Mark of the Deep Review

Mad Mimic's last isometric roguelike title, Dandy Ace, was somewhat praiseworthy, while this Brazilian indie studio always looked promising. As revealed last year, Mark of the Deep, their most recent game, delivered on their promise to change things up with its pirate-themed adventure, complex narrative gameplay elements, and hybrid of Metroidvania and souls-like elements. While the game puts you to unravel the mysteries of a cursed island and gather your missing pirate crew, it delves deeper than I had previously anticipated.

You play as Marcus Ramsay in Mark of the Deep, a rookie pirate who is just getting started on his adventure when his ship is damaged, and he ends up stranded on a cursed island. You're isolated from your crew, and as expected, the island is filled with dangers. Creepy beasts, undead creatures, violent cults, and the looming dread of an ancient curse that runs through the land. The island itself feels alive with history, and I believe Mad Mimic did a fantastic job of incorporating that sense of mystery throughout the game.

At first, Mark of the Deep might seem like a game about survival, but as it goes further, you realize there's a bigger mystery here, one that has the potential to change everything. I won't spoil it, but let me just say that the tale draws you in, and the more you learn, the more invested you are in exploring it. There is a true sense of development as you delve more into the island's history, and the turns along the road kept me going.

I won't deny that after a certain point of the game, I knew where the story was heading, yet it's one of those stories where you feel like wanting to see what happens in the end. The narrative was good enough to keep its appeal till the end. What I truly like is how the game keeps things interesting without overwhelming you with exposition. It enables you to explore things on your own. Yes, the writing could use some work, and the plot pacing seemed right, with just enough presented at a time as you progress.

Mark of the Deep is a semi-open-world game. It's not completely open-world, but if you gain powers, you'll have a lot of flexibility to explore. The island is vast, with numerous biomes, each with its particular environment. You have spooky tunnels, dark jungles, ruins, and misty beaches. It's an ideal setting for exploring, and there's always something to discover. Every time I thought I'd seen everything, the game presented me with something fresh. Whether it was a hidden cave full of wealth or a curious artifact I could use to access new locations, the thrill of discovery was constant.

However, Mark of the Deep doesn't take long to put you in action, and that's where it starts to disappoint. The gameplay seems somewhat familiar to a souls-like game. Like me, however, if you hope for something like No Rest for the Wicked, you'd be disappointed. You start the game with a weapon called Rookie's Hook, which remains the primary weapon, even though soon after the first boss, you unlock the Flintlock.

You perform a basic attack and heavy attack with the Rookie's Hook and can dodge, but there is no parrying or jumping. Your ability to dodge attacks will be the determining factor in your survival. Due to your lack of other abilities and inability to block, you must depend on dodging and swinging to survive. Swing features a three-hit combination and the traditional approach of holding the button until you ramp up the intensity of your swing. However, I hardly had the chance to utilize the heavy swing since I constantly had to dodge attacks.

Like any other souls-like game, combat here is challenging and can be very punishing as you progress. And if you make a mistake, you will pay the consequences, but this is what makes these games so satisfying. I wouldn't say it's deeply satisfying, but it gives the sense of success when you defeat a large group of enemies or a boss.

As you progress, you can utilize a number of weapons, including swords, pistols, and magic, each with its fighting style. The combat becomes more strategic than simple hack and slash. But sadly, the mechanics don't tie well together when battles get intense. The more you rely on dodging, the riskier things turn, as when you hit the attack button, you won't be able to dodge until the attack finishes. In the same way, the dodge animation takes some time to complete, so attacking immediately after you finish rolling is not possible. So either way, you take hits from the enemies, and it gets frustrating very soon.

Speaking of enemies, there is a good variety of them, but their attacks also become confusing at times. When you're detected, one would change direction to face you mid-windup animation but won't actually attack. The same enemy might suddenly swing at you numerous times and strike you with strong hits. This takes you completely off guard at times. Although there is some diversity, it won't take long to notice that the attacks in the first big section are essentially the same with a new enemy in the second.

Some of the larger foes, in particular, can feel like actual bosses, and you'll need to study their attack patterns, dodge when appropriate, and carefully plan your strikes. While I hated the regular enemies, I enjoyed all the boss fights. While the first few were easy, at about the fifth boss, however, things started to go wrong. Their enormous health pools make them laborious to tackle, and their excessive use of the same moves makes each fight more of a punishing task than a battle.

There are some RPG elements thrown into the mix as you also develop your character in Mark of the Deep. As you explore the island and encounter opponents, you will earn experience points that can be used to develop your character. You gain new talents, weapons, and objects that assist you in combat and make exploration easier. The character development makes you feel like you're continuously progressing, which is always enjoyable. While you unlock new weapons and abilities, you find it extremely difficult to upgrade them.

No matter how many waypoints you earn, the raw material needed to enhance your hook still seems to remain elusive. This really shows how frail you are. Because of this, defeating some bosses takes an eternity. I have not been able to locate any way to upgrade health potions or weapons either; in fact, after defeating a boss with the one we find along the way, I was out of luck. What's more, when you are unable to access the camp, you cannot purchase health shards or anything similar, and there also don't appear to be many of them, and fighting becomes incredibly exhausting after a while.

The grappling hook is a huge highlight in the game. It's something I didn't expect to enjoy so much, but once I did, I couldn't stop using it. It makes exploring the island feel a lot more active. Instead of simply wandering around, you can swing between gaps, reach new heights, and discover shortcuts to previously unreachable locations. While the grappling hook is the backbone of the game's mobility system, it is also marred by issues. It has poor targeting accuracy and a sluggish travel speed with minimal immobility while traveling, all of which reduce its combat value while approaching or retreating.

Without a map, exploration—which was supposed to be the highlight—becomes frustrating. Instead of exploring new locations, I often become overwhelmed. To put it bluntly, navigating this game is a nightmare. With no map, environmental hints, or NPCs to guide you, all you can do is aimlessly traverse the landscape in the hopes of finding the upgrades you need. Not having a basic map or any other means of directing the player to their next destination baffles me beyond words. Are we simply expected to just stroll around each area randomly, trying to figure out what to do next?

Even though you get access to a traveling store in the first area, fast travel doesn't become available until the third area. Fast travel is still limited in strange ways even when it's activated. So, returning to the base is not possible until you get farther into the game. Fast travel limits make retracing irritating, boss battles drag on forever due to their insane health, and I can't utilize the trinkets I gather properly. Even after a lot of time spent playing, I still didn't feel like I was making any headway. With even the most basic foes now needing five strikes to kill, the pace of battle becomes painfully sluggish.

While Mark of the Deep's gameplay remains unimpressive, the visual style and overall aesthetic are nicely done. However, a few more months in the oven could give the game a better feel since there is a distinct lack of polish. The game employs a cel-shaded art style, which gives it a distinct, almost cartoonish appearance that complements the tone nicely. Every area in the game felt unique, and the lighting effects were excellent, especially in darker environments such as caverns or at night. They greatly enhance the atmosphere and give the entire game a creepy, almost haunted vibe.

I liked the character designs, but most of them lacked a realistic approach. Even though the sequence is well done, it seems to conclude somewhat quietly. This would turn off some people, even though I have never developed any emotional attachment to the other characters. In a game like this, it's crucial to develop your character and interact with their supporting cast, so this felt missing. On the other hand, given that it's an independent game and didn't have the means to fully develop each character's backstory, it's easy to overlook these criticisms.

In terms of performance, the game plays smoothly, even on mid-range PC. I didn't encounter any severe performance difficulties. There have been a few issues of frame rate decreases in certain locations, particularly when there are a lot of environmental effects going on, but it didn't distract much while you're in combat. Still, it's something to consider if you're playing on lower-end hardware. The story took me around 15 hours to complete, but I could have easily spent more time exploring and completing side quests. It would have been fun to explore the island and uncover every secret, but the lack of a map and the sluggish gameplay held me back.

As much as I wanted to like Mark of the Deep, I found it to be more annoying than enjoyable. Although the unexpectedly pleasant soundtrack and vibrant visuals indicate genuine creative effort, the graceless combat detracts from the overall experience. Combat becomes a tedious grind instead of an enjoyable challenge due to the weak dodges, unresponsive attacks, and enemies' excessive damage absorption.

There is obvious enthusiasm for the project, and it has promise, but the game needs further development time before I can genuinely recommend it to someone. However, given it's currently on discount and only costs $8.91, you can always give it a try to support the developers for further enhancements. What Mad Mimic set out to achieve is very apparent; maybe they could use the funding to make the game more compelling.