I'm pretty sure I've used this subtitle somewhere before given the number of games in the Souls-like genre these days - most of them trying to emulate the strategic combat flow, interconnected world design, and progression mechanics. Hell, I'd argue the influence has perhaps been a little too pervasive as for every successful attempt, there's an IP that has adopted Souls-like mechanics to their detriment.

Were it not for a preview build last year and recent marketing videos, you might not have realised Dolmen is a traditional, albeit budget Souls-like. It's described as an "action RPG" - an almost meaningless description these days - with sci-fi and cosmic horror elements. That's mostly true, just with a focus on a lot of rough combat and a dick-ish approach to difficulty.

Full disclosure - I usually love me some jank, especially in RPGs where I'll take mechanical depth and multiple quest outcomes over production values any day. However, the jankiest element of Dolmen is the combat, in a genre that lives or dies by the quality of its combat.

When in doubt, don’t open portals for interdimensional beings.

Things start well enough, as you lightly customise a fully-voiced protagonist - picking their gender, armour style, and trim colour - before selecting a build with different starter weapons and slightly varied attributes (which makes little difference after an hour or two). The opening cutscene reveals your protagonist is an agent of the Zoan corporation, guided by their ship-board AI on a mission to investigate an overrun mining facility.

In the far future humanity has spread among the stars and corporations now use genetically-modified humans to survive the harsh conditions on mining worlds. The augmented and barely-human "drillers" of Revion Prime have been mining the titular Dolmen, while their scientists have been bombarding it with energy to communicate with beings from another dimension and thin the barrier between them. It should come as no surprise they eventually open a rift, realities begin to merge, and monstrous creatures appear, followed shortly by a bad-tempered alien race.

Now, if you enjoy Souls-like games for their dense, often obscure lore - you won’t find it in Dolmen

Now, if you enjoy Souls-like games for their dense, often obscure lore - you won’t find it in Dolmen. A few cutscenes and flashbacks add some cinematic flair but the bulk of the storytelling is done through conversations with the AI or a myriad of blandly written notes scattered around the world. The storytelling feels perfunctory, there's little interesting flavour text or optional narrative encounters, item descriptions are purely functional, and you learn little about the expanded universe.


The concept of merging dimensions allows for a good mix of environments despite the limited scope.

Once you’re teleported down to the surface, the gameplay initially fares better as you settle into a familiar ‘Souls-like rhythm. Your health bar can disappear in 2-3 hits if you play recklessly and the stamina bar handles attacking, blocking, and dodging, but there's also an energy bar that adds a legitimately novel and tactical element to the combat. It can only be restored by consuming batteries (i.e. Estus flasks), which are refilled between beacons (i.e. bonfires) but you can consume a segment to instantly heal mid-fight, add elemental damage to your melee attacks for a few seconds, or use it as a recharging ammunition pool for ranged weapons (though "heavy attack" shots permanently consume a portion).

...the gameplay initially fares better as you settle into a familiar ‘Souls-like rhythm.

Firearms – think sci-fi pistols, shotguns, and rifles with an elemental affinity – are automatically drawn when aiming with the left trigger so you can swap in and out of melee and ranged combat quickly. This is something you'll need to get used to, as Dolmen's enemy mix - especially during some boss fights - is designed to test both your skills and tolerance for artificial difficulty.


I don’t think a pure firearms build is viable - unless you really enjoy waiting for the energy to recharge between each kill - but they're far more versatile than most ranged weapons in the genre.

In general, one-on-one fights feel suitably responsive and tense, encouraging you to apply an elemental effect using a weapon (like slowing a target with an ice attack) before moving in with a blade. Combat against groups is messier and often deadly, though firearms can again be used to stagger approaching foes or even pick off the weakest variants outright.

Unfortunately, the janky combat is persistent throughout and the problems are not aesthetic. Movement is stiff, the lock-on is temperamental (especially when swapping between melee and ranged weapons), while hit-boxes are a complete mystery. Despite the frustrating inconsistency, it works both ways, leading to moments when you're hit by an attack from far beyond the animation range, but also moments you survive a fight with a scrap of health after several attacks passed right through you.

Unfortunately, the janky combat is persistent throughout and the problems are not aesthetic.

Another weird element is just how malicious many encounters feel - to the point the developers have seemingly strived to make Dolmen as frustrating and inaccessible as possible. Even the opening hour features a dozen or so tutorial markers advising on how to play, which will suggest actions liable to lead you right into an ambush. Another example is Dolmen's insta-kill environmental traps and moving hazards, often found together with enemies thrown in for good measure. There were a couple of spots that had me thinking back to Dark Souls greatbow archers in Anor Londo.


I don’t think the game ever explains what the glowy death orbs are but they're a pain in the arse when combined with other hazards.

The other traditional Souls-like mechanics range from pleasingly streamlined and informative to unnecessarily grindy. Collecting nanites (i.e. souls) to upgrade is standard fare but I was impressed at how transparent and informative the attribute system is. You always know exactly what you're getting when investing a point and most attributes are useful. The crafting system is streamlined, with different gear types possessing an affinity with one of three "technologies" - human and alien - which grant buffs at specific thresholds. You can craft or upgrade basic gear with common components but also slot in rare materials to improve properties like elemental defence or the fire rate of weapons. Both these tasks are achieved by returning to your ship in orbit for a brief respite, which you can do from any beacon.

The other traditional Souls-like mechanics range from pleasingly streamlined and informative to unnecessarily grindy.

What I didn't appreciate was the need to grind Dolmen fragments to summon multiplayer support for bosses, or to respawn them to farm for nanites and unique crafting materials. Dolmen fragments drop infrequently, are lost on death rather than treated as an inventory item, and you need three of them every time. Again, why the obnoxious design?


The back-and-forth lock-on dance feels good when your blows are actually connecting.

At least Dolmen looks good and runs well on current-gen consoles and is the one area you could argue it punches above its weight. There's a "quality" mode with ray-traced reflections at 30fps, and a "performance mode" running at 60fps. The ray-traced quality mode looks great and enhances many environments but it's not worth the sluggish input and inconsistent framerate. You'll see textures loading in when starting up the game or teleporting between zones, but it only lasts a second or two. Environments are diverse and many look finely detailed, but the world design is distinctly un-Souls-like - consisting of segmented chunks, separated by loading screens, and you're better off just using beacons to teleport around. A rarely noticed the music outside of cutscenes, but the ambient, directional audio kept me on edge while exploring. The wind howls across the surface, metal catwalks creak, organic ooze drips from ceilings, and you can always hear the skittering claws, footsteps, or snarls of nearby enemies.

Dolmen looks good and runs well on current-gen consoles and is the one area you could argue it punches above its weight.

Overall, Dolmen has the potential to be a solid budget Souls-like but some serious tweaking and polishing is needed. The energy-management system adds more tactical depth to combat, the gear-based technology tree offers some nice secondary perks, and ranged weapons feel more useful than most games in this genre. However, on release, Dolmen's janky combat, cheap difficulty, and grindy multiplayer mechanic make it tough to recommend to all but the most devoted 'Souls fans that'll stomach it. For everyone else, steer clear until the developers have polished the combat and had a good think about their approach to difficulty.

*Xbox Series review code provided by Koch Media