Gods, Death & Reapers is a game that has been on my mind since I first played it at gamescom 2025. An extraction RPG that isn’t a shooter with an overall Diablo feel felt perfect for me. Pair that with ancient worlds and Gods, and you have a game that plays to many of my favourite things.
During gamescom, I was only treated to a short, semi-guided walkthrough, but in the most recent play test, I was able to roam freely in Midgard, Helheim and Asgard, experiencing just one of the mythological worlds coming to Gods, Death & Reapers. The game was available in story mode or PVP, but co-op was not made live for this play test, sadly. I appreciate that the story mode can be played without an onslaught of other players attacking me, much like World of Warcraft allows you to choose non-PVP realms to play. That being said, since the game is not live, I was not able to experience much in PVP, as I never ran into another player.
Story mode, however, was up and running, and I was able to see plenty of the game ahead of its release. To my surprise, Gods, Death & Reapers refers to the story, of course, but the “Reaper” does not apply to the Grim Reaper. Your character is a Reaper, of which there are apparently many; some you even have to battle it out with during the story. I really enjoyed the imagery in the first cutscenes of the game, finding the way Wolcen depicts death very interesting. All of that sounds very dark, but I took joy in the humour and personality the studio puts into the game outside of these darker themes.
For instance, even as early as the character creator, you can paste a big ol’ “No Regrets” tattoo across your neck (though you very rarely see your character this close). This humour also comes out in text and dialogue, like a quest called “Cover yourself up for Death’s sake” where you need to obtain your armour. I love a bit of personality in a game, and always appreciate a few moments of light in an otherwise dark title, and Gods, Death & Reapers has this in spades.
“An extraction RPG that isn’t a shooter with an overall Diablo feel felt perfect for me.”
For those looking forward to the character creator, at present, there isn’t much to create. Only a male character is possible, and customization is wildly limited, but it is still pretty early in the development process, so I am hoping this grows a bit more. If it doesn’t, as I mentioned before, you rarely see your character aside from your inventory menu, so this won’t make or break the game.
There are a few other features that I am hoping to see changed before launch, too. The text that marks the map while you’re running around feels like the most basic, default font on the planet. With so much detail going into the worlds, characters and even enemies, I am eager to see some polish on aspects like text and menus by release.
“With so few skills, I would worry things would get repetitive, but I was really engaged with the way the skills in Gods, Death & Reapers are ever evolving.”
Combat in Gods, Death & Reapers took me some time to get used to, and I’ll be honest, it definitely made me question my video game ability in the first few hours. I figured I would take on a sword and shield, something very standard, to start. Turns out I am a very squishy Reaper and was getting completely pummelled at every turn, rarely making it to extraction.
It was when I switched to the javelin and shield that I was able to find my stride and start doing some damage. This is the ranged version of the Reaper and is way easier to control. I went the way of the staff temporarily, too, but its default attack was a circular AOE, which made solo fights feel impossible when you didn’t have any other skills yet.
Each time you drop in, your Reaper’s skills will reset, meaning you need to gain experience to get stronger during every single run. I like the trial and error I was able to play with here, and the more I played, the more I could streamline which skills I should invest in. In the Pit—your sanctuary, essentially—you are able to craft and alter weapons, which will also affect these skills.
Blood, Valley or Stone sigils will determine how each of your three skill slots behaves. Your base skill may be a major AOE, but each different Sigil could change what it does, like make it a projectile instead. With so few skills, I would worry things would get repetitive, but I was really engaged with the way the skills in Gods, Death & Reapers are ever evolving, giving you the option to keep things fresh with every run. There are also skills you can spec into each season, but these don’t seem to affect your combat or abilities. This is called the Soulglass, and they don’t reset when you die.
The Pit in Gods, Death & Reapers is a bit of a character in itself. This is where you will respawn after a death or an extraction, and it functions as your home base throughout the game. It feels like a very dark, secluded zone, as opposed to other extraction titles where you might find yourself in a lobby between games.
Your Pit is yours, and you will use the things you acquire on your runs to build and expand it. This will include the Whisperway, a shop where you will also obtain quests, as well as various crafting stations and more. Your vault is also here, and that is where you can store the things you don’t want to lose on your next run.
Each run in Gods, Death & Reapers is different. The map will be the same for a certain time period, but your spawn point will change. One night, I was playing in Asgard, but it told me that in 12 hours, the map would switch to Helheim. Some quests are only available in specific maps, so this time constraint might be an issue for people trying to progress. Each area has a distinct style, and though some enemies are the same in each, many are different. In my last preview for the game, I discussed how disgusting some of the enemies are, and I am glad to see that still remains true, exploding guts and all.
“After spending some more time with Gods, Death & Reapers, I really think it could be something special when all is said and done.”
You can leave a round pretty much as soon as the extraction points unlock, but that is where the risk versus reward really comes in. The longer you stay, the more loot you can take back, but the longer you stay, the more you risk dying. As time passes, notifications about the world becoming more unstable pop up, with new enemies spawning. I also spotted stacks of something called Chaos Damage, which causes your character to call out and alert nearby enemies. You can clear this at your sanctuary.
There are various dungeons throughout each map, which you need to find keys for, so I was hoarding them between runs in my Vault. Personally, I think I would do better with a teammate, as I found these dungeons a bit challenging. The maps themselves are massive, and I found myself wanting to risk it all to see everything, but in the end, I was a coward and too afraid to lose my loot.
For those who want to run, extraction points are all over the maps, but they all have different requirements to extract. I didn’t realize until several hours into the game that there were “free” extraction points. This means you can just click and go (it’s a slow click). Others included paying gold, which I was already hemorrhaging from buying healing potions, or fighting your way to freedom, etc.
Gods, Death & Reapers is a game I am really looking forward to playing on release, but not one I am sure I want to review. What I mean by that is that this is the kind of title I want to explore piece by piece at my own pace, rather than rushing progression to meet a deadline. I want to jump in with friends and experience Gods, Death & Reapers’ various maps and modes, build my sanctuary to my liking and hoard gold as I see fit, like a troll.
After spending some more time with Gods, Death & Reapers, I really think it could be something special when all is said and done. I just can’t wait to go hands-on in co-op with friends! Gods, Death & Reapers does not have a release date yet, but you can check out the official site for news about playtests here.
