Few action-RPGs dare to rethink their structure from the ground up, but Gods, Death & Reapers does exactly that by forcing every run to start at level one, creating a surprisingly tense loop that even genre veterans will find refreshing.

These days, a “mine-hunting Diablo-style game” sounds like the least innovative pitch imaginable, something you’d scroll past without hesitation. Last year on theGeek, I covered a game that fit that exact description. It was the new project from the creators of Wolcen, still called ‘Project Pantheon’ at the time. There was no playable build back then, so I had to settle for watching the developers play while I asked them questions.

Since then, the French studio has organized multiple closed alpha phases to fine-tune the design based on community feedback. I recently had the chance to participate in one of them – my first time joining, though it was already the fourth testing round overall.

Project Pantheon is now called Gods, Death & Reapers, presenting itself as an “extrAction RPG”, merging extraction mechanics with action-RPG progression. Its world shows a dark fantasy reality where gods from various mythologies have died, and their temples lie in ruins.

Viking warriors no longer enter Valhalla when they fall in battle. They’ve lost Odin, and it’s surreal to open the map and see Jörmungandr’s corpse sprawled across the land. The same fate befell Egyptian, Azte,c and Greek pantheons. In this story, you play as one such fallen warrior who strikes a pact with Death itself and becomes its agent, trying to uncover what happened.

Mechanically, it follows Diablo’s fundamentals. You have a crypt acting as a hub, from which you access nodes handling quests, inventory, and skills. Several features start locked and open only after gathering materials during expeditions. Nothing groundbreaking there.

Gear That Serves the Action, Not the Other Way Around

What shocked me the most – and what I absolutely didn’t expect – is how well the entire experiment works. The synergy between resource extraction and action-RPG pacing seems obvious on paper, but in practice, the result is a surprisingly competitive alternative to Diablo-style vertical progression. I wouldn’t be surprised if many players preferred this structure.

Diablo and its peers operate on vertical, seasonal resets. GDR resets on every single run: you start almost from scratch at level 1, regardless of what equipment you bring. There’s never a point where you trivialize the challenge or need to ramp up difficulty artificially just to feel something.

This simple rule eliminates massive design problems: you’re not reliant on drops, 90% of the content never becomes irrelevant, and the start of the game is also its endgame in terms of difficulty. No build will play the game for you.

Combat is slower and more deliberate compared to typical ARPGs. You’re not a rampaging powerhouse. It’s closer to V Rising – positioning and dodge cooldowns matter constantly. Enemies are designed to pressure your decision-making.

Gods, Death & Reapers

The game isn’t extremely difficult, but because a run can last 40 minutes and strong enemies appear frequently, you’re naturally pushed toward caution. Every match starting near zero also means knowing when to commit and when to back off.

This restraint is where the game truly shines. Combat remains tense without becoming chaotic, and abilities serve as essential survival resources rather than flashy power fantasies.

Gear plays a crucial role. Every equipment slot affects specific stats (like helmets determining view distance), sets follow unique themes, and weapons include randomizable ability slots. Seasonal perk trees are few but extremely impactful, adding things like mount usage or inventory expansion.

I won’t pretend GDR is revolutionary – because it isn’t – but it feels incredibly natural to play, and the designers clearly understand their craft. There are UI elements that still need polish, but core features like offline-only and co-op-only characters are already present.

Gods, Death & Reapers is expected to launch sometime in 2026.

Source: 3djuegos