Cult of The Lamb

Something I’ve noticed in recent memory is that whenever an indie game developer attempts to advertise their game online it goes along the phrase of, ”My game is like X or Y” or “You’ll like my game if you enjoy X, Y, and Z.” I think it mainly stems from the fact that a majority of ideas nowadays aren’t original, or have been handled in a prior game. A majority of indie game devs grew up playing video games much like ourselves, and so they want to create a piece of art that not only reflects what they as a developer are capable of but pay respect to what raised them as a person. So when they use one of those phrases I just mentioned it allows their game to be easier to sell. Crow Country and Signalis probably wouldn’t have blown up the way they did if they had not compared themselves to classic survival horror titles like Silent Hill or Resident Evil. In some ways Nine Sols wouldn’t have gained massive popularity if it didn’t list its influences like Sekiro, Hollow Knight, and Katana Zero. If not the developers listing then it’s the fans describing what their games mostly remind them of. However, listing your influences comes with the downside of being compared to the games you’re trying to live up to. At times you end up succeeding the title for which you’re living up to, but occasionally you run into a game that struggles.

One of numerous indie games I’ve been recommended over the year by close friends is the well beloved Cult of The Lamb by Massive Monster. This wasn’t their first game as in previous years they made three different titles, but all of them underperformed in terms of sales and the studio believed it had to be due to their tone. A majority of their past games looked like they were made for younger audiences, and so they decided to play with this idea. Why not make a game that has a cute look on the surface, but a violent sense of humor and multiple cruel acts for which their players can perform. They then created Cult of The Lamb and revealed it during Gamescom back in 2021. Devolver Digital was handling the publishing and some of the funding, and all the team had to do was make sure the game was good. Cult of The Lamb released in 2022, and the game soared higher than what Massive Monster and Devolver Digital were expecting. Receiving high praise all around, declared one of the best indie games of 2022, and selling more copies than all of Massive Monster’s past games combined. Cult of The Lamb is a well respected game. To this day the developers are continuing support with multiple updates and additions. Reasons for their players to keep going despite how limited in scope Cult of The Lamb is to other management sim games. In fact, recently the Woolhaven update was released. Neat.

Cult of The Lamb by a popular consensus is a great game. It took me a long time to play it, but I finally did and my opinion is that the game is just….. alright. This is going to be one of the more divisive reviews I write in a while. Cult of The Lamb has been recommended to me for multiple reasons. It’s a roguelike, in terms of its premise the game is pretty unique, and it’s 2D animated which is always appreciated. More power to 2D animation since it's looked down often by the industry. However, one of the descriptions I was given during my multiple recommendations of Cult of The Lamb was, “It’s like Hades if you mixed it with Spiritfarer.” Again, going back to how oftentimes a developer or gamer will compare an indie game to other popular games to help sell it. You all know that Hades is one of my favorite games ever made. I have raved about it so many times in the past for how it blends narrative together with a strong core gameplay loop. It’s one of the best roguelikes for a reason. Meanwhile, Spiritfarer is a title I’ve grown to adore with the passage of time. One of few cozy management sims that chooses to end because it has a main story and message it wants to tell. Similar to Hades it’s a wonderful blend of story and gameplay, and remains to me the peak of the management sim genre. When someone told me that two great masterpieces were being combined to make one ultimate game I was a bit skeptical. Quite weird for everything I was saying up until now. How did this not lead to good results? 

I’ll tell you why. The reason why combining certain games together isn’t a good idea is because trying to do so much might not always lead to good conclusions. Some games strive for different reasons, and the combination process may either lead to ideas clashing or not reaching their full potential. Cult of The Lamb feels like a game that was trying to do a lot, and not only suffers due to limitations but the more I played it the more I thought about games doing something it did but better. I don’t think it’s a bad game as I can somewhat understand who it was made for, but this game amazes me in the same way it thrilled a bunch of people. I’d go as far to say that it slightly disappointed me. Today we’re gonna be talking about Cult of The Lamb, and why it’s not great in my opinion.

Story

The premise is that you are the last of your kind. A lamb being offered as a sacrifice to appease the gods of the great beyond. Your body beaten, chained, and being led to an altar where four tall bishops stand before you. They are the Four Bishops of The Old Faith, and they rule the land for which you live. From the dense forests, splashing waters, and deep dark caverns. They control all that happens, have numerous followers, and punish those who dare go against them. The lamb is seen as a threat to them, so they plan to get rid of them before the lamb could rise. Just before it could be cut down, the lamb is transported to a strange realm between life and death. A chained being sits within this plain and refers to themself as The One Who Waits. This being is willing to save the lamb’s life, but in exchange the lamb must perform a set of tasks. Gather a handful of followers, form a grand cult in The One’s name, and perform sacrifices. In return they’ll give the lamb a crown, which’ll grant them demonic powers and magic the lamb can wield. The second goal is for the lamb to slay the four bishops,  and lead the greatest religious pact to ever exist. So your goal is simple. What it really comes down to is how you carry it out.

Gameplay

There are two sectors for which Cult of The Lamb is split into. Firstly is the management portion where you take care of your followers. Secondly the roguelike portion where you venture off into one of the four dungeons, fight enemies, and attempt to reach the end. This isn’t the usual genre entry where the areas are connected, each contain different hazards and enemies, and it’s a single long continuous journey. The runs in Cult of The Lamb function more like expeditions. Short lil’ journeys that aim to send you back to camp as soon as possible. Combat is quite simple. You’re given a weapon and a spell. The spells use fervour, which is gained back from defeating foes and absorbing their blood. Each weapon and spell functions differently and occasionally during runs you’ll stumble upon stronger weapons. Equip them with the knowledge that your moveset will change. During runs you’ll also stumble upon resources. Seeds you can use to grow food, fruit to cook up meals, crafting materials, and followers you can recruit. Even if a run ends in failure you get to keep some of the stuff you lost. Stuff you can then use to forge new stations for the camp, or there’s the followers who will worship and help build said stations.

The base management is quite simple, much like the roguelike runs and combat. Spend resources to build stations, and take care of your followers. Each follower has their own quirks, grievances, and it’s your job to keep them comfortable. Prepare meals, provide sleeping quarters, and maybe do a little quest for them. Such as cook a specific meal, obtain an item out in the field, or truly devious acts like feeding someone poop or imprisoning them. Faith is the most important stat the player has to manage, and if faith amongst followers go too low they start rebelling against you. Spreading blasphemy, leaving camp, or refusing to work for you. As the saying goes,” Everyone contributes to everyone,” and you gotta deal with it as it happens. Regain their faith, or get rid of them permanently. I mean you lead a sacrificial cult, so you know what to do. Longer you keep your followers in line, the more devotion they’ll generate for you. Another currency used to open new stations for use, and the more followers you have the faster you’ll unlock character upgrades like increased health or attack damage. The management sim aspect and roguelike runs all churn together to form a tight relationship. Where one needs the other to thrive. Similar to the last roguelike I covered, Ball x Pit, but question is if Cult of The Lamb handles it well? Does it handle genre blending well? The short answer is: kinda.

Thoughts

I have to choose my words carefully, because I know this game means a lot to people. For a load of people it’s considered one of the more unique indie games to have come out in recent memory. A game whose personality outshines a lot of titles surrounding it. A team of developers who just love what they do for a living. From time to time I see a response these devs give online, and just seems like they’re having fun. They enjoy interacting with their fans, listening to feedback, and adding stuff they know their playerbase will enjoy. Objectively I think Cult of The Lamb is good. It’s not necessarily doing anything wrong or terrible. It is a finely made game that a majority of people will enjoy, but the keyword here is ‘fine’. I think it’s a fine game, nothing more. I wish I had enjoyed Cult of The Lamb as much as other people, because the further I played it the more I thought about games similar to it. Games that Massive Monster were trying to live up to or were inspired by during the making of this game. I opened this review by discussing how a majority of indie developers now like to compare games to other more popular titles, and if not them then it’s the fans bringing up comparisons. I like when developers and fans do this because it allows the games to reach the audience they’re aiming for. Yet, it also invites comparison to those games. The whole time I was playing Cult of The Lamb my mind couldn’t stop thinking about the other games. Most importantly the phrase a friend used to sell me on this game, “It’s like if you took Hades and combined it with Spiritfarer.” This should not have sold me.

This game is disappointing to me. Not because it’s doing anything wrong, but because it doesn’t do anything that particularly amazes me. I’ve played my fair share of roguelikes over the years, and as a roguelike I think Cult of The Lamb is somewhat of a mixed bag. Combat isn’t very good to me. Attacking is clunky, striking anything feels off, and for fights that want you to fight in an active manner it doesn’t do a good job doing so. With a majority of enemies designed around the player straying away, or waiting for an opening. Not to say the combat is punishing or too hard to my liking. It’s the opposite actually. Cult of The Lamb is an easy roguelike. Too easy to be exact. Runs are short, usually consisting of three to four realms you have to navigate before you reach an area boss. Some of these realms are rooms you battle through, and others are just single with either one combat sequence or a place you can either buy or pick up resources. The game wants to be combat focused, but there’s not a lot of it and when there is it isn’t fun. I’m also confused on how progression was handled. You can’t fight the bishop til you beat an area a certain amount of times. Ball x Pit did something similar where you need to beat a region with a specific number of characters before moving on. Why doesn’t it work as well for Cult of The Lamb? It’s cuz of how runs in Ball x Pit actually feel like runs whereas Cult of The Lamb is a couple of rooms, not all of which maintain a consistent gameplay loop, miniboss, door.

Said door cannot be unlocked until you beat three minibosses, and the minibosses are not great. Often being a singular kind with its moveset slightly changed or expanded. The only time I felt engaged by the roguelike aspect of Cult of The Lamb was when fighting the bishops. Challenging bosses with a diverse set of moves, attacks, and mechanics utilizing what you learned in a level. When that happens I feel thrilled, but once I finally beat them it was back to simple ease. So the game is not a confident roguelike. The combat loop is not good, there’s a lack of variety, a lack of challenge to speak of, and no reason to keep playing. Now a few reviews back I did make an argument about the concept of “the forever game” and why I’m against it. This is another game that chooses to end at some point, and I’m glad it does so. Cult of The Lamb ends…. but then it doesn’t. You beat the final boss, the credits roll, and it throws you back into the world saying to keep playing for more content. This is a game designed for infinite hours of play, but there’s not much that makes me want to play more. What about the management sim aspect? Yeah let’s talk about that and why I don’t think it’s particularly strong either and just alright at most.

This game attempts to blend two worlds together, but what it comes down to is one thing. How many followers do you have? That is the only aspect of the management sim part that matters for the roguelike part. You need more followers to level up quickly and increase your stats. Taking care of them is a whole other world, and it feels disjointed. Every follower is a procedurally generated bloke with some traits, and before you say that makes them more natural just wait till you see how it plays out. There weren’t a lot of occasions where I had to be considerate about a single follower’s quirks or traits. I treat them like everybody else and they stay happy. A system that is supposed to make me be considerate fails at making me be considerate. Think about how in Spiritfarer each of your passengers had their own personalities and preferences. Some want a fancy meal to eat, and others will prefer casual food. Tasks they give aren’t just random quests, but stuff that fits who they are as a person. What they did in life, what’ll make them feel at peace, and help them move on. Slowly you learn more about them, connect with them, and do all you can to make them happy. Not because the game asks you to, but because you desire it. Then they move on and you genuinely feel bad, because this person you formed a distinct relationship with is gone. You’ll never get to have those interactions again.

When one of my followers in Cult of The Lamb starts to feel unhappy I don’t panic. I don’t think or worry about what they want, because what they want is just about the same as everybody else. They give you stuff to do, but it’s not because they desire it. They do it because the game needs to assign the player a task to keep them busy. I wasn’t just thinking about Spiritfarer playing this game. I was also thinking about The Alters for some odd reason. How that game could’ve gotten away with having procedurally generated and selected crew members similar to 11 Bit’s previous and oldest title, This War of Mine.Instead they chose to write a well rounded crew because they knew players would connect to that more. Cult of The Lamb is a game where what you do and give your followers doesn’t matter. Just occasionally feed them, provide them a bed to sleep in, and perform the occasional sermon or ritual. Even as a management sim I think the game is weak, because there’s no true goal for your encampment and followers even though the game acts like there is. You just do it for the sake of doing it and that blows when games like Spiritfarer, Wanderstop, and The Alters took monotonous genres and added depth and meaning to them. They choose to end properly because of what they aimed to say. Cult of The Lamb ends, but it doesn’t truly end. It shrugs a shoulder and says, “Anyways, there’s endless stuff you have to do so go do it.” No, cuz there's no reason for me to continue playing. 

A majority of what I’ve been saying has been negative, but trust me when I say this is an alright game. I hate having to repeat myself, but it’s not doing anything wrong. It does them fine enough to be passable, but fine isn’t good enough sometimes. There needs to be more, and I’m shocked at how many people love this game despite it not aiming for much. Look if you love this game then more power to you. I’m not gonna stop you, but criticism should be brought up from time to time. Cult of The Lamb disappointed me, because there're so many games I played that did some part of it but better. In the end I am going to give Cult of The Lamb a 7.5/10 for being alright. Thank you all very much for reading.

7.5/10, Alright