Scratch that post-Elden Ring itch with sci-fi soulslike Dolmen

After running a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2018 and being featured in last year’s Future Games Show, sci-fi action RPG Dolmen is now available on Steam for $40. Other than Dolmen, Massive Work’s only other listed project is a rhythm game called “Tap Hitz,” so this full featured action RPG is a pretty impressive early or first effort for the studio.

Dolmen takes place on the alien world of Revion Prime, and asks players to secure samples of the titular crystal in the name of human advancement. Probably nothing to be concerned with there, nothing nefarious about using Dolmen in the name of human advancement.

It doesn’t look like the same sort of lore fest as your typical FromSoftware offering, but it does have a striking neon look that reminds me most of Digital Extremes’ action MMO, Warframe. The combat looks like classic Souls, with blocking and dodging generously-telegraphed enemy attacks, as well as unique movesets tied to weapon archetypes.

I’ll be curious to see how Massive Work Studio balanced the game’s extensive-looking arsenal of ranged weapons as well. FromSoft’s ranged combat options can be a bit of an afterthought, but 2019’s Remnant: From the Ashes did a great job melding the Soulsborne flow with third person shooting.