Cult of the Lamb Review: ‘Animal Crossing Gone Evil’

CULT OF THE LAMB REVIEW FOR PC, PS5, PS4, XBOX SERIES X|S, XBOX ONE, AND NINTENDO SWITCH.

What do you get when you mix the fast-paced dungeon-crawling mechanics of a roguelike with the slow yet satisfying charm of a town management sim? A pretty incredible game, it turns out. Cult of the Lamb by Massive Monster combines the roguelike gameplay of Hades and The Binding of Isaac with Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley’s cute life simulation. In theory, it’s a wild concoction that seems like it shouldn’t work, but in execution, it delivers a must-play experience.

Mutton for punishment

Cult of the Lamb’s story follows the titular lamb and, shortly after the opening sequence, their titular cult. After being given a second chance at life, the lamb becomes the servant of a hellish god. Armed with everlasting life, the lamb must take down the four “false bishops” hiding away in their dungeons while also building up a cult and keeping those followers in line.

This simple plot is made more interesting thanks to a solid bunch of quirky supporting characters. There’s no Hades-level voice acting here, but the hilarious noises emitted from CotL’s wacky cast are charming in their own way.

Don’t let the cuteness fool ewe

Cult of the Lamb’s presentation adds to the charm in a big way. Visually, the contrast of the bright cartoony art style with the horrific goings-on just seems wrong at first, as though Animal Crossing has glitched out and now the villagers are murdering each other. But no, that’s just how CotL rolls and, once I got used to how brutal interactions can be, I learned to fully appreciate the level of polish on show.

The music by River Boy (Narayana Johnson) further enhances the ambiance of different regions. This game has some absolute bops that play during the times spent in the cult base, while darker electronic beats kick in for the combat. It’s a real winner of a soundtrack that blends superbly with the art style.

Going Rambo

Gameplay is split into two parts: combat in dungeons and managing the cult. When it comes to dungeons, this little lamb can fight with an arsenal of melee weapons and Curses (ranged spells). The weapons can have various buffs like poison, while also having a simple attack and speed figure. Curses are often more exciting as they can impact the whole battlefield in big ways, from tentacles shooting out of the ground to homing explosive fireballs.

Tarot Cards are the main element that makes each dungeon attempt that bit different, in addition to the obvious randomness of procedurally generated levels and enemies. Tarot Cards can increase the lamb’s attack speed, make chests have better loot, and bestow other useful bonuses.

Cult of the Lamb’s combat is solid, but relative to other modern roguelikes, it feels a little barebones. There’s enough to get players through the entire story and have a great time doing it, but for those aiming to put triple-figure hours into this, as I have done with Hades, it’s going to start getting repetitive.

Testing relationsheeps

The cult management side of the gameplay, however, is tricky to pick fault with. The cult members and the activities that they do are all cute as hell. Interacting with them is a joy and players can see them progressing to be more obedient, should the lamb do as they ask and fulfill their needs, or starting to question the cult’s teachings, if the lamb is neglectful and hypocritical.

The lamb can then reward or punish cult members in a wide variety of ways. As players level up the cult, they gain access to functions like “Fight To The Death,” “Make a Sacrifice,” or the simple yet very effective “Murder.” Players can choose to be a kind leader and prosper through love, opt for the total opposite by forcing servitude through fear and violence, or a combination of both.

After completing a tough dungeon and reaping the rewards to help me evolve my cult base, it was always fun to head back home and see what had changed and what my cute cultists were up to. Often, there were rewards and resources to collect from mines, lumberyards, and shrines. If I spent a little too long in the dungeons and left my cult members unattended for multiple days, there was a high risk of rebellion. Usually, I would put the dissenters into prison to set an example to the rest of the camp, though murder in the dead of night was a quicker and easier solution.

This game can be very evil when players want it to be and it’s often tempting to take things a bit too far with the murdering. The good news is that should everything go wrong and the entire cult ends up dead, it’s easy to start things back up again. There are no permanent consequences for messing up, as it only takes an hour or so to convince a handful of new cult members to join the group.

All’s wool that ends wool

Focusing on a speedy playthrough with limited investment into side-mission activities like the Knucklebones dice game and the fishing diversion, I beat Cult of the Lamb’s initial storyline in just over 12 hours. However, there are a good chunk of extra things to do for completionists out there.

By the end of the story, I still had plenty of unlocks to earn. These include abilities for the lamb and building unlocks for the cult base. For those who are still recovering from the number of duplicate items found in Animal Crossing, you’ll be ecstatic to hear that isn’t an issue with CotL. Knowing that I could go into a dungeon and get something worthwhile encouraged me to keep on pushing towards 100%.

There are also difficulty options for those looking to master the game on a whole different level. These impact both combat and cult management, with Hard and Very Hard testing both sides of the game.

Cult of the Lamb Review: The final verdict

Cult of the Lamb takes a big risk with its unusual combo of genres but it pays off in spectacular fashion. The dungeon-crawling is addicting in the way that the best roguelikes are and the cult management is Animal Crossing gone evil with a T-rated spin that works wonders.

It’s tough enough to make a game that targets one genre, let alone two, but rather than a lamb to the slaughter, Cult of the Lamb commands ownership of both with a hellish ambition that sees it become one of the best games of the year.

Cult of the Lamb was reviewed on PC with code provided by the publisher.