The Deer God was successfully funded in the summer of 2014 and achieved almost $52,000 out of a $26,000 base goal and achieved a few stretch goals as well – mostly for ports to Wii U, Xbox One, and Ouya. The PlayStation 4 and PS Vita stretch goals were not reached, but after a lot of hard work, the game is now available on PS4. Read our The Deer God review to learn more about this survival release!
The Deer God is a 2D sideScroller with 3D pixel art and environments that are absolutely stunning. The game offers night and day cycles as you traverse the land in this tale of reincarnation and repentance. The game opens with a hunter shooting and killing a baby deer. The hunter is then attacked and fatally wounded by a wolf. The hunter must then atone for what he has done, and as a consequence, he is reincarnated into the same baby deer he had first shot.
You must explore the wildlands as a deer and accrue enough karma to please the Deer God, so you must seek out those in need of help and assist them in whatever they ask of you. If you continue down the path of good, and if the Deer God is pleased, then who knows… your wish may come true.
Gameplay is very simple and easy to pick up and play. You can run, jump and dash into your enemies. The survival elements are a major core mechanic, so you must check your health, energy and hunger meters frequently at the top left of the screen. Eat to stay full, and you will grow over time into an adult deer. If you haven’t eaten for a while and your hunger meter is depleted, it will affect your health meter and when that depletes you will die, so eat as soon as you see some food!
As you live your life as a deer, you will encounter other living and breathing individuals such as spiders, foxes, rabbits, deer, wolves and more! Some animals will attack you on sight, while others will allow you to interact with them. You’ll eventually you will meet a doe, and this will give you the ability to mate
– this will become your checkpoint.
You will also meet humans you can interact with too, and you might even be given quests that will require you to assist them! Accepting and completing these quests will give you good karma. The quests will go a long way to pleasing the Deer God, so always be ready to help others! And it is here that I have a small complaint about the game. Some of the fetch quests can be a bit annoying since they will sometimes ask for items that are hidden extremely well.
As you progress, you will earn new abilities, such as being able to hurl fireballs! The more you grow, the more abilities you earn, but the game also has some roguelike elements, so should you die, you will be reincarnated as a baby deer and lose all your abilities. The size of your antlers seems to dictate what abilities you get, so the longer you survive, the better you’ll be.
Overall The Deer God is certainly an interesting game with some very good graphics. Due to the randomization and roguelike elements, this one has a lot of replay value. Other than the problem with some of the quests, which is not a deal-breaker, you should consider this one for your PS4 collection.
Disclaimer
This The Deer God review is based on a PS4 copy provided by Crescent Moon Games.
