If you’ve ever stared down a towering, hyper-aggressive boss in a Soulslike and thought, “Man, I wish my friends were here to share this misery,” independent developer Feeble Minds has some excellent news for you.

The studio has officially launched Serpent’s Gaze into Steam Early Access. Dropping the lonely melancholy typical of the genre, this dark fantasy title offers a brutal, punishing 1-4 player co-op Soulslike experience that wants you and your squad to bleed, adapt, and conquer together.

Here is why you should grab your favourite build-crafting buddies and head into the desert today.

Welcome to the Desert, Scion

In Serpent’s Gaze, you step into the shoes of a Scion—a warrior brought to life by the fading tree god Magnolia. Your explicit mission? To overthrow the usurper gods ruling the land and make the desert bloom again. Unsurprisingly for a Soulslike, the only tool at your disposal to achieve this divine restoration is absolute, tactical violence.

Players will hack, slash, and dodge-roll through a world divided by distinct, hostile factions. You’ll navigate everything from the harsh, sweeping sands of the nomadic Majin to the imposing, shadow-drenched cathedrals of the proud Attar’Esh.

A Soulslike Combat System with a Roguelike Twist

Feeble Minds is blending heavy, high-stakes third-person combat with distinct roguelike progression hooks. While the environments themselves are beautifully handcrafted rather than procedurally generated, your journey through them will change every single time.

• Divine Blessings & Relics: As you fight your way through the levels, you’ll amass power-ups, gifts from your patron, and blessings from strange deities to customise your build on the fly.
• The Curse System: The gods aren’t just letting you steal their power passively. A dynamic Curse system introduces unpredictable variables to each run. You might suddenly find yourself hunted across the map by aggressive minibosses or forced to navigate devastating environmental hazards.
• The Awareness System: Think you’ve got a handle on the challenge? Think again. The game features an Awareness system that ensures each successful run makes the next one progressively more punishing.

Co-op Camaraderie or Solo Suffering?

While the game scales and functions beautifully as a solo endeavour for the purists who want to tackle the challenge at their own pace, it truly shines as a cooperative multiplayer experience. Rallying up to three friends allows you to coordinate builds, cover each other’s weaknesses, and draw the aggro of some truly relentless bosses.

As Feeble Minds CEO Jannik Reuterberg noted at launch, the Early Access period is designed to be a “cooperative endeavour” in more ways than one, with the team looking to heavily involve the community’s feedback on the road to version 1.0.

Available Now

If you’re ready to test your reflexes and your friendships, Serpent’s Gaze is available on PC via Steam Early Access right now. Bring your best roll finger—you’re going to need it.

#CoOpGaming #Soulslike #IndieGames #SerpentsGaze #EarlyAccess