If the past year has taught me anything, it’s that players are hungry for creative co-op games. Helldivers 2 emerged as one of 2024’s biggest hits thanks to its creative squad play, Monster Hunter Wilds is enormous right now, and Split Fiction is already being hailed as a game of the year frontrunner. There’s a definite hunger right now for games that let people play together in something other than a straight shooter.
So, 33 Immortals couldn’t be dropping into early access at a better moment. The latest game from Spiritfarer developer Thunder Lotus is a top-down action roguelike with a big twist: 33 players work together at once to vanquish monsters. That might sound like a recipe for complete chaos at a glance, but it’s not. Thunder Lotus has its ambitious concept under control thanks to a bevy of ingenious co-op ideas that make players feel like they’re part of an army rather than a lone wolf in a sea of them.
Will it be a success for Xbox? That’ll depend on how much Thunder Lotus can build on its idea throughout early access. And it’ll depend even more on whether or not players can consistently match up with 32 others anytime they load in. Based on my early playtime with it, though, 33 Immortals feels like a revelatory multiplayer game that makes up for some thin combat with strategic teamwork.
Working together
In 33 Immortals, each player controls a damned soul who has joined a rebellion against God as the judgement day approaches. It’s a loose adaptation of The Divine Comedy, but centered around an army of sinners who refuse to accept their fate. That triggers a holy war where groups of 33 players all must band together to clear out waves of demons, grow their strength, and ascend.
It takes me a moment to understand what’s going on when I’m dropped in without much of a tutorial, but I get the hang of the loop after a few sessions. Before I dive in, I equip a perk and one of four weapons currently available (I can customize my character’s look if I’d like too, and even equip a pet). From there, I’m dropped into a rectangular map with 32 other players. I’m free to roam the map from there, but walking around solo isn’t a great survival strategy. My surroundings are dense with monsters that are tough to take on solo. Instead, it’s best to stick with a group and begin exploring as a group. During my testing, I found that players would naturally splinter off into different packs to cover more of the map at once. It’s like we’re one big army splitting off into battalions.
There’s a clear objective once things get moving: We need to clear out 12 challenge arenas in order to unlock the path to a boss. A few show up around the map at a time, and only six players can enter a shrine at once. The goal here is to move towards each one with a small group and try to take them out together. Once inside, squads will have to survive a tense wave battle full of monsters. It’s near impossible alone, but it becomes entirely manageable with six players.
Working together isn’t just a matter of traveling with a group and slashing foes side by side, though. There are several systems here that reward coordination. There’s a pedestal outside of each challenge room that lets players trade bones (the primary currency) for chest keys, teleportation stones, and, more crucially, healing. A player will heal 25% when it’s activated, but they’ll also give 10% health to any comrades in a short radius too. The smart move is to wait for a few players to rally together around the pedestal and then activate it rather than only healing yourself. A solo player just won’t survive on their own, so it’s in their best interest to work with others.
Even smarter is 33 Immortals’ co-op attacks. When a player’s special gauge fills up, they can place sigils on the ground. The ability is only activated once players simultaneously trigger each sigil, letting loose either a helpful buff or a devastating attack. Archers, for instance, can unleash a barrage of arrows that always fire up the screen. The smart strategy is for a player to drop their special at the bottom of a challenge room and then for three players to activate it once a sub-boss is in the crosshairs. It’s another ingenious way that 33 Immortals turns typically solo hero moments into cooperative ones.
All of this makes me feel like I’m part of something greater in a way that few games do. As the run goes on, I can see a counter in the top right of my screen telling me how many of my allies are still alive. The more it ticks down, the more nervous I become. The less people we have, the less of a chance we stand once we ascend to the area’s boss. It’s imperative for me to protect my allies, sticking close to my group so that I can revive fallen friends when needed or help conserve their health. I felt an incredible sense of camaraderie when I finally got to my first boss fight with 10 others. I was determined to survive to do right by them and our fallen souls who gave their lives to get us there.
Tweaks to come
While teamwork is the name of the game, each individual player is still important to the team. Characters can grow between battles by finding currency and upgrade materials. Chests, pots filled with bones, and orbs that allow players to pump their stats are strewn throughout the map, so there’s a good reason to scout as much of a map as possible between the big battles. It’s another smart system; when every challenge on the map is filled, that’s a great time for those left outside to gather materials and strengthen themselves. 33 Immortals is careful to never make players feel left out, as there’s always something to do.
While there are tons of great systems on display here, 33 Immortals still has some work to do in early access to motivate me to squad up long-term. I love the team systems, but the moment to moment action isn’t quite as exciting. There are four weapons at launch and each one is very simple. Daggers perform quick slashes and allow me to do a jumping strike, a magic scepter lobs orbs from afar, and a sword does what you’d expect a sword to do. None of them are particularly interesting to use so far, with one exception. The bow is a highlight, as it has players firing off shots and then recalling them. With clever placement, I can send them darting back through enemies as they fly back to me. It’s the only weapon that has depth currently, as everything else just requires some repetitive button pressing.
Repetition is 33 Immortals’ biggest hurdle out of the gate. My first go around with it had me largely doing the exact same flow with little variation. I was tossed onto the same map, where I grinded away for a good 40 minutes just to get to the first boss. It got a little old after a bit, though Thunder Lotus works in some progression hooks to motivate players. Aside from daily missions, players can level up by completing different goals. That makes each run feel worthwhile, at least, as completing tasks will open up more park slots, permanently boost base stats, and more.
Thunder Lotus has a great foundation here and I’m excited to see what else it has on its roadmap for early access. I know that an 11-player run is already in the works, but I’m eager to see some more creative weapons, new perks, and varied maps that’ll make each run feel a little different. I’m happy to enlist in any war against God, but I’ll need a little more if this is going to be the kind of roguelike I return to regularly. I have no reason to think that Thunder Lotus won’t get there, as 33 Immortals is already in great shape in early access. If you’re looking for an inventive new co-op game, join the holy war today.
33 Immortals is out now in early access on Xbox Series X/S and PC. It’s available as part of Xbox Game Pass.
