Superfuse PC Early Access Preview

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 Superfuse is a hack and slash, class-based action roleplaying game with a comic book styling. It is now available in Early Access on PC via Steam, with development by Stitch Heads Entertainment (Kabounce) and publishing by Raw Fury (Kingdom Two CrownsDome Keeper). Check it out today with three of your friends!

Fuse Your Skills To Fit Your Style In Superfuse

If you ask a random gamer what games come to mind when they think of the ARPG genre, I wouldn’t doubt if Path of Exile and the Diablo series are among the first to note. Come to think of it I’m fairly certain Diablo was one of the first PC games I really got to play. I know I spent plenty of time in high school playing Diablo 2 online with my best friend as well. So I couldn’t pass up the chance to check out Superfuse once I educated myself a bit more about what it had to offer. Let me know about your first ARPG experience in the comments after the preview!

Your character wanders through an area packed with filth and npcs. The comic-book style tunes you into the dystopian universe around you. Litter and signs of rundown atmosphere are everywhere.
A dystopian comic book scene if I’ve ever seen one.

Gameplay

Superfuse is a class-based ARPG at its core with deep customization of skills to suit your playstyle. You take on the role of an Enforcer, a superpower-enhanced tool of the corporate elite in a time where Earth has seen its end days and humanity found escape among the stars. Now you must keep humanity safe by working to remove the corruption plaguing the various colonies across the solar system.

There are currently three classes available in Superfuse. I say currently because though I don’t recall having seen it written down anywhere, I would be surprised if they did not add additional ones either further in development or sometime after full release. Those currently available include Berserker, Elementalist, and Technomancer. The Berserker is your go-to melee fighter that is a staple in nearly all ARPGs. The Elementalist is more of a mix between range and melee abilities. And the Technomancer is a mix of more range and summoner-type abilities. Of the three, the Berserker has the most options in the way of abilities that are currently available to play around with.

Fuses are really the meat and potatoes of Superfuse though. These are drop-based skill enhancements that modify different aspects of specific skills they are used with. A few examples of fuses include Shatter, which modifies a skill to add a chance to basically explode your enemy upon death in a way that damages other enemies. Another would be Split, which causes a range ability to split into multiple projectiles after hitting an enemy, causing a split-percentage damage to additional enemies it may strike afterwards. The caveat is that you cannot use every fuse with every skill. Skills also can only hold so much fuse energy at a time and total available fuse energy is based on your level. This was one aspect of the fuse system I wasn’t terribly fond of, especially at low level. I was picking up all these fuses but could barely use more than a few. Levelling up your base skills also requires fuses to be added to them, which made making more than one skill viable feel like a challenge.

With the understanding that Superfuse is only in Early Access, there were only a few items that really stuck out to me as needing attention. One of the major issues I had that was more than a bit frustrating was clicking on targets. The target selection area felt much smaller than in other ARPGs so I felt at times that I was trying to attack but nothing was happening because I wasn’t clicking directly on a target. This was most annoying when using a melee skill. Another frustration comes with the skills themselves and how they relate fuses to skill level. As you can see in the screenshot below, you put skill points into your tree and acquire the base skills along the way. But the only way to enhance those skills is to spend skill points on the tree or use fuses. At low level, I felt extremely limited by this. Hopefully it is something that will see some changes after further feedback from the community.

The primary talent tree is shown as a strand of DNA. The talents are along one strand with offset enhancement strands.
Though your talent points follow a main path, you can enhance specific ones at your choosing.

Graphics & Audio

One of the major draws for Superfuse in addition to the fuse system is definitely the comic-book style graphics. It honestly makes me long to play the old Marvel Heroes ARPG that felt like it was taken offline all too soon. There is clearly a lot of artistry in this aspect of the game though. Everything from the environment to character design reflects the style with a distinct purpose. And you can’t go wrong with the panel-style loading pages. Very fitting for the story and lore as well. Even the paint shop, a way to customize the look of your character that isn’t often seen in ARPGs, looks like it came straight from a comic.

The dystopian and cyberpunk-esque feel to the environment is also present in the audio tracks. Superfuse includes a track list that gives an ambiance straight out of Blade Runner or the like. Other audio effects such as attacks and enemies didn’t stand out as unfitting but were not distinct either. The soundtrack is available separately or as a bundle to purchase as well if that’s your jam.

The player's character is standing with a menu to the left side of various colors available. Selection by armor/weapon piece may be chosen from.
The paint shop allows you to customize your character’s gear with a selection of color palettes.

Longevity

I feel like Superfuse will eventually be as competitive with endgame activities that will add a comfortable amount of longevity. The devs already have a system called the Solar Map and Contracts in place that they will expand upon moving forward. The fact that they already have endgame in mind is promising. It shows they are aware that the genre doesn’t usually end with the main campaign. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to touch upon these systems yet, so can’t speak more about them.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Superfuse is looking to be a decent addition to the ARPG genre. It has a unique visual style and gameplay mechanics of its own that set it apart. Not to mention a cool backstory and lore. I know I’ll be keeping an eye on this one. If you’re an ARPG/superhero/comic book fan maybe you should too.

If you enjoyed this preview piece, be sure to check out my other reviews here.

Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.

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