Ever since I joined Rogueliker, 33 Immortals has been high on my wish list. I’ve always been impressed by games that take a gamble and strive to push the boundaries of their respective genres, and that’s exactly what drew me to this ambitious MMO roguelite hybrid from Thunder Lotus, the developer of the excellent Spiritfarer.
What the Canadian developer has done here shows real potential, but a few shortcomings in its current Early Access state hold it back from being a firm recommendation right now. Let’s dig into why…
What is 33 Immortals?
33 Immortals is a co-op action roguelike where 33 players team up to complete raids and fight epic bosses on a vast open map. The game draws inspiration from Dante’s 14th century poem The Divine Comedy and sees players take on the role of a damned soul who is rebelling against God’s final judgment. Joining forces with 32 other allies, you must fight for your eternal life or risk punishment for all eternity.
Unlike traditional roguelites, where you push as far as possible with each run, gathering upgrades to improve your next attempt, 33 Immortals features a more structured loop. During each run, you’ll complete mini raids known as Torture Chambers, upgrade your character’s stats, and work together to slay a concluding giant behemoth boss. Then you’ll repeat this cycle, earning upgradable materials that you can spend in the game’s hub world.
The Dark Woods hub area currently features a handful of vendors to interact with, along with missions to take on and complete. Players can purchase and equip perks for stat bonuses, take on rotating daily missions, and unlock new cosmetics, including adorable pets that follow them into battle. Permanent buffs are also unlocked by completing core missions that are focused on aspects such as different weapon types, co-op play, and specific maps.
Dynamic combat with a strategic edge
There are four main weapons in 33 Immortals (Daggers, the Sword, the Bow, and the Staff) and the game does a great job of encouraging you to mix up your selection. Each weapon has a special co-op ability, and these can only be triggered when two other players stand on glowing tiles that are temporarily on the ground. When playing as a group, it pays to have a mix of these abilities, as the Sword can be used to generate a temporary shield, the Bow can deal a devastating flurry of arrows, and the Staff can slow down surrounding enemies.
Many of the game’s daily quests and missions, which are linked to levelling up your character, require you to use a specific weapon – another good incentive to switch things up. All weapons come with a basic attack and a charged attack, and I found them all really accessible and simple to use. I ended up sticking with the Bow as my main, though, as it was easier to dodge enemy attacks and projectiles when firing from a distance, and I liked having the ability to strike enemies with my arrows twice when firing them and recalling.
Whilst the combat does provide a satisfying mix of four different weapons, the biggest headache I experienced was how cluttered things can feel onscreen, especially during the more compact arenas of the ascension and boss battles. Having so many enemies and players trade blows onscreen does make for quite the visual spectacle, but I found it hard to keep focused on my character and kept stumbling into the path of projectiles.
At the time of writing, there are also only two main levels and these are Inferno (for 33 players) and Purgatorio (for 22 players). Whilst these two maps do succeed in providing an introductory experience and a more heightened challenge, it’s not long before I wanted more. The two boss battles, whilst epic in scale, seem to be the same each time, and there isn’t enough enemy variety or randomised encounters to keep things fresh. It’s not long before things descend into feeling grindy and repetitive.
Hell for all
With the game’s main hook being its multiplayer component, it would be stating the obvious to say that playing 33 Immortals is much more fun as a group, but I’ll do it anyway. Dispatching enemies in a party is a much safer strategy and there are other benefits too, such as being able to take advantage of the healing impact that comes from using shrines.
The other great thing about the game’s co-op is that it makes a more accessible experience for all players. When playing in a party with my dear friend and fellow rogueliker, Mike, I was able to revive him on numerous occasions. Even though he stumbled at the final hurdle at the ascension battle, he wasn’t doomed to sit on the sidelines in shame. Instead, the game handed him another chance and he was able to take part in the full 33 Immortals experience.
The 33 Immortals Early Access Roadmap
With all of that said, 33 Immortals is still at the start of its journey in Early Access and Thunder Lotus has plenty more content updates planned for the rest of the year. The developers have outlined a road map spanning between now and this autumn and they have teased that more is planned to come in 2026. Some of these standout additions include a new world named Paradiso, private sessions, and the ability to descend after ascending.
Whilst this road map does show a promising future for the game in terms of content, I am concerned about its longterm health as it currently needs 22 – 33 players per game to be operational. With it currently being on Game Pass this doesn’t present much concern, and hopefully, Thunder Lotus is able to maintain this audience with compelling content updates.
The Verdict
33 Immortals delivers an ambitious and exhilarating co-op roguelike experience, blending fast-paced combat with a striking, hand-drawn world inspired by The Divine Comedy.
Its large-scale raids and strategic co-op mechanics make for some thrilling moments, but the limited amount of content at launch, repetitive encounters, and visual clutter hold it back in its Early Access state.
With continued content updates, the game has the potential to evolve into something special, but for now, I’d recommend checking it out first on Xbox Game Pass, if you have a subscription, of course.
33 Immortals is out on Xbox Series and PC via Epic Games Store. Thank you to Thunder Lotus for providing us with a code for this Early Access review.
