[Review] Flame Keeper [Switch]

Flame Keeper is an Action Rogue-Lite produced by Untold Tales, set to release March 17, of 2023.

The game has wonderful cutscenes telling the story of Orbis, and you play Ignis, a sentient lump of coal tasked to bring back the fire to the world and fight the creatures of darkness who seek to consume it.

The gameplay loop of Flame Keeper is to drop in one of the three levels per biome, of which each level has three stages, and you must collect lamps to connect to the campfire and deposit energy to move to the next stage. Stage 1 and 2 are the same, however, stage three shakes this up by offering a Tower Defense where you need to protect a storage of energy in the center of the map from enemies coming down 3 different lanes.

Much in line with tower defense games you have traps and similar to damage or slow enemies, which require energy to establish. Since Energy and Health in this game are one in the same, you need to make a decision on if you would rather have traps or HP to fight against the waves of enemies coming through the portals.

Luckily, enemies drop energy and it’s never too hard to find so despite the feeling of inital dread, with enough practice and patience, you can usually survive!

After clearing a level, you’re teleported back to town to use the resources gathered to upgrade your abilities and facilities which is carried on per location verse a traditional Rogue Like, where progression is lost per each death.

Though simple, the game is a lot of fun and definitely easy to sit down and rip into without much if any experience in the Rogue-Lite Genre and I would strongly recommend that if you enjoy Rogue-Lites or if you’re looking for an entry into the genre to give Flame Keeper a try.