tombwater is very good at mixing two very different inspirations into a coherent experience. Bloodborne, moved into two dimensions, supplies the core combat mechanics, the feeling of eerie transformation, the magic system, and the fire. The Wild West brings in the characters, the dusty town, and the taciturn main character.

Along its 15- to 20-hour playthrough, what makes Tombwater hard to put down is its level design. Smartly placing shortcuts that are unlocked once a difficult boss or area is advanced through, it is purposeful in its ravaged layout. Obtaining new abilities, such as rock climbing and a special shot from your gun to light torches, incentivizes you to explore every cursed nook and cranny.

Zelda meets Dark Souls, Tombwater is a fantastic action adventure set in a Lovecraftian reimagining of the Wild West. Tricky combat is king here, but thanks to difficulty options you can choose to focus on exploring the rich world around you and uncovering its secrets. This is a real hidden gem, and one that really should be on any action-adventure fan's radar.

Even if you aren’t necessarily jonesing for a Soulslike with a Wild West theme, you should check this out because it’s a damned good 2D Soulslike. Period.

Tombwater is a perfect addition to the Metroidvania soulslike genre. It did a phenomenal job of bringing Eldritch Horror to the wild west and making it a truly immersive and fun experience. Even with the issues with controls for non-mouse and keyboard users and the sometimes questionable sound choices, this game has absolutely stolen my heart with its storytelling and beautifully horrifying art and atmosphere.

All in all, Tombwater is one of my favorite Soulslikes, if not one of my favorite games, period. I’m not usually a fan of Zelda-likes, but I could barely put this one down. And only part of that was because I kept getting lost and wandering into a new miniboss arena.

Tombwater is a well-crafted blend of top-down soulslike, horror, and western setting. Even though its limited map doesn't offer much help for planning backtracking, the diversity of locations and how they intertwine to form a greater whole, dotted with secrets to discover, makes exploration one of the highlights of this fun pixel art eldritch adventure.

Tombwater sets up an intriguing space in the current indie game landscape. A Western horror game disguised as a Soulslike is a brilliant sale, but Tombwater is so much more. It is a triumphant realization of the 2D Zelda formula in a non-medieval, Bloodborne-esque setting. I hope I get to return to this world sooner than we’ll likely return to Yharnam.

Tombwater has convinced me that this Soulslike's top-down perspective is well worth exploring.

Good Western games are few and far between and great ones are even more of a rarity. There have only been a few handfuls of truly great westerns like the Red Dead series, Oddworld: Strangers Wrath, Outlaws, Oregon Trail and a small selection of others, but now Tombwater needs to be placed in these hallowed halls alongside these icons. Tombwater features gameplay inspired by The Legend of Zelda and Bloodborne that gets paired with a faithful western story revolving around an anti-hero trying to live an honest life, who becomes forced to pursue frontier justice in this Eldritch universe. The result is an experience that would make Clint Eastwood proud as Tombwater is one of the greatest Westerns games ever crafted.