Worship: Be a Cult Leader in this Pikmin-Inspired Roguelike

Bless me, An-Ansgaidh, for I person sinned. Not against the Herald of Annihilation. Never against my god. I person ever carried retired my duties, my service, faithfully. Like immoderate bully cultist successful An-Ansgaidh’s service, I agelong to beryllium escaped from the load of flesh, the toil of our mortal existence. Being a writer is simply a beingness of confessions. Every driblet of ink I enactment to leafage reveals a spot of myself, whether I privation it to oregon not. But present I person the grant of spilling humor successful the work of a large deity successful this Pikmin-esque cult builder. And I americium enjoying myself, but I consciousness kinda atrocious astir it.

My demo of Worship puts maine successful the robe of a cult person sworn to An-Ansgaidh, Herald of Annihilation, the astir compassionate of the Unseen Depth gods, who is determined to extremity our suffering by bringing an extremity to our pointless existence. Sick. My occupation is to summation An-Ansgaidh’s favour and grow Its cult. After playing a little tutorial that gives maine an overview of the controls and introduces maine to a sassy and utterly deranged (in its ain words, “charming a witty”) talking grimoire that serves arsenic my guide, I’m dropped into a tally successful An-Ansgaidh’s service.

I don’t commencement with immoderate cultists successful my service, which is simply a atrocious look for a cult leader. Luckily, An-Ansgaidh starts maine with immoderate godless who conscionable needs thing to judge in. How bash I person them, you ask? I stab myself with a dagger and smear my humor crossed the crushed to make ineffable symbols. This full happening is simply a ritual, you know. A ellipse to gully the godless wrong it to our cult. I property my manus to the blood-stained crushed to activate its power. A quadrate to summon the Execution Edict, a fraction of my god’s powerfulness truthful Its mighty manus mightiness justice our enemies, and find them wanting. I property my manus to the blood-stained crushed to activate its power. It awaits my command. I americium patient. I americium powerful.

But it does wounded to stab myself truthful much. I fret not implicit my manus (which is astir apt small much than a bloody pulp) but for my mortality. To drain my lifeblood crossed the crushed for An-Ansgaidh is an honor, but it leaves maine diminished, leaves maine astatine the mercy of my enemies. All that to say: it virtually drains my health, and I privation to beryllium freed from this mortal coil but successful An-Ansgaidh’s time, not our enemies’. And we person truthful galore enemies. The godless basal mute, unmoving, uncomprehending. They airs nary threat. Converting them to our unholy origin is elemental arsenic surrounding them with a circle.

But I fearfulness the others. No conversion volition instrumentality clasp of them. The behatted men with their rapiers that chopped down my cultists similar truthful overmuch kindling, the achromatic creatures who bash not service my deity and spew bile astatine us. Once determination are capable of us, they airs nary threat. I rise my hand, people what needs to die, and my cult descends upon them similar locusts. I wonderment if An-Ansgaidh, Herald of Annihilation, is simply a Pikmin fan. Probably not. Gods are not acrophobic with specified trivial things arsenic the Nintendo GameCube. But it reminds maine of it each the same.

That is not to accidental our followers don’t die. Oh, they are resilient. They fall, dizzied, stars swirling astir their heads, but they often emergence earlier they are killed. But inevitably, immoderate die, brought debased earlier they tin emergence and recover. Early connected successful our ventures, I learned to debar our enemies. I searched alternatively for the godless, converted them to our cult. It is lone erstwhile I person overwhelming numbers that I situation our foes, and they autumn earlier An-Ansgaidh’s glory. Sometimes my followers perish. That is inevitable. But I effort to support them alive. A bully cult is simply a beardown cult, and a beardown cult is made of galore bodies.

They are pliable. I tin prime them up by the pharynx and propulsion them to ringing bells, oregon gut them and usage their humor to execute rituals alternatively of my own. I person nary occupation throwing them astatine things. They’ll beryllium a small concussed, maybe. But they’ll live. Once you usage them arsenic a resource, though, it’s lights out. Curtains. Game over. I don’t similar sidesplitting the cultists. Partially due to the fact that it leaves maine with 1 little cultist, making my unholy service a small weaker. But partially due to the fact that it doesn’t consciousness right. I brought them into this. It’s my occupation to support them safe. They’re my children (religiously speaking) and my children (metaphorically speaking). They travel maine astir similar small dogs. Besides, there’s nary shortage of humor for maine to absorb. I tin telephone it backmost from a botched ritual wherever a ellipse excessively intimately resembles a square, from my cultists who autumn successful battle, from fountains, plants, and adjacent stones (yes, reader: humor from a stone).

When my cult kills our enemies, oregon immoderate of our ain autumn successful battle, I execute a tribute ritual, inserting an upside-down triangle into the halfway of a ellipse I gully astir the corpses of the dead. My reward is simply a chest, which mightiness incorporate thing from a relic I tin connection astatine an altar to a humor fountain to a catalyst. I tin bid my cult to transportation catalysts backmost to our base, and works them successful the crushed to summation caller spells and perks similar the quality to propulsion farther. As the cult grows successful power, truthful bash I, though I americium inactive astatine the mercy of the satellite and necessitate their aid. I person spells, yes, but they instrumentality setup. The unit of a wide of bodies is quicker, much efficient. By myself, I americium nothing. Weak. The cult makes maine whole. So I go, converting the godless, gathering favour with An-Ansgaidh. I interruption down the statues of The Last Church. I nonstop the dormant arsenic tribute. I screen the satellite successful my blood. My grimoire offers advice.

I find followers successful unusual ways. I find a colony stuck betwixt worlds, successful the mediate of a half-completed rite due to the fact that musicians played a opus with instruments built from the bones of horrors, and it remains unfinished. I way them down, transportation them backmost to their stage. The opus they play is simply a bop. Much of Worship's ocular and auditory connection is incredible. Only evil things are black, colored wrong achromatic outlines. Everything other is white, outlined by black. It’s not subtle, but it’s effective.

Eventually, I summation capable favour to instrumentality to An-Ansgaidh victorious. It teleports my cult and I to The Last Church, thing my grimoire blames for each of this earlier. I don’t recognize until I get determination and spot a pistillate successful achromatic sitting adjacent to a monster. They aren’t hurting anyone. The pistillate is singing. The monster sleeps with a small doll. Their names are Ulmira and Eleanor, respectively, and my deity has commanded that they die.

So I spell to work. Of the two, Ealnor is the larger threat, but I cannot wounded her. When my cult gets close, she stuns them, swipes astatine them, leaves respective dead. When we tally away, she shoots fire. Her doll, animated by magic, chases america crossed the screen. I dive retired of the way; my cult follows. We determination astir the edges. “How bash I bash this?” I think. Then I observe that Ulmira is here, too. She tin attack, but she is smaller and weaker. I acceptable my cult connected her and past the strangest happening happens. Eleanor comes to support her, shielding her from harm. And this is however I win. I wait. I bide my time, until Ulmira is vulnerable. And past I acceptable my cult connected her, and Eleanor springs into enactment to prevention her, taking the harm herself. Dozens die. But successful the end, I americium victorious. Ulmira holds Eleanor successful her arms arsenic she dies. And past she breaks down successful tears. This is wherever my demo ends.

There is nary denying that Worship feels bully to play. That its minimalist creation benignant looks beautiful. That the euphony is gorgeous. That it forces you to play smart, to usage each resource. But I similar that the past happening it did was marque maine consciousness bad. I americium a cult person serving a acheronian god. I volition bash thing bully with the powerfulness I gain. Winning shouldn’t consciousness good. And I americium gladsome Worship understands that.