Seth

Seth casts you as the Egyptian god of storms, cutting through the underworld's legions to confront the serpent Apophis, blending DOOM-style finisher combat with Hades-style run-based power selection. Released on 9 April 2026 for $12.99 on Windows by debut French studio Chaotic Games, following a lengthy string of public playtests stretching back over a year, it arrived with a Steam Deck Verified badge and full controller support already in place. This review's research found a "Positive" review sample (35 of 42 total, 83.3%) built on genuine enthusiasm for the moment-to-moment combat, complicated by one of the most consistently repeated, specific complaints this lane's coverage has seen: that the entire game can be finished before a Steam refund window would even meaningfully kick in.

Combat reviewers consistently called genuinely excellent

Nearly every review in this review's research opened with praise for how Seth actually plays. One reviewer called it "amazing gameplay," directly comparing its glory-kill system to "Doom Eternal with the glory kill system of Doom The Dark Ages," while another described it plainly as "Boomer shooter Egyptian Hades." A third, who described themselves as an Ultrakill fan, wrote that "anyone that enjoys Ultrakill would love this game," specifically praising the voice acting and gunplay. That comparison set — DOOM, Ultrakill, Hades — recurred often enough in this review's research to suggest Chaotic Games nailed the specific feel it was chasing, even among reviewers who ultimately left mixed or negative overall verdicts.

A shield mechanic built around aggression

The specific system reviewers singled out most was Seth's shield-regeneration loop, which rewards players for finishing weakened enemies in melee to restore their defenses rather than kiting at range. One reviewer wrote that "shooting and killing enemy to keep your shield up makes you play aggressively and i like that," a sentiment echoed by others who noted the system meaningfully distinguishes Seth from more passive arena shooters. Weapon variety within that loop drew specific praise too, from a slowdown-focused bow to a shotgun with a grappling-hook alt-fire, giving the combat texture beyond simple point-and-shoot even within a small arsenal.

A specific, dominant complaint: the game is over almost as soon as it starts

Set against that praise, this review's research found an unusually consistent, specific complaint running through nearly every review, positive or negative. One reviewer wrote plainly that the game "is EXTREMELY short on content," explaining they beat it in "a single 15 minute run" with no scaling difficulty or additional content on repeat attempts. Another admitted to refunding despite enjoying it: "I beat it in two runs and less than 30 minutes... I'll echo others, hats off to the devs for nailing solid gunplay, but the content is so small that it's really hard to recommend outside of a deep sale." A third reviewer counted the content precisely: "only 2 worlds, 2 bosses, 3 non-upgradable weapons, 4 gods and around 6/7 enemy types," arguing the $12.99 price doesn't match what's on offer in an already crowded roguelike market. This wasn't a scattered handful of complaints — it was close to a consensus across the entire review sample, positive and negative alike, making it the single most important thing a prospective buyer should know going in.

Achievement data complicates the "everyone beats it instantly" narrative

One detail worth weighing against those reviews: global achievement data shows the achievement most likely tied to defeating Apophis himself sitting at just 18.7% completion, with the achievement for reaching the Herald of Apophis mini-boss even lower at 10%. That's a meaningfully different picture than reviewers who describe beating the game "in a single 15 minute run" might suggest — this review's research reads it as evidence that experienced reviewers, who tend to be more skilled and more invested than the average buyer, cleared the content unusually fast, while the broader playerbase either bounced off earlier or simply hasn't returned to finish a short game once the initial session ends.

A fast, direct response to launch-week difficulty complaints

To Chaotic Games' credit, this review's research found the studio responding quickly to the loudest early feedback. A "Difficulty & stability update" posted within roughly 24 hours of launch specifically increased enemy counts "especially in the second biome" and made bosses tougher, directly addressing reviewers who found the game too easy to represent a real challenge. A subsequent update continued the same trend, increasing enemy density further and raising Apophis's health. One reviewer specifically credited this response, writing "with the last update, the game feels way cooler (more ennemies everywhere) but still a little short" — an honest acknowledgment that the fixes helped without resolving the deeper content-volume complaint.

Thin story and a few rough edges around progression

Beyond length, this review's research found a secondary, related complaint about narrative thinness: most gods offer just a single line of dialogue when their powers are unlocked, and multiple reviewers specifically noted the final boss arrives with no real introduction or confrontation dialogue at all, undercutting the mythological framing the game otherwise leans on. A smaller but specific complaint targeted the permanent-upgrade system, with one reviewer describing "hidden upgrade slots" that can force players into taking a worse upgrade to avoid losing one they already value, calling it a design choice that fights against the roguelite genre's usual sense of building toward something.

Seth is a genuinely well-made arena shooter wearing an unusually thin coat of content, and this review's research found that tension defining almost every review written about it. The gunplay, shield system, and Egyptian-mythology presentation are real, specific strengths that reviewers across the positive and negative spectrum agreed on, but the game's brevity relative to its price was flagged too consistently to treat as anything other than the defining consideration for anyone deciding whether to buy in at launch price or wait.