The name FromSoftware is endowed with a rather positive reputation, which players associate with successful games like Elden Ring and the Dark Souls series. Thus, it is all the more surprising when a new project from a former developer of these games launches its own independent project on Steam that ultimately no one knows.
Which game is being referred to? It is the game “Rise of Rebellion” by the developer Hytacka, which was released on Steam on April 22, 2025. It is an action RPG that primarily focuses on tactics and a weapon-based combat system. Similar to well-known FromSoftware games, the strategy is to break the opponent’s defense through targeted dodging and attacking, thus dealing a lot of damage (via Steam).
The game is just a week old and the reaction from players and the community is (to put it mildly) “not good,” as Hytacka himself described it (via Automaton). As of today, April 28, 2025, the game has a “mixed” rating on Steam with around 120 reviews (40% positive ratings, as of April 28, 2025, at 13:50).
Here you can see the trailer for the aforementioned game “Rise of Rebellion”:
The developer understands the players’ reaction
What is the players’ reaction? According to the reviews on Steam and on Reddit, the game appears to have several weaknesses:
- xSenx comments on Reddit: “I saw Iron Pineapple play the demo in one of his Soulslike videos and it was pretty bad. It’s been a while since I saw it and the vision for the game was there, but the execution needed to be improved.”
- “It’s insane that they released a game in this state, it’s practically unplayable,” says kenrin on Steam, “There is no story. The area you wander in is the most generic emptiness without any life, the character has serious spine problems, there is no music at all outside of boss fights, and when a fight does work, it’s still bad.”
Despite the negative feedback, the game seems to be defended by some players primarily due to its low price. The recommended price is 8.79 Euros:
- Hoshiki_SH comments on Steam: “For its low price, the game is adequate and fun. Even though it is not on the same level as Dark Souls or Elden Ring, it is quite good and entertaining. For me, it is worth playing the game.”
How does the developer respond to the feedback about his game? Hytacka himself has shown quite a bit of reflection. On YouTube, he responded to the criticism with an update where he admits that he was unable to achieve the desired level that would satisfy his target audience: “As the reviews already show, the quality was disappointing.”
In light of the weak commercial performance of the game, Hytacka has no further major plans for the future of his game and aims to fix only minor bugs and add an optional easier mode through future updates.
As visible in one of the top comments on Reddit and the low player count, Rise of Rebellion has largely remained under the radar.
A million-dollar project has also failed and there is even talk of a “megaflop.” Allegedly, Sony paid $250 million for Concord, yet the game failed. MeinMMO explains what lies behind the allegations: Why did Concord fail so miserably on Steam and PS5, and did Sony waste $250 million on a woke catastrophe?
