I've been trying a few new games lately and of those games is called Mark of the Deep. This is a game I received free from the developers to play on my YouTube channel. It's cool to be at a place with my channel where developers are now contacting me to play their games. I've received a few games for free like this but this is one of the first that I actually play on my channel.

![MOTP THUMB.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pusen/23wgDQ9jVfjSv8fPoefeoCj3nzUyJ3VD8kSQkdwuTQibP9xMRESEpvaG2soYkyEor9NXg.jpg)

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# What is Mark of the Deep?

Mark of the Deep is a top down souls-like that plays much in the style of Hades. It's not a roguelite like Hades but instead more of a action adventure game with some souls-like inspiration. It has the typical bonfire mechanic from Dark Souls but it doesn't have the typical death penalty of dropping your currency and having to retriece it. 

The game is themed around pirates, and you play as the pirate Rookie who is exploring a mysterious island suffering from a curse that's turning people into fishmen. At least that's what I've been able to gather from the first few hours of gameplay.

![20250125153928_1.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pusen/23tbF6gTRbKPVCcbQULXRnSUPccZg7QVDJfmBFSgNm4xM9dGN6DwUkaRPQtRXH4YLQXh6.jpg)

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# Simple but enjoyable

Mark of the Deep is very simple but at the same time quite enjoyable. It doesn't really have anything unique going for it but the game seems well optimized and well made. You mostly run through the world, fighting enemies, bosses and solving environmental puzzles that don't really post much of a challenge. The world design looks stunning and the level design is rather clever with shortcuts constantly looping back on earlier areas.

You do get a certain freedom to build your character the way you want. You can upgrade yourself using trinkets that you find while exploring the world or that are bought from merchants. These take up trinket slots and you get far more trinkets than you will ever have trinket slots for, meaning you have to make choices. This is a fun way of building your character. 

Outside of that there doesn't seem to be much more in terms of building your character. You unlock a some new weapons and abilities as you progress that lets you interact wit the world and complete more environmental puzzles to access more of the world.

![20250125164019_1.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pusen/23vhUKQHoyXReqtkZsz7mU3MH18bLEp5QTV6t7cfhhmQhtp1NpdPU3sB3ZzZdt6hgvdSq.jpg)

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After roughly two hours spent with the game I've defeated a few bosses and completed what feels like the first large area. So far the game doesn't feel like anything overly special or unique. I might go back and finish up the rest of the game but there's nothing in me that's making me yearn for more of this. It needs a bit more oomph in those first few hours.

If you want to see how the game runs and plays you can check out the video of me playing it below. 

https://youtube.com/live/axeHq2HxVbA?feature=share

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<sup> All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.</sup>

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