33 Immortals is a new co-op game for PC and Xbox that wraps the raid experience of an MMORPG in the guise of a roguelite in the style of Hades. MyMMO editor Lydia was allowed to test it in advance and reports to you how she fared as an avid single-player.
My favorite games are those in which I have to fail repeatedly to get better. I have spent hundreds of hours on roguelites like Hades and Cult of the Lamb. I love the feeling when I finally overcome a challenge that seemed almost impossible to me at the beginning.
However, I play these games alone. This means I can’t blame anyone when I die because I was too reckless and took a hit because I wanted to strike again instead of retreating to safety.
33 Immortals changes that. The new game from Thunder Lotus is the illegitimate child of Hades and an MMORPG raid, an action-roguelite for up to 33 players simultaneously, inspired by the Divine Comedy. As players, we take on the role of a lost soul and are part of a rebellion, at the end of which we must face God personally.
To do this, we grab one of 4 weapons that also determine our role in the team and venture into the inferno. Although the dungeon is designed for 33 players, it is fought in groups of 2 or 3 players.
During a preview event, I had the opportunity to play 33 Immortals in advance and will report to you how it went. In the trailer, you can already get an impression:
Together Through Hell
I set out with 2 other damned souls, hacked my way through hordes of enemies, and faced the torture chambers: rooms for 6 players simultaneously, rewarding you with up to 2 relics and strengthening you for the duration of the run.
This creates an interesting dynamic among the players, as you cooperate but are also in competition with each other at the same time. It is worth wandering through the dungeon with a larger group as this allows you to quickly deal with enemy groups.
Since the loot is instantiated, you miss nothing if you are playing with multiple people. Each weapon has a co-op ability that can only be activated together and grants a buff to the involved players. The more people are nearby, the more likely someone will be found to activate the ability.
Cooperation is also important for healing, and communication is advantageous. Healing can be purchased at the shrines at the entrance to the torture chambers. However, each player can only heal once per shrine, but the players nearby also receive a little health boost. It is worth clarifying who buys the heal.
However, access to the torture chambers is limited, and when 6 players are inside, the gates close: If you aren’t quick enough here, you’ll be left outside, missing the chance for a powerful relic – and you’ll be left alone at the mercy of the wandering enemies.
My First Wipe in an MMORPG Raid and I Want More
Once 12 of these rooms have been cleared, players are pushed towards so-called Ascension Battles, through which they can then ascend to the boss fight against Lucifer. Here, I experienced the typical MMORPG raid experience in fast forward, as none of us really understood the boss mechanics.
We hacked away at the enemy with 15 players, trying to clear out the smaller adds at the same time and completely ignoring the mechanic that would have allowed us to avoid the devastating AoE attacks.
There is no in-game chat, so communication outside of your own team is only possible through an emote wheel – I unfortunately only recognized afterward, when I watched my recording again, that a teammate was desperately trying to point us toward the saving mechanic with arrow emotes. Oops.
After the wipe – or victory – the overview of the participating players follows, and loot is distributed in the form of currency for the meta-progression. Cooperative behavior is rewarded here. Those who were involved in triggering many co-op abilities or revived fallen teammates receive more loot and can strengthen themselves for the next run accordingly.
Back in the hub world, we first checked what we had unlocked, equipped our new perks, and dove back into the fray. Unfortunately, we were unable to gather a similarly large group for the fight against Lucifer again.
Even though we now had a better understanding of what we were supposed to do, we simply had no chance of fulfilling the objectives to prevent Lucifer from casting his devastating spell with a crew of less than half a dozen players.
Although I ultimately did not manage to eliminate Lucifer to ascend and eventually face God, I had a lot of fun, and the roguelite typical feeling of “One more run” made the 3-hour preview session go by far too quickly.
Hell is Other People – But Sometimes They Are Quite Okay
But how is this for single-player gamers like me? Even though I had a great time in my co-op runs, I was curious whether a lone wolf has any chance at all, and later started a solo run.
In fact, the contents of 33 Immortals can also be experienced solo. Instead of a fixed group, I ran through the dungeon with people I randomly encountered and actually always found someone with whom I could trigger my co-op ability or from whom I could snag a heal.
I had no problems mastering the torture chambers or the ascension battle and looked just as ancient against Lucifer as I had before in my group. To my surprise, however, I had to realize that I missed communicating and collaborating with my team – a completely new experience whose far-reaching consequences I will likely have to ponder.
33 Immortals launches on March 18, 2025, in early access on Xbox and the Epic Games Store, and will also be playable through Xbox Game Pass at release. Maybe we will see each other in the inferno, as I definitely have a score to settle with God.
