Fellowship Review: United We Slash

The “auto-battler” genre has absolutely exploded over the last few years thanks to smash hits like Vampire Survivors proving just how addicting the gameplay loop of destroying endless hordes of enemies can be. But the folks at Elraim Studios asked themselves – what if we added the ability to adventure with a party of heroes? And so the fantasy rogue-lite Fellowship was born.

Hailing from the same stylized pixel-art lands as popular mobile title Guardian Tales, Fellowship has you assembling a band of anthropomorphic adventurers like fox rangers, bear warriors, and bunny mages to take on the forces of darkness plaguing the whimsical world of Eldrida. Each hero rocks their own awesome skills and abilities that you can customize and enhance RPG-style.

The keyhook here is the real-time formation system that lets you seamlessly shift your party between offensive and defensive stances on the fly. You’ll need to master rotating your crew to line up optimal damage angles too. And when certain heroes pair up, you can unleash crazy powerful synergy attacks capable of decimating groups of baddies in seconds flat.

While still in early access, the current build of Fellowship already offers a meaty serving of content with 8 unique heroes to rescue across 3 vibrant regions brimming with baddies to bash. And the team at Elraim promises plenty more areas to explore in the works alongside an expanded roster of 10 additional characters.

In this review, we’ll dive deep into every aspect of Fellowship – from the frenetic battles to formation flexibility and everything in between. Read on to see if this ambitious rogue-lite has done enough to stand out in the ever-growing sea of Vampire Survivor successors!

A Vibrant World Harkening Back to 16-Bit Glory

Fellowship draws heavily from classic 16-bit era sprites and environments to craft its bright and cheerful game world, featuring cute anthropomorphic woodland creatures like foxes, squirrels and rabbits. The chunky pixel art style gives everything a warm, storybook feel that pairs nicely with the sweeping fantasy backdrops.

Each of the heroes boasts a distinctive silhouette and color palette making them stand out, with cool little touches like the archer fox sporting a fetching green hood and quiver. Gear pieces are recognizable as class-specific now with more defined looks compared to initial builds. Seeing your party decked out in full battle regalia truly looks the part for epic adventurers now.

Vivid spell effects like flaming arrows or icicle spears bursting against enemies add some dazzling flair. And the synergy ultimate attacks showcase some spectacularly over-the-top animated sequences – like the Warrior launching the Spearman for a devastating aerial dive bomb.

Backdrops span gloomy crypts, lush meadows and imposing castles realized in the chunky retro pixel aesthetic now with more defined details compared to the flatter initial areas. Shadow and lighting contrasts help objects stand out better against backgrounds as well. Destructible elements like shrubs or urns dotting the landscapes add a heightened sense of interaction too.

Some animations still look stilted however – the Priest’s running animation seems oddly rigid. And while the gear looks sharper, it sadly still doesn’t show up on your heroes actually adventuring.

The UI also remains problematic given the still far too tiny party health bars and cooldown timers tucked away in the corners. It’s nigh impossible to track statuses or abilities. And since properly rotating your party hinges on skill timing, not being able to clearly monitor everything proves detrimental.

The visual presentation has come a decent way from the early uniform look. Fellowship definitely nails its wholesome, storybook vibe. But there’s still room to build on that foundation with livelier animations and a more readable UI so players aren’t squinting nearly as much. The building blocks are there, but it needs additional refinement to really make the picturesque worlds feel fully realized.

Strategic Party Play Elevates the Auto-Battler Formula

Like any game in this breakout genre, Fellowship has you cutting through swathes of baddies across a sweeping 2D plane viewed from above. Defeating enemies generates gems to collect for XP to unlock new party members and abilities. The standard addicting core that’s perfectly primed for short burst sessions.

What Fellowship introduces is the ability to adventure with a crew rather than a lone wolf. You’ll assemble a band of heroes like the tanky Warrior or ranged Ranger, each boasting their own unique attacks and skills. This opens up a wider breadth of strategies compared to relying on a single moveset.

Better yet, you can shift your party around into various formations – a straight damage-dealing line or more defensive circular pattern for example. Having granular control over hero placement and facing to properly align attacks versus approaching enemies adds immensely satisfying strategy. It also maximizes special attacks that blast in specific directions. You feel much more actively engaged rather than mindlessly wading through battles.

Multi-hero tactics also introduce team synergies that have specific party members charging up devastating ultimate attacks capable of screen-clearing levels of destruction. It becomes incredibly compelling trying to assemble your ideal hero roster to activate the most potent combos.

Gear and skill upgrades bolster your squad RPG-style between runs. Outfitting your Warrior with imposing platemail that buffs health or adding bonus projectiles to your Archer’s powershot for example. This lends a great sense of hero progression even amidst Fellowship’s rogue-lite runs where death resets most progress.

New characters enter combat with random abilities though, so you can’t fully plan out dream teams. Plus some skills seem marginally effective – like minor increases to speed or item grab radius. They simply don’t confer actual moment-to-moment benefits, making them “trap” picks. Additionally, the brutal challenge spike sees basic enemies easily overwhelming full parties of maxed heroes. Balance seems off.

Enemy variety could still use work too – most boil down to either charging straight at you or firing potshots from the sidelines. There’s clear room for behavioral enhancements to help adversaries feel more distinct.

As it stands, Fellowship certainly advances the auto-battler formula in compelling directions, particularly the strategic party play. But further tweaks to balance, enemies and abilities would go a long way toward realizing its full potential. The supremely satisfying core is already there thanks to the strategic formations and synergies. It just needs that extra bit of polish.

Intuitive Control Hampered By Cluttered HUD

Fellowship smartly adopts simple twin stick shooter controls having you move with one stick and aim attacks via the other. Buttons cover basics like dodging and your hero’s unique skills. It proves instantly intuitive for the genre, especially nice for gamepad users who may struggle with less controller-friendly counterparts. Commands feel responsive with no noticeable input lag even when the action gets extremely hectic.

Being able to swiftly shift your party into other formations or targeting specific enemies also works smoothly. The ability to essentially customize controls via swapping which hero takes point as your movement leader makes easing into your own optimal control scheme simpler too. So mechanical fundamentals check out for accessible yet deeper-than-expected options.

The actual user interface unfortunately suffers from considerable clutter between the semi-transparent ability cool-down timers occupying vital bottom screen real estate to distractingly giant zone labels plastered atop the visuals. It severely impacts general visibility – you’ll struggle picking out smaller enemies behind big flashing text.

Likewise, the party health bars up top are much too small to effectively track statuses mid-fight. It essentially forces guessing whether skills are ready to activate or how heroes are faring health-wise. Coupled with the frenetic battles, you’re left scrambling trying to visually process everything.

There’s also no map to help orient your position or even point you to downed heroes requiring reviving. Expect lots of aimless wandering hunting for resurrection points.

It’s genuinely surprising how clean Fellowship’s actual controls are versus the UI and display clutter seemingly designed to obstruct things. It really needs options to scale back excessive screen elements because they currently distract more than inform. An optional zoomed-in mini-map would help tremendously as well. The well-done twin stick foundations suffer under the mess surrounding them.

Pleasant Tunes Undermined By Repetition

Fellowship keeps audio design fittingly modest given its retro pixel aesthetic. You’ll hear expected sword slashes or arrow thwips timed to weapon impacts along with elemental flourishes like crackling lightning bolts. It captures basics fine enough without distracting.

Each biome features its own upbeat, adventurous musical theme whether the brazen brass kicks driving desert zones or the almost piratical jaunty jigs of the coast with additional bombastic boss battle arrangements. The composer nails a fittingly rousing, fantasy flair.

Characters utter the occasional exertion grunt though oddly never vocalize when using specials or taking hits. And outside of introductory barks, heroes remain otherwise silent even upon level ups. Seems odd not hearing curbside quips or banter considering the genre lends itself nicely to character interactions helping endear your roster.

Those perky tunes get grating given their repetitiveness over long sessions however. Even with a few distinct tracks per area, looping the same ones continuously for what may be hour-long runs inevitably grows tiresome. Rotate them, add ambient filler tracks, have music dynamically swell and recede – anything to ease up the monotony!

It’s disappointing too since the upbeat orchestral scores brim with so much charm. But much like the repetitive locales themselves, after dozens of runs through the same small selection of tracks, you’ll start mentally tuning them out. The infectious tunes deserve opportunities to shine rather than wear their welcome out so quickly via ceaseless looping.

Solid Foundation Lays Groundwork for Ambitious Expansion

Even in its early access form, Fellowship already delivers a satisfying serving of content with 3 colorful regions to explore, 8 unique heroes to rescue and add to your roster – like lightning-spewing mages, healers, and agile woodland archers. You’ll bash through over two dozen normal enemy types and square off against screen-filling goliath boss monsters.

Each zone spans multiple branching paths wrapped in lovely foreground details like ruined temples or mushroom groves for added visual flourishes. They’re still fairly compact without too many surprises once you’ve rerun them a few times however. Hero abilities also start feeling overly familiar after you’ve cycled through the roster.

The developer roadmap ambitiously outlines plans to flesh the experience into a sprawling world with over 10 massive regions showcasing completely unique hazards and obstacles – like paralyzing wizard towers to lava-spewing volcanoes. The hero roster will also nearly double to give you a whopping 18 character choices for your dream team combinations.

SPECIAL tier and legendary weapons are also slated to grant game-changing new abilities versus simply buffing damage output. And randomized room layouts filled with elite enemy variants or special merchants will make subsequent run-throughs vastly more dynamic.

It’s an exciting vision that could elevate Fellowship into a hallmark title for the genre if realized. Though based on the iterative-but-slow early access updates thus far, the team still clearly has its work cut out to deliver on such an extensive wishlist.

As it stands now, the current content proves fun for a few hours tearing through the charming locales and heroes on offer, but begins feeling repetitive shortly after. The solid framework begs for that incoming injection of new regions and heroes to push Fellowship into seriously addicting territory. Once all those promises materialize however, it could position itself as a top-tier auto-battler. But only time will tell if the developers can pull off fulfilling that grand vision.

Formations Set Fellowship Apart

It’s impossible not to draw comparisons between Fellowship and mega-hit Vampire Survivors pioneered auto-battler formula. Both games have you grinding hordes for gems, levelling up between procedural runs and customization. But Fellowship smartly expands the straightforward approach by letting you control whole parties.

The real-time formation system stands as Fellowship’s crown jewel innovation. Pushing your heroes into offensive or defensive configurations with leader swapping genuinely revolutionizes the typically static playstyle. You feel deeply engaged assessing optimal hero placement to align attacks without leaving your squad open to enemy fire. It captures almost RTS-esque strategizing crammed into bite-sized battles.

Other party management mechanics like weapon/armor crafting or team synergy attacks have popped up in some standout genre successors as well – just look at Undead Cells and its class fusing. But no other title has paired that level of tactical consideration with the typically braindead fun of automated fighting.

Fellowship also crushes rivals in terms of sheer personality and charm thanks to the vivid pixel art and animations bringing your heroes to life with way more visual flair than the intentionally stale survivors. Chibi knights bulldozing through demons or heavies chucking goblins – it’s endlessly delightful.

At its heart, Fellowship delivers the same zen, addictive gameplay loop as forebearers – grind, level up, push further. But the ingenious format shifting creates a wholly fresh style of play compared to the rest of the admittedly oversaturated genre. It manages to breathe new life into the repetitive slaughter by making you deeply consider party construction and positioning in hugely satisfying ways no competitor can claim.

Fellowship Brings Welcome Strategy to Button Mashers

At the end of the day, Fellowship delivers largely familiar auto-battler satisfactions. You’ll still grind hordes, level up between runs and juicing your heroes gear-wise. But the ingenious addition of strategic party formations and hero synergies make for a markedly richer experience. Actually tactically maneuvering your damage-dealers around tanks to devastating efficiency completely changes the typically static playstyle. It rewards vastly more engaging moment-to-moment considerations versus mindlessly wading through enemies until you eventually get overwhelmed through sheer attrition.

There’s certainly still room for improvement – continuing to build up the enemy variety, smoothing progression pacing and realizing the lofty content roadmap. But the rock-solid foundations and clever genre elevating mechanics make Fellowship an easy recommendation for fans eager for a bit more cerebral challenge amidst their zen-like grinds. It maintains the pick-up-and-play appeal that makes obliterating screenfulls of baddies so morishly addictive with a clever systemic twist.

Fellowship brings some welcome IQ to the normally braindead genre without sacrificing accessibility or the hypnotic feedback loop making this style of game so successful. If you’ve burnt out on the repetitive slaughter of Vampire Survivors successors, do yourself a favor and enlist in the fellowship for a rewarding, strategy-spiced take on relaxing chaos.

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