Fellowship Review – Unusual Vampire Survivors Clone

In November 2023, the action roguelike Fellowship will be released, the gameplay of which clearly has familiar notes – this is another clone of the sensational Vampire Survivors. At the same time, the game has some unique features, which we will talk about in this review.

• Developer: Elraim Studio
• Publisher: Elraim Studio
• Platforms: PC
• Release date: November 2023

Fellowship is set in a fantasy world where a team of heroes takes on the minions of the dark sorcerer Goltar. The plot plot fits into a couple of lines, but in general, it is not particularly needed here, because Vampire Survivors and its clones are not based on history, but on gameplay.

The basic gameplay of the project inherits the principles of the famous roguelike: the hero attacks opponents independently, periodically uses special abilities, and gradually becomes stronger. The player, meanwhile, controls the character’s movements, sets the direction of the attack, and selects passive and active skills when leveling up. The enemies never end, they come from all sides, and after death, they leave behind experience crystals that must be collected in order to upgrade the fighter. The longer the race lasts, the stronger the monsters become, and besides, mini-bosses regularly dilute ordinary creatures.

However, while “vampires” and their clones use a single character as the protagonist, Fellowship relies on multiple fighters. So, new companions join the main character, and they all belong to different classes: having started playing as an archer, you will soon get a swordsman, priest, paladin, and other heroes into your squad. Each of them has its own attack radius, special skills, and other characteristics. The player can freely switch between characters: the rest will closely follow the acting leader.

The developers tried to adapt the game mechanics to squad gameplay. When you level up, you can choose one of three bonuses that the game offers, and it can strengthen both the entire team and its individual members. Heroes can take up so-called formations: for example, form a wedge or close a ring around the protagonist – this allows you to act more effectively in attack or defense, cut through a wave of advancing enemies or focus on one enemy. In addition, there are some synergies here: some of the characters interact better with others, which makes it possible to enhance the effect of combo techniques.

Fellowship’s key flaw comes from the game’s core feature. Several characters mean significantly increased hitboxes that the gamer must control. When focusing on the central hero, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that his allies are taking damage from nearby monsters. Considering that the creatures attack from everywhere, it becomes very difficult to maneuver between them without getting hit by them.