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Pascal’s Wager review: An ambitious attempt towards a dark RPG

Pascal’s Wager is a role-playing console game that made its way to the mobile platform in late June 2020. The PS4 version of Pascal’s Wager saw players wandering deep into the dark Infested world with their protagonist. And one may ask, how does such a game run on mobile? So let us get straight into the Pascal’s Wager review.

The developers surely took their time to make its way to mobile, And to the surprise of millions of mobile gamers out there, Pascal’s Wager is not very demanding in terms of specs. The game runs pretty well on low graphics settings even on middle range devices.

Overview

The protagonist of Pascal’s Wager, named Terrence, was banished from the church for transgression and has ever since been struggling with his theological doubt. So who is he exactly? Imagine taking Geralt of Rivia from the Witcher from the horrors of Gwent, and throwing him into an even darker, more hostile world that is influenced by dark creatures.

If you’re familiar with Dark souls, then you know that Pascal’s wager was focused on replicating it. The aesthetics and gameplay fit very well for dark souls on mobile devices. Of course, Apple was most impressed by the Release of Pascal’s Wager on mobile. They wasted no time in showcasing the game on their latest devices.


Unique Storyline and missions

It is not every day we get to see a PlayStation 4 game make its way to mobile, and be the same as the console version. Sure we’ve had some in the past, but they’re very rare to come by, and Pascal’s Wager is one of those games.

The game starts with a cuts scene carriage ride through the forest. The cut scene looked a bit blurry, even on PlayStation. It’s not comparable to the cuts scenes of other PS4 games such as God of War, The Last of Us, etc. It is more VHS than UHD.

Pascal's Wager storyline

Probably the developers were either on a low budget, or that was how they wanted it to look. But regardless, the game graphics still look very impressive. But why should mobile users care? Obviously you can’t get the kind of lavish, significant detail, and polish that a high-end console such as the Playstation 4 has on mobile. But for the ambition and optimization on mobile devices, the Developers, Tips works deserve a round of applause and some admiration.


Pascal’s Wager offers a unique gameplay and combat style

Your first one on one combat with an enemy will give a sense of the combat system. You’d think the game is more like an assassin Creed franchise, but it’s not. It’s more like a hack n slash mobile version of the Witcher.

The protagonist combines a series of slashed and powerful slices to finish off weird looking creatures without sweating. But some creatures are tougher than most. When you encounter such enemies, you may come to dislike the game for its unforgiving difficulty.

Pascal's Wager gameplay

You’ll need to be tough to finish Pascal’s Wager without getting killed a couple of hundred times. You may think you’ve finished off enemies, but your hopes are laid to rest when you encounter the next boss.

Players may find it a bit difficult to navigate their way throughout the dark forest. As the game offers no detailed map or compass to guide you. I got lost a couple of times and kept going over and over the same trail. The game has no landmarks, which can make it confusing for you to figure out where you should be next.


Pascal’s Wager provides Controller support

As you battle your way through enemies in the dark world of Pascal’s Wager, you will get to a point where you’ll realise that the normal touch controls just aren’t enough. Some bosses are faster, smarter, have better weapons, and are generally more powerful.

You’ll need to move your hands really fast to beat them. And you can to that with the controls at times. Terrence does have some really sleek moves up his sleeves, like fast evading, impressive block system (you can block an incoming attack and move at the same time), and drinking health potions in the middle of a fight.

All that can help, and the touch controls can even be adjusted to however you want it to be. But if it’s still not enough, then you may have to dust out that gamepad of yours and master the controls to use it. The gamepad buttons can also be configured to your taste.

You can either connect via the usual Bluetooth gamepads for mobile or a console controller. Despite having a controller, it doesn’t make you invincible. Therefore, you might get killed several times again and again, but you will have a better grip, and control of your character, and watch the bosses movement, and notice their weakness comfortably. With the right combinations or controller, taking down a boss that has been lingering for long will feel very rewarding.


New and interesting characters to choose from

So far I have been talking about Terrence in this Pascal’s Wager review, but a unique thing about the game is that despite being based in a terribly dark universe filled with creatures that wanna kill you, the game also has other characters and other adventures that you will encounter along the way.

Pascal's Wager characters

In total, there are four characters, so far we’ve only used two of them, but each of them possesses their own abilities, and fighting styles, with a variety of skills at their disposal.

You can take two characters into battle, and if one is defeated, the other takes over. You will unlock that as you progress further in the game. It’s a cool feature in the game and adds an extra strategy layer, as well as out give you the opportunity to decide which character’s ability is best to face off against a particular boss.


Final thoughts

There’s a lot to admire about the game in this Pascal’s Wager review. So many mysteries, enemies, characters to stumble upon, and bosses to face off. The game offers up to 20 hours of intense gameplay without asking you to buy anything.

While the game displays a lot of ambition and came with its own scope and style of play, some players might accuse it of borrowing a lot from Dark souls on console. The developers may have a problem getting a considerable amount of mobile players to buy the game. And due to Playstore’s sometimes ridiculous charge for paid apps, we’ve seen several developers take off their games from mobile stores. Games like Eisenhorn: Xenos, Jade Empire, Epic of Kings, etc. These were all console / PC ports to mobile. Hopefully, Pascal’s Wager will last longer than most.

Pascal’s Wager demands that you play with a controller, mostly if you’re at home. And even if you’re playing with a controller, you need to be good at using one. Pascal’s wager is an ambitious game, worth playing if you are not easily frustrated.


Did you find this Pascal’s Wager review useful? If you have any question or suggestion, feel free to drop them in the comment section below.

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