Mirador is a rogue-like boss hunter game inspired by Dark Souls with a unique twist on loot. Developed by Montreal based Sauropod Studios, the game released for Steam on July 26th.
Every Journey Starts Somewhere
There are two major aspects to Mirador. The first is fighting bosses to earn loot. The second is creating bosses for other players to fight. Every enemy you face, has been created by another player with the loot they were able to collect on their journey through the Windblown Steppes and Flooded Plains.
Your journey starts in the Citadel, the hub of all activities in the game. From here you can select from the two available characters. You can choose from an anthropomorphic dog or raven. I’m a dog person, so my choice was obvious. As far as game play, the character you choose has make no difference. Both characters utilize the same weapons, abilities, and attacks.
There are two other major features of the Citadel which are the Obsidian Gate, where you can embark on your own, invite a friend, or play with a stranger. The Second is Sentinel creation and Deployment.
Fight the Boss!
Fighting sentinels is a difficult endeavor, it took me nearly six attempts before I was able to down the first one. However, the feeling of accomplishment when you get through it is amazing. to complete a full run, you have to defeat eleven sentinels in a row. Which is no easy task as they become more and more difficult the further into the run you progress. I have been able to complete a full eleven sentinel run once.
At certain intervals throughout the run you are able to rest and regain some healing items, and decide whether to risk the loot you’ve won from previous sentinels by pressing on, or returning to the Citadel to use it to create a monstrosity for others to fight.
A complete run looks like this;
Tier 1 Sentinel combat
Obsidian Gate + Reward Chest
Tier 1 Sentinel combat
Tier 1 Sentinel combat
Obsidian Gate + Reward Chest
Tier 2 Sentinel combat
Tier 2 Sentinel combat
Obsidian Gate + Reward Chest
Tier 2 Sentinel combat
Tier 2 Sentinel combat
Tier 3 Sentinel combat
Obsidian Gate + Reward Chest
Tier 3 Sentinel combat
Tier 3 Sentinel combat
Tier 3 Sentinel combat
Obsidian Gate + Reward Chest
Now Make a Boss of your Own!
My Character stumbled back into the Citadel battle weary, but Triumphant. I had managed to beat my first sentinel and had the loot to prove it. Now, I got to use that loot to design my own boss. Sentinel creation is where Mirador really shines. As you collect more and more loot, either by adventuring or by your Sentinel pummeling other players into the ground, more and more complex options and customization features become available for your Sentinels.
When designing your sentinel you will be given options to choose style and color of armor, what weapons and abilities it uses, and the overall behavior of the Sentinel during encounters with other players. These are all determined by what loot you choose to use. Once you have finished putting the final lethal, hopefully, touches on your Sentinel you can deploy them and let the loot roll in. You also have the option to test builds by doing a trial run against them, you may also just run into your own creation while doing a run……..
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good Stuff: Mirador is a gorgeous game. The visuals are beautifully executed, with a sound track the helps bring about an immersive experience without being distracting from the game. No two encounters are going to be quite the same. The player designed bosses and loot system are novel ideas that really bring substance to this game.
The Bad: When I first started this review I ran into some sever server issues, which were resolved within 24 hours. However, low player counts have left me waiting for extended periods of time for someone to play with. Combined with the fact that there is no indication of matchmaking status can be very disheartening.
Mirador has a lot of potential to have a great story line to it, and there seem to be little hints in the Citadel. They are so vague however I couldn’t tell if they were meant to be breadcrumbs, or if the developers didn’t have time to flesh them out. With that being said, the developers have been very responsive via Steam discussions, which is great.
The Ugly: Shortly after full release on Steam, Sauropod Studios laid off nine of their employees. My biggest gripe was that there was no feeling of progression with your player character or a story.
With the developers letting people go, I’m not sure that I will be getting either of those two things for this game, which is a shame as Mirador has set the foundations for an amazing game.
Final Thoughts
Mirador is a good game, it has some really neat mechanics in place that easily justify the price of the game, which isn’t really that much. If the developers put in the time to add some more substance to story and character progression this could easily get into my top ten favorites.
If that doesn’t happen however, I fear that this game will turn into a broken record. Overall I rate the game three out of five. I definitely recommend picking it up for fans of Dark Souls or Rogue-like games.
Mirador is available now on Steam.
