Luciferian is an action RPG, hack & slash, top-down shooter, that immerses you into the world of occultism and magic. Set in a medieval atmosphere within a vast labyrinth, Luciferian follows the story of a former King from an ancient European region. Through black magic and sorcery, your brother has usurped your throne, killed your wife and child, and cursed you with a spell.
In Luciferian, you must battle various enemies, escape from each level, and summon demons, acquiring abilities and knowledge as you delve deeper into the dark arts. Luciferian offers a unique learning experience about Ceremonial Magic through the pages of a conjuring book that players must uncover.
In the year 1530, after the fall of ancient dynasties and the rise of dark new powers, the former King of Nordhal leads a solitary life as a hermit lumberjack. Varnak, his younger brother, consumed by ambition and envy, used his knowledge of sorcery and dark magic to cast a curse that stripped him of everything: his throne, his family, and his legacy. In his isolation, the King discovers a mysterious conjuring book hidden inside a forest mine. However, the book is incomplete, missing several critical pages.
The book describes how to perform rituals to summon demons and ancient spirits, including Lucifer. Each page reveals details about these dark beings and their powers. Hoping to reclaim his throne and seek revenge on Varnak, the King embarks on a dangerous quest to recover the missing pages. These pages are hidden within a vast labyrinth filled with traps, secret passages, intricate puzzles, and terrifying creatures sent by Varnak, who will stop at nothing to prevent his success.
The journey not only involves facing enemies and solving puzles but also exploring a world steeped in magic, occultism, and demonology. As he progresses, the King learns to perform rituals that bring him closer to his goal, knowing that the final pages of the book hold the secret to summoning none other than Lucifer himself.
Exploration: The game features a non-linear progression, where revisiting previous levels may be necessary to obtain items required in the current level. Levels range from maze-like areas focused on exploration and puzzle-solving to more open zones centered on combat. As the game progresses, the levels become increasingly intricate, with locked areas that require specific actions or inventory items, such as keys, to access.
Items: The game includes a variety of items. Some are picked up automatically, like white flasks (to increase shots) or violet magic potions. Most items go into the inventory, but some, like energy potions, provide immediate effects.
Traps: The game includes various traps, such as steel blades, spikes that emerge from the ground, and lava pits. These traps are triggered by the player's proximity and have different timing patterns, requiring players to learn and adapt to their patterns to navigate through them successfully.
Enemies: There are different types of enemies, each with varying levels of defense and attack. Additionally, within the same type of enemy, there is a color-based classification that determines how much damage they cause or what powers they unleash. Enemies can see the player at all times and react with ranged or melee attacks depending on the proximity.
Boss Fights: There are two bosses in the game, found at the end of level 5 and level 10. These massive demons possess great size, power, and hierarchy. Defeating them rewards players with essential items needed to progress further in the game.
Experience: The game aims to create an element of surprise by not allowing players to change the map perspective or zoom in. In Luciferian, the goal is to escape each level, though the game places strong emphasis on combat, featuring RPG elements, and is defined as an ARPG.
Combat: The player is always equipped with a sword and can attack in two ways: melee and slash. Combat is constant and requires dodging enemy attacks and powers as much as possible. Defeating an enemy in close combat with the sword, slightly increases energy.
Power Ups: There are three powers: the ice ball, the fireball, and the daggers, which are progressively unlocked throughout the game. Powers can be selected and alternated from the dashboard and are used by aiming and shooting, making this mechanic essential to the gameplay.
Inventory/Leveling Up: Both, the sword and the power ups can be upgraded in terms of damage level and damage factor, ranging from +1 to +6 and x1 to x6, respectively. When a power is selected, its damage level and factor are displayed on the dashboard. Upgrades are managed through the inventory using collected items: blue items raise the damage level, red items increase the damage factor and white flasks increase the number of available shots. Each item in the inventory has limited uses and specifies the percentage of the attribute it enhances.
Loot: There are many items in the game, but particularly the red, blue, and green items give us other items. It's necessary to collect a group of items of the same color and type to obtain different items. The game has indicators showing how many items are needed to unlock others. The white items grant us magic.
Puzzle Solving: The game heavily emphasizes exploration and puzzle-solving. Escaping a level requires a combination of specific actions and necessary items like keys and pages from the book. Some levels are designed like intricate mazes and focused on exploration, while others are more open and combat-driven. As the game progresses, levels become increasingly intricate, with locked areas accessible only by performing specific actions or using inventory items. Closed doors often require players to traverse entire maps for levers or keys to open them, either to unlock a new area or to obtain critical items.
Doors/Levers: Doors and levers are central to the gameplay, requiring players to fully explore maps to find keys or mechanisms that unlock significant areas and grant access to essential items.
Map Actions/Remote Actions: Similar to loot mechanics, defeating enemies doesn’t just grant items but also triggers actions across the map. Killing an enemy or a group of enemies of the same color and type can reward the player with a key, energy items, unlock a distant door, deactivate all traps in a level, activate a faraway or inaccessible lever for the player, and more.
Rituals/Spirit Summoning: Players can summon demons in ritual chambers to receive essential powers, additional book pages, and exclusive items. Each ritual is presented in-game like a cutscene, detailing the spirit's name, invocation mantra, and the request made. The spirit is compelled to manifest, and once the ritual is complete, it is granted leave to depart. During rituals, the game pauses, allowing players to read the entire process.
