33 Immortals has one of the coolest co-op roguelite concepts around, but weak in-run upgrades and repetitive progression keep it from becoming truly great
In concept, and even partly in execution, 33 Immortals is one of the most unique roguelites I have played in a while. You jump into a large map with 32, 21, or 10 other players depending on the raid, then everyone fights the "soldiers" of God, collects bones and souls, opens chests, clears smaller dungeon arenas, kills minibosses, and prepares for a giant boss fight. I have not really seen another indie game built around this kind of large-scale roguelite raid structure, and for the first couple of hours, it is honestly pretty cool.
The story setup is clearly inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. In the hub, you meet Dante, Virgil, Beatrice, Charon, and other familiar figures, but they mostly function as vendors and progression NPCs. Dante lets you unlock skills, Virgil handles lore, Beatrice tracks challenges, and Charon sells cosmetics. It gives the game a strong thematic identity without drowning you in exposition.
There are eight classes, which are basically eight different weapons. You have a bow, staff, large sword, claws, and a few others, each with its own light attack, heavy attack, and special ability. From the hub, you enter a giant glowing door and choose between Inferno, Purgatorio, and Heaven, with the latter two requiring keys earned from previous raids. Inferno is the easiest, partly because the enemies are simpler and partly because there are 33 real players running around helping each other.
The maps are large, with multiple paths, chests, minibosses and events scattered around. Every so often, smaller dungeon rooms open up, and up to six players can enter. Clear enough of these and you move closer to unlocking the boss door. When everyone is moving with purpose, 33 Immortals has a fantastic flow. It feels like a tiny MMO raid compressed into a shorter roguelite session.
That is the dream version of the game. The problem is that the roguelite side does not carry its weight.
For me, the most important thing a roguelite needs to nail is the feeling of becoming more powerful during a run. I want upgrades that change my attacks, create synergies, and make my build feel dangerous. 33 Immortals rarely gave me that feeling. Most upgrades feel too small. Dash to gain a tiny attack-speed boost. Attack a little faster. Dashes trigger a small explosion. Stuff like that.
Those kinds of upgrades are not useless, but they are boring. They do not meaningfully change the way I play. They do not make me look at my weapon and think, okay, now this run is cooking. In a game with this much chaos and this many players, the upgrades should feel wild. Instead, too much of the progression feels like tiny efficiency bumps hidden behind pretty relic art.
The meta progression is not much better. You can permanently improve stats and unlock more power over time, but it rarely feels exciting. There is not enough interesting buildcraft, real synergy, or attack-altering nonsense to keep the loop fresh across repeated runs. For a game about rebelling against God's final judgment with dozens of immortals, my character often felt weirdly underpowered.
Enemies can feel spongey too. If you try to handle a larger group by yourself, you will quickly learn that the "Immortals" name is more poetic than literal. You can die fast, so the game strongly pushes you to stay with others, which makes sense for a co-op game.
But we have all played multiplayer games. People wander off. People tunnel vision. People die on the other side of the map. People leave. By the time the final boss opens, the original raid size is usually much smaller. Fighting Satan with ten players is rough because the boss has a ridiculous amount of health and your attacks do tiny chunks of damage. Co-op attacks help, where players stand in circles together to trigger bigger effects, but the whole thing still drags when too many players are gone.
That also exposes something strange about the co-op design. For a game built entirely around cooperation, 33 Immortals does not really have proper healer or tank roles. Everyone is essentially another damage dealer with a different weapon and a shared responsibility to revive, stack circles, and survive. That can work, but the large-group fantasy feels less structured than it should.
After a few hours, repetition sets in hard. You enter a map, collect resources, clear rooms, open chests, chase upgrades that barely change anything, then hope enough people make it to the boss. Inferno, Purgatorio, and Heaven raise the stakes, but the basic rhythm does not change enough.
That is frustrating because the presentation is excellent. I love the art style. The character designs, enemies, hub, bosses, and divine afterlife imagery all look great. It is clean, readable, stylish, and striking even when the screen is full of players, projectiles, and enemies.
On the ROG Xbox Ally X, the game runs perfectly for me. Performance was not the issue at all, which is impressive given how many players and effects can be on screen. The one technical annoyance I ran into was launching the game through Steam. Sometimes it gets stuck in that "Launching executable" loop, forcing me to back out and launch again. It is not game-breaking, but it is weird and annoying.
33 Immortals is a game I admire more than I love. The concept is excellent. The first few hours are exciting. The large-scale co-op roguelite structure feels fresh, and the Divine Comedy framing gives it a memorable identity. But the in-run upgrades, relics, and meta progression are too conservative for the kind of game this wants to be.
If the builds were crazier, if relics changed attacks more dramatically, if classes had clearer co-op roles, and if boss fights scaled better when half the raid disappears, this could be something special. Right now, it is a very cool idea with solid execution in some areas and disappointing roguelite depth in others. I still think it is worth trying if the premise sounds interesting, especially because there really is not much else like it. Just do not expect it to stay fresh for as long as the concept suggests. Thanks for reading!
