Cult of the Lamb

Cult of the Lamb is centered around a lamb who is tasked with forming a cult to appease the ominous deity who saved the player character's life. The player must launch roguelike-style crusades and venture out into the game's five regions to defeat enemies and grow their following. The world, which is randomly generated and contains roguelike elements, contains resources to gather, perks and weapons to collect, enemies in the form of rival cultists and non-believers to fight, and other animals to rescue; these animals can be indoctrinated into the player's cult. They have appearances that can be changed and both positive and negative traits, which can affect how they act in the cult or how they react to the player's actions regarding the cult [...]

In a land of false prophets, The Lamb (nicknamed Lambert), supposedly the last of their kind, is brought before The Four Bishops of the Old Faith, and is sacrificed before them. Upon dying, The Lamb is brought before "The One Who Waits", a strange deity who is imprisoned in chains. The One Who Waits tasks The Lamb with starting a cult in its name, gives The Lamb a demonic crown, then resurrects it.

Reception:

• Metacritic score: 86 / 100 (PS5), 88 / 100 (XSX), 79 / 100 (NS), 82 / 100 (PC)

• Destructoid score: 8.5 / 10

• Game Informer score: 8 / 10

• GameSpot score: 9 / 10

• IGN score: 8 / 10

• Nintendo Life score: 8 / 10

• PC Gamer (US) score: 82 / 100

• Push Square score: 8 / 10

• Shacknews score: 8 / 10

• The Guardian score: 5 / 5

• TouchArcade score: 3.5 / 5

• Electronic Gaming Monthly score: 4 / 5

Cult of the Lamb received "generally favourable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. GameSpot praised the combat, calling it "fast-paced, fluid and fun" while also being surprised by the amount of customization and player-choice which in turns makes the game "very replayable". Nintendo Life liked the variety present in the dungeon crawling, writing, "New layouts and equipment loadouts keep every run unique, while its intense and chaotic battles demand your full attention". Destructoid felt the game tutorialized its mechanics properly, "Again, for all of the elements that come into play, Cult of the Lamb presents everything in a digestible way". PC Gamer compared the game to the Animal Crossing series, saying it's like "if Tom Nook craved power instead of money", and enjoyed the ways in which the player could manage their cult, writing that it could be complicated, "but it never threatens to be overwhelming". IGN praised the way it balanced macabre themes with "cutesy cartoon vibes".

While enjoying the premise, Game Informer criticized how difficult it was to find time to customize the cult, "with so many cosmetic items thrown into the formula, I was disappointed by how rarely I was afforded the time to focus on them". [...] Polygon liked the characters that the player could find in dungeons, saying that they were "genuinely interesting, with their backstories mostly obfuscated and enhanced by their charming picture book-esque designs". Eurogamer praised the art style of the game, noting that it looked like "the best New Yorker cartoon".