Taking place “in a dying multiverse, the Phantom Train is your last hope. Traverse a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world filled with nightmarish creatures. Experience dynamic shifts between top-down and third-person views, deep customization, and epic battles across universes in this action roguelike survival game.”

This is the second game developed and published by Mirari&Co., following Dark Light, a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash platformer set in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world.

Gameplay

Dark Light: Survivor is a top-down shooter with the added ability to switch your point of view from a traditional top-down camera to an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective. This shift significantly changes the gameplay dynamic. The top-down view offers a much wider field of vision, while the third-person perspective adds a level of intensity I haven’t seen in this style of game before.

When entering a new universe, you follow map markers to locate items and eventually the world boss. While it’s possible to head straight to the boss, you’ll more than likely die without spending time leveling up first. I appreciate how abilities and weapons are earned during each run, allowing you to gradually build toward a boss fight. This approach adds meaningful difficulty without forcing you to select a specific difficulty level at the start of a playthrough.

The levels themselves are fairly wide open, largely due to the game’s top-down design. When switching to the third-person perspective, the lack of environmental detail becomes more noticeable. I can see how challenging it must be to merge these two gameplay styles into one experience—you want enough openness to dodge and attack efficiently, but still maintain an immersive world.

Combat style is a major point here, were you long range is modern firearms while your melee is based on medieval style weapons with elemental forces. This is a great blend of fighting mechanics that I enjoyed a lot see the different types of weapons and how they pair together with your armor and abilities.

Upon death, you’re taken to a staging area where you can purchase passive abilities and upgrades for your hunter. I did notice that when interacting with NPCs, the prompt reads “Trade” even for those who have nothing to offer. The bugs I encountered weren’t significant enough to detract from the experience and feel like these issues will be easily patched in future updates.

Story & Worldbuilding

You play as a Dark Hunter who rides the Phantom Train, built using celestial quantum technology to traverse the multiverse in search of the fabled Elysium. While stopping in different universes to refuel the train, you’ll encounter increasingly powerful enemies along your journey.

The narratives of the characters you meet are both well-written and fully voiced, with strong emotional delivery that adds depth to the game’s atmosphere. However, it’s not entirely clear how these characters are connected to the Hunter. Are they simply offering aid, or do they play a larger role in the overarching story that has yet to be revealed?

Graphics & Audio

I always appreciate when developers take the time to set sensible default settings—such as disabling motion blur by default—while still allowing players to customize their experience. Before jumping into any game, I usually explore the settings menu, and Dark Light: Survivor offers a solid range of options to tailor your gameplay.

The menu UI does an excellent job of capturing the game’s dark tone. Much of the visual design evokes a Diablo II: Resurrected–style aesthetic, with assets that feel polished overall. That said, some assets noticeably lack the same level of refinement, creating a slight visual inconsistency.

Animation quality is strong for both the player character and enemies, especially given the game’s hybrid camera system. However, in the staging area, I noticed that character movement feels overly fluid, almost as if the character is sliding rather than walking or running.

For audio testing, I initially played using my Logitech G PRO headset. Enemy attacks and some voice lines sounded distant or slightly muffled. After switching to earbuds, this issue disappeared and the audio felt much more aligned with the on-screen action, another reason I’ve leaned toward earbuds recently. One element that breaks immersion is the Phantom Train itself, which lacks the sound design you’d expect from a massive, otherworldly train. On the positive side, the voice narration from characters who grant upgrades fits the game’s aesthetic extremely well.

Replayability & Value

I’m not someone who believes every game needs co-op or online multiplayer. That said, Dark Light: Survivor feels like it would benefit greatly from a peer-hosted co-op mode. Scaling difficulty with additional players and tackling hordes of enemies together in pursuit of a level boss sounds like a perfect fit for this game. While I understand that adding multiplayer is no small task, it would significantly enhance the experience.

I can easily see Dark Light: Survivor launching at around $20, which feels like a fair price. Additional modes that further increase difficulty, along with passive perks as rewards, would go a long way toward boosting replayability.

Steam discussions are already filled with excited players, and the developers are actively engaging with the community by addressing feedback and answering questions about AI and gameplay systems. This level of communication is always encouraging and is a major factor I consider when evaluating a game’s long-term potential and post-launch support.