Skul the hero slayer npcs skin#

Throughout every run whether at a shop or as a reward for clearing a room, new skulls can be equipped that grant new powers and a new moveset. In his starting form, Skul is a simple fighter that can whack heroes with a large bone club, throw his skull for magic damage, and teleport to where that skull lands. The meat of Skul: The Hero Slayer is the dozens of skulls that players can equip to alter and improve Skul’s base abilities. But did I care? Ultimately, I thought Skul had a cute but forgettable story that didn’t force itself down the player’s throat and resulted in a surprisingly lengthy finale. Of course Skul’s past is important and certainly there is more than meets the eye to the heroes and their fight against the demons. Other NPCs will offer some world building if you pester them enough but the repetitive, lengthy nature of gameplay almost guarantees you’re going to forget most of the finer points. Bits and pieces of plot unfold through cutscenes, after boss fights, and a handful of conversations between characters. From there, the story doesn’t really go anywhere and that’s perfectly okay. Players learn there was a truce between the demons and Carleon and that something or someone caused that truce to be broken.

Skul the hero slayer npcs skin#

Skul might not have skin and his friends might have two heads but these aren’t your typical monsters. Skul, a tiny skeleton, borrows a fellow skeleton’s head and fights his way through the steel plated forces only to be absolutely walloped by a human calling himself The First Hero. Skeleton and ogre warriors are defeated and the Witch has been captured. The Demon Castle has been overrun by the knights of Carleon and the Demon King has been kidnapped. SouthPAW Games gently twists the narrative by passing the baton over to the perspective of the “bad guys” or, in the world of Harmonia, demons. But stories have never been their strong suits and Skul makes few strides in that arena. There’s something about these games that are so inherently simple yet complex enough to beg repeated plays.

Despite this glaring hole (I’m waiting for a PlayStation release), Supergiant’s ability to weave a tale in a roguelike seems to be one of Hades‘ highlights. Irresistible scope of Hades be damned, I must confess to not having played one of 2020’s obvious champions. The game pushes a unique power-swapping mechanic that would make Kirby grin and it’s there that Skul becomes something more, despite striking many familiar cords that would make lesser games crumple. Like many roguelikes, Skul needs a deep pool of variety to incentivize players to keep pushing through familiar fights and repetitive content. After a few dozen runs through Skul: The Hero Slayer I was surprised that the game kept managing to dole out new items and powers for my minuscule skeleton to use in his fight against the forces of good.