Cultist Simulator has made its way to the Nintendo Switch, offering a ton of content at a great price. Check our Cultist Simulator: Initiate Edition review!
Cultist has now made its way to the Nintendo Switch thanks to Playdigious and Weather Factory as a revamped take on the console. You’ll be setting out on a journey into the occult in a 1920s-themed setting full of mystery, mayhem, pain, and desire. It’s a roguelike card game in which you’ll have to walk into the dark side to experiment with different card combinations to complete objectives such as studying ancient texts, surveying the area for new items that can help you make your choices to obtain whatever it is you’re seeking in your journey – vengeance, power, money, beauty… or death?
You might be asking yourself: “What’s in the Nintendo Switch release of Cultist Simulator?” Cultist Simulator: Initiate Edition on Nintendo Switch offers the base game, as well as its first three DLCs, at no extra cost. These include new potential legacies, new gameplay mechanics, new characters, as well as new endings to unlock. The DLC packs are the Dancer, the Priest, and the Ghoul – more on these in a bit.
You’ll be playing Cultist Simulator: Initiate Edition with the left analog stick as you move a cursor over the playing area, interacting with cards with the Y button, adding them to your collection, as you perform a wide variety of activities, which will have an effect on the stock you have for the different resources you’ll collect. Health will be important if you want to stay alive and extend your run, but so will money. If you don’t have any money, you won’t be able to get the basics needed to keep going.
You can switch between the different activities at the bottom of the screen by pressing the ZL and ZR buttons so that you can interact with them as needed, collecting more cards for some of them once their respective timers are up. If you want to stop the action, you can do so with the L button so that you can take a short breather. Once you’re ready to go, press the L button again, and all timers will continue their countdowns. Since the cards you’ll be interacting with can be a bit tiny on the screen, you can press the X button to get a closer look at the artwork, as well as the description of the card so that you can get a better idea of what it can do.
As I interacted with the stuff that Cultist Simulator was throwing at me, a mysterious package arrived. When I checked it with the X button, it said I should use Reason to analyze it. Unfortunately, by the time there was some Reason in the playing area, it was too late. My time was up. My Health had run out. I was ill – or maybe starving – and my heart could not resist it anymore. I had no money left to purchase the essential stuff needed to stay alive, and I couldn’t just dream away my ailing body and recover.
So off I was to do a second run, right after I got to determine my legacy, which would affect my next run. I could go with one of three options, and it’s here that the included DLC started to kick in. The first option was unlocked because I got the “My Body is Dead” end to my run. Bright young thing would allow me to start with wealth and talent, for what seemed to be an easier life with some of life’s delights. The second option was Physician, which was also unlocked due to the aforementioned ending, and it allowed me to start with some reason, as well as a comfy position at the Institute. The third option was Dancer, which is one of the included DLC packs, giving me the chance to be young and strong, with beauty to last for a bit, a great Passion, as well as some extra Health. You’ll get to work as a dancer on the mysterious Ecdysis Club.
The other two DLC include packs are for the Priest and the Ghoul. The Priest will allow you to open the minds and hearts of your congregation, using your knowledge and power to make the most of the zealots under your command. St. Agnes has drawn you to a new congregation, where their pain could lead you to walk down the path towards immortality. The Ghoul is definitely even darker in nature. You crave and desire flesh, so you’ll be digging in cemeteries, desecrating graves as you consume the dead, consuming their secrets as well. You could also, say, use the more recent corpses of your followers to gain more favors to aid you on your journey into the unknown.
And then, we have the Exile DLC. This one is available separately for a $6.99 purchase, and as is the case for the Dancer, Priest, and Ghoul DLC packs, it will add a new story for you to take on. For this one, you’ll be on the run from the reckoner lord you ended up betraying, stealing years – and decades – of stored life. You’re trying to disappear, so you’ll be jumping from city to city, trying to live a life while trying not to draw too much attention to your actions or whereabouts, or else someone will materialize and hunt you down. You can use the stolen life you’ve, well, stolen, and sell it for some extra cash, so that you can use that money to travel elsewhere, finding some odd and peculiar jobs here and there that will earn you the favor of the underworld. Will Amsterdam be safe? Can you find peace in Budapest? Where will your journey take you?
Cultist Simulator: Initiate Edition is a clever game with a dark narrative that will take you down some dark paths as you dive into the occult to find the resources and information needed to complete the rituals that will allow you to reach your goals. Death will be a big part of the equation because this is a game that will not hold your hand, so there’s going to be a lot of trial and error as you learn about the right combination of cards that will benefit your endeavors. Cultist Simulator: Initiate Edition is out today on Nintendo Switch with a $19.99 asking price, including the base game and the Dancer, Priest, and Ghoul DLC packs at no extra cost. If you want to enjoy the new the Exile DLC, you can buy it today as well for a $6.99 price to expand your horizons.
Disclaimer
This Cultist Simulator: Initiate Edition review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Playdigious.
