DaRmaZat During February’s Steam Next Fest, we got our first taste of Wildkeepers Rising through its demo, and on March 31, the game officially launches in Early Access. Developed and published by Lioncode Games, Wildkeepers Rising blends bullet heaven action with roguelite RPG elements in a world packed with collectible creatures—essentially, Pokémon meets Vampire Survivors.
The premise of Wildkeepers Rising is as straightforward as it gets. The magical universe is overrun by enemy hordes just as the powerful Guardians—spiritual monsters that could have stopped them—have been captured. The last hope lies with the Wildkeepers, warriors who are the only ones capable of freeing these creatures and strategically deploying them on the battlefield to save the land.
A Roguelite Where Beasts Fight by Your Side
In this Early Access version, you can already explore a large portion of the map, divided into different regions such as grasslands, a desert, and an icy world. In each area, after selecting your preferred Wildkeeper, you must free the captured Guardians while exploring the terrain, searching for treasure chests containing items that enhance both the Wildkeeper and their Guardians. Eventually, you’ll face off against the final boss of each world.
Every mission—essentially a roguelite run—begins with the goal of finding four Guardians and collecting as many upgrades as possible. Each run also has a specific objective, usually surviving for a set period until a crucial entity (often a new Guardian or a region boss) appears on the map. If you die in the meantime, you must restart the entire mission. Defeated Guardians remain knocked out on the ground temporarily but revive after about 30 seconds—or even sooner, depending on the upgrades collected during the run.
Plenty of Wildkeepers and Guardians—And This Is Just the Beginning
The Early Access version currently features three playable Wildkeepers. You start with Korin, a swordsman. During the first mission, you unlock Ophelia, an archer, followed shortly after by Chief Aldric, an elderly mage wielding a staff. More Wildkeepers will be added throughout Early Access.
Every new Guardian you free joins a randomized selection pool. Whenever you reach a Free Guardian icon on the map, you’re presented with three random creatures from this pool. You can deploy up to four Guardians per mission, but you’re free to choose multiple of the same type.
Simple Controls for a Fast-Paced Experience
The controls of Wildkeepers Rising are as simple as its premise. As a Wildkeeper, you can attack and perform an evasive dash. Each of the four action buttons on your controller is assigned to a Guardian’s special ability, with these powerful moves limited by cooldown timers.
By default, your Wildkeeper’s auto-attack is enabled, meaning there’s no need to manually press an attack button—but you can disable this in the game options. At the start of each mission, the Wildkeeper moves and attacks slowly, but this changes quickly through temporary upgrades called Sigils, obtained from treasure chests or level-ups. However, some chests turn into enemies instead of rewards, so you’ll need to stay alert.
Everything for the Sigils
Most Sigils can be assigned to both the Wildkeeper and their Guardians via the inventory menu, while others are Guardian-exclusive. Each Sigil belongs to a specific rarity class—Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Legendary—and grants various benefits, such as increased health, auto-healing, a higher chance to auto-dodge, extra armor, increased critical damage, a larger attack radius, and more. Some items also add elemental effects to attacks, such as fire, poison, or ice, while others provide unique perks. One particularly interesting example is Entanglement, which clones a chosen Guardian, doubling its damage output. After successfully completing a mission, you can unlock a new Sigil, making it available in future runs.
The “Just One More Run” Factor.
Beyond temporary buffs, permanent upgrades are available in the village. These can be purchased with coins dropped by enemies. Some upgrades are expensive and require multiple runs to unlock, but they’re often worth the investment. A prime example is the Phoenix upgrade, which grants the player an extra life.
When a mission fails, the entire run must be restarted. Some runs last only a few minutes, making that “just one more run” feeling hard to resist. However, boss fights begin with a grueling 20-minute survival phase before the boss finally appears.
Art Style, Soundtrack, and … Room for Improvement
The art style of Wildkeepers Rising is fresh and vibrant, featuring fully hand-drawn animations inspired by Studio Ghibli, The Dark Crystal, and Dragon Ball. Technically, the game runs smoothly, both on desktop and Steam Deck. Even when hundreds of enemies swarm the screen, the frame rate remains stable. The soundtrack, rich with Asian influences, is another highlight. However, due to the length of some runs, the music can feel repetitive. Adding more variety to the tracks during a single run could be an interesting improvement during Early Access.
The soundtrack also doesn’t hide its Asian influences and sounds particularly impressive.
Since Wildkeepers Rising is still in development, it naturally has some flaws. In combat, for example, your character automatically faces the nearest enemies, which can be frustrating when surrounded—sometimes causing you to attack in the wrong direction. Occasionally, monsters don’t seem to chase you aggressively enough, leaving you stranded or forcing you to wade into a horde in hopes that your Guardians can protect you.
Another downside is that the higher difficulty levels are currently locked. In the default mode—the only available option for now—the first two worlds are a bit too easy, with the challenge ramping up significantly only in the third world. Additionally, many procedurally generated locations within a world tend to look quite similar. The question is whether players will still be engaged by the time tougher challenges arrive.
Preliminary Thoughts
Wildkeepers Rising boasts a unique art style, a beautiful soundtrack, and, most importantly, an addictive gameplay loop. However, the combat in this Early Access version can feel a bit repetitive and too easy. That said, the game has enough potential to stand out in the already crowded Vampire Survivors-like genre. Hopefully, Lioncode Games can refine the experience with future updates and content expansions!
Additional Information
Release date: March 31, 2025 (Early Access)
Reviewed on: PC. Download code provided by developer and publisher.
Developer: Lioncode Games
Publisher: Lioncode Games
Official website: https://wildkeepersrising.com/
Relevant links: Wildkeepers Rising on STEAM
