BELOW Reviews
A frustrating mix of survival game and roguelike, that has absolutely no respect for your time and yet still hides an enthralling and rewarding action adventure within its murky depths.
After five years of waiting, though there are some frequently fantastic examples of sound used to further the tone and aesthetic, a similarly plentiful amount of contradictory design choices and unnecessarily tasking moments leaves BELOW with many rough edges.
The game is an undeniably refreshing experience and a rather intriguing introduction to roguelikes for newcomers to the genre. Unfortunately, what the game lacks in terms of consistently gratifying gameplay is not wholly made up for by such excellent presentation and solid underlying concepts.
Below's maddening edge is an open rebellion to its quiet sophistication. It's loaded with intrigue but resistant to modern methods of approach, creating a Rorschach test where losing patience with its internal contradiction is as credible of a reaction as relishing its idiosyncratic isolation and adversity. Ultimately, Below is a curiosity in which gratification is dependent on personal resolve.
Capybara Games' Below is a frustrating and empty experience that proves ultimately unworthy of casual players time or patience.
Below's moody gloom and atmosphere is spoiled by mechanics that really cramp its central quest.
If you have Xbox Game Pass and are not scared away by the potential struggles ahead, then Below might be worth a try. At a somewhat high asking price of £19.99 though, you may wish to consider other, better options.
If you like to unravel a mysterious world that doesn't hold your hand, then you might find something in BELOW. If you're looking for an action-packed roguelite, BELOW is not it.
Below is not an inviting or wholly accessible experience. It does, however, have a lot to offer to players who enjoy uncovering mysteries and delving headlong into the unknown. It's a more hardcore Zelda game without the true bite of a Souls-like. Love it or hate it, Below is unabashed in what it is and what it demands of players who brave its depths.
Below is a punishing dungeon crawler, mixing elements from roguelikes, Dark Souls and survival games to create an often painful, yet oddly enticing action-adventure game.
Uncompromising to a fault, Below is a unique and often hauntingly beautiful game but its punishing design eventually becomes a tedious slog, sucking out any intrigue or enjoyment of its initial hours.
have the game worth the wait? definitely not.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Below's hand-crafted design is constantly at war with itself and the player, despite the gripping world Capy Games has created.
We really wanted to enjoy Below. We wanted a gripping indie game to suck us in and get us lost in its world, but overall all we gained from this was a headache and a loss of breath from sighing in discontent. If you like hard games just because of a challenge, give it a try. If you want a worthwhile experience though, you might want to look somewhere else.
Despite its frustrating refusal to teach you even the basics, Below's sense of discovery is as good as anything already out there, and its gameplay is as deep as its name suggests.
Below is a torture: the game is so beautiful and intriguing, but it's such a pain to actually play it.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Below isn't revolutionary or even a risk taker among its peers. It borrows bit by bit everything it needs from other games. In Below, the means justify the end, but is the end even worth it? A vast but shallow sea is what we got after all these years
Review in Persian | Read full review
Below struggles with its identity and, with gameplay dramatically shifting between enthralling exploration and bothersome survival, the game never quite finds it footing.
When you reach a milestone you get a moment of pure, unadulterated glory, but it’s fleeting, like craving a cigarette and quickly realising that nicotine is a chemical lie and cigarettes are shit. Progress feels so gradual as to be nonexistent, and can be instantly wiped out — but not in a calculated way like the difficulty of Dark Souls. In a sort of hopeless way. Each warrior is a tiny Sisyphus.
Below's foreboding atmosphere and slow, purposeful pace works in its early stages, but numerous frustrating design choices make its back half a nightmare.