Falsepine

"Falsepine" is just another student project dumped onto the Steam store, one of thousands. Student projects might look better than amateur shovelware, but they aren't real games. This is just a glorified homework assignment. It lacks the depth and value you get from professionally developed product because it was made for a grade, not for players. Schools shouldn't be using Steam to show off student projects. It might be fine for the school's marketing, but it clutters the Steam store with pollution... we have to sort past all these short student tech demos just so we can find real, full games from professional developers. This is a case of a game dev college putting its own interests before the interests of gamers. The students made a wild-west themed contentless (endless empty procgen) top down shooter... now, don't let the slick visuals fool you, this is just a homework assignment, it's unpolished and unmaintained (the students got their grades and moved on). The jankiness from lack of polish and bugs that will never be fixed make this frustrating and unpleasant to play. Heck, if this was a fully developed and professionally produced game it might even be worth paying money…

cool concept.

Falsepine is one of those action roguelikes that immediately caught my attention because of its supernatural western setting. I play as a monster hunter travelling through a brutal frontier while tracking down legendary creatures, and I really liked the combination of western imagery with dark fantasy horror. It gives the game a much stronger identity than a generic top down shooter would have. The combat is fast and demanding, with a large selection of weapons and tools that let me approach encounters in different ways. I can build a character around heavy melee attacks, long range shooting or something in between. I enjoyed experimenting with different equipment because each expedition gives me another opportunity to create a build that feels different. Exploration is just as important as the fighting. Before heading out on a hunt, I can prepare in town, purchase equipment, investigate clues and decide what kind of bounty I want to pursue. I liked this preparation phase because it makes each expedition feel like an actual hunt rather than simply choosing a level from a menu. The legendary creatures are probably the most memorable part of the game. Tracking them through differe…

Falsepine takes the structure of an action roguelike and wraps it in a supernatural Wild West setting, resulting in an adventure with a much stronger personality than its modest scale might initially suggest. Instead of playing an unstoppable gunslinger, you become part of a continuing lineage of hunters whose dangerous profession involves tracking monsters across an unforgiving frontier. It was developed and published by Voyager Softworks as a university final-year project, and that context is important because the game is ambitious for a production of its size. It may lack the polish of larger commercial roguelikes, but there is considerable imagination behind its combination of gunfights, exploration, bounty hunting, character builds, and supernatural mythology. The central objective involves hunting five legendary creatures scattered throughout the untamed West. This gives each expedition a stronger sense of purpose than simply clearing randomly generated encounters for incremental upgrades. Exploration also contributes to the hunt because journals and clues reveal information about the creatures and the strange history surrounding them. The result is an appealing mixture of a…

I wanted to like Falsepine. The twisted Wild West roguelike shooter concept had potential, but it’s a big letdown. The game feels unfinished and janky with inconsistent combat and awkward enemy AI. Procedural levels quickly become repetitive due to lack of variety, and the limited content gets boring fast. Abandoned by the devs with no updates in years, plus poor performance and controller support. Had the bones of something cool, but it's simply not worth your time.

It’s a really fun game and can be quite challenging. I really like the top-down shooter view — it looks great and feels smooth. The character design is very cool, and the enemies also look great with a good variety. I’ve always enjoyed games where I play as a mercenary or bounty hunter, and this one nails that vibe. The weapon variety is also excellent — my favorites are the double-barrel shotgun and the repeater rifle. I have to say, this game feels pretty different from most top-down shooters I’ve played, in a good way. That said, there are a few issues. The bounty posters are hard to read because the text is a little small. I also ran into a bug where two bright moles got stuck in the ground — I couldn’t kill them or exit to the town, so I had to blow myself up just to restart.