Frosty Cult Leading in the Woolhaven DLC

I am a big fan of the oddball cult leading adventures in Cult of the Lamb so was excited when a new DLC was announced.  Just this last week I finished up the "Woolhaven" DLC, so it's time to talk about it.  Should you shell out the ol' buckaroonies for some more sheepy cult leading fun times?

What is it?

A "full-length" DLC for the base Cult of the Lamb game.  It introduces a brand new area, called Woolhaven, and sets our beloved lamb on an adventure to uncover the story of a new goddess known as Yngya.

How much playtime can I expect?

Depending on your playstyle (someone who just focuses on the main story vs. a completionist who does it all), I'd estimate that it adds somewhere around ~10-20 hours.

Pros:

+ Two new combat zones.  The main story involves completing a path (similar to the combat areas in the base game) through a zone known as the Rot or Ewefall.  Similar to the base game you navigate a series of rooms and get to choose your path through various challenges at the end of each area.  There are new mini-bosses and new weapons.  The Rot is a sort of disgusting, mutated goo-filled region that is tied to events in the main story.  Ewefall is more aligned with the winter theme of the DLC and you face off against new enemies in the form of various wolven baddies.

+ New weapons and curses.  There's a new flail but also a series of "legendary" weapons that can be unlocked as part of quests found in Woolhaven.

+ Winter is coming.  Woolhaven introduces the winter seasonal shift to the base game.  When winter arrives you need to build a special furnace that is fueled by rot (a resource you collect in the Rot) in order to keep your cultists from freezing.  If your cultists freeze, they can be unfrozen using a special new baptismal font (that requires items from the Ewefall zones).  If you don't unfreeze them, they stay frozen throughout the duration of the entire winter season (they don't do jobs or worship...they're just frozen).  Your crops freeze and farming is limited during the winter.  Basically, it throws a bit of a survival wrench into the base game.  The winter season only lasts so long though and eventually things thaw out and its back to business as usual.

As you progress through the game the winter season gets harsher and periodically blizzards roll through.  During a blizzard your cultists will stay in their shelters and do no work until it's over.  You can grow chili peppers which let you cook a hot dish that can keep your cultists from freezing.

+ Introduction of a new cult activity--ranching.  You can now build a ranch where you can raise a number of different critters that provide a new resource, wool.  Wool is used to unlock special buildings and events in Woolhaven.  It is harvest from fuzzy critters that you raise on your ranch.  You can also raise critters that provide basic resources (seeds, crystals, and spider silk).  Ranching involves keeping your animals alive by feeding them and raising their level by petting and walking them.

The New Woolhaven zone adds lots of new quests and content.

+ Tons of stuff to do in Woolhaven.  Besides the base story there are also special quest givers that have several quest chains.  One of those buildings unlocks a new silly game (similar to the dice game) where you face off against different foes to unlock special game pieces.  There are also the graves of various lamb-y heroes from the past which require different amounts of wool to unlock and reward new capes for the lamb (so far they don't have any special abilities though--they're just cosmetic).

+ New follower forms and types.  You can find "rotten" followers as you navigate the Rot.  These followers only live for a short time but they provide special rewards and resources (their poop is highly useful!)  There are also several different new animal forms such as a snow leopard.

+ New winter themed doctrines.  

+ New winter themed decorations for your home base.  This includes an icy theme for your chapel.

+ Exorcise those bad traits!  One of the new buildings you can add to your base is an exorcism platform where you can swap out follower traits.  It's totally random what they get replaced with but it's a way to get rid of the more obnoxious traits.

+ A new main story with two new big bosses to take down.

+ Base expansion is possible.  You can pay a new star-nosed mole character to add a couple of different new areas to your base if you're feeling pressed for space.

+ New photo mode that includes fun stickers.

Cons:

- Bugs are still being worked out.  I experienced a few bugs and noticed that there were almost daily hotfixes/updates.  I only had a couple of issues (and none of them were game breaking--just required a re-load) and it seems like things have improved with the numerous hotfixes.

 Recommendation:

Woolhaven adds in quite a bit of new content and I had fun with it.  The winter season can make things feel a bit more stressful because you're trying to take care of the cult and navigate the main story.  Despite the bugs (which seem to have been largely worked out), it's a new opportunity to return to the cult and make it even better.  If you enjoyed the base game, you'll definitely want to give it a go.

Bless the Lamb!

I decided it would be worth investing $5.99 in a little DLC for Cult of the Lamb and decided to fire up an entirely new cult.  After conquering the evils within and building up a cadre of loyal cultists, I'm ready to report on the "Pilgrim Pack" DLC.  It's always nice to fire up a game that I haven't played in a minute and see what has been added.

Firstly, I have to admit that I didn't read the description of the DLC that closely, which is something that you should do.

The comic book and additional fun book.

Pros:

+ It's only $6.99!  That's pretty cheap for some additional content (I saved $1 from a sale).

+ The DLC adds in a short, comic book style story based in the world of Cult of the Lamb.  The comic book is a fun piece of artwork/additional storytelling.  It's short and probably takes 10-15 minutes to read through.

+ As part of the story tied to the comic book you unlock two new followers (and follower forms).  There's a quest to initially rescue one of the characters from a dungeon and then later there's another one.  Upon rescuing the second character there's an additional quest to travel back to the dungeon to find the personal effects of the character.  Once found, this also unlocks another goofy little artbook that is fun.

+ There are a few new decorative items added in as part of the DLC.  They're sort of bamboo garden inspired.

Cons:

- As I admitted at the top, I didn't fully read the description of what the DLC was (like a dum-dum) and absorbed that it involved new quests, a story, and some new followers.  I figured there would be a bit more to it...and, I suppose the comic book/goofy book were that other part.

Recommendation:

I would say that it would be best to try to get this DLC on sale--you don't get a ton of new content and $6.99 feels steep for what do you actually get.  Granted, I did want to re-play it and the new content does help give you something to look forward to.  If you're a fan of the game, you'll likely enjoy it (I did).

All Hail the Lamb!

Thanks to some very nasty weather in my area (snow...and then several rounds of freezing rain that coated all that lovely snow and all the streets in a nice, thick layer of ice) I've had some unexpected free time.  The weather is so bad that staying in and tucking into a comfy game is the safest and best option for spending my time.  I decided it was the perfect opportunity to tick a game off of my wishlist (plus, it just so happened to coincide with payday, so extra bonus).  I decided to take a risk on a game with a decidedly quirky sounding premise--you play as a cute, lil' lamb...who's also a cult leader.  Not weird at all, right?  Cult of the Lamb offers up the perfect opportunity to be the cult leader you've always secretly wanted to be.

What is it?

Steam has it tagged with the following--action roguelike, roguelike, base building, and cute.  Cute is a bit of a curveball, but there's definitely something charming about the animal-like characters.  The premise is that your character, the lamb, is captured for sacrifice by an old god who is trying to break free from captivity brought about by four newer gods.  The poor lamb is sacrificed...but instead finds itself given a real devils bargain--the lamb can become the instrument of the old god, be reborn, and help destroy the "false" gods who are keeping it captive.  Not a bad deal, eh?

Before you can actually conquer any gods though, the lamb has to build up its strength through forming a cult to provide devotion.  The base building part of the gameplay revolves around creating a comfy cult settlement that provides for all the needs of a budding cult member--they need food, shelter, a place to worship, and a nice, clean environment.  Each day operates on a clock and the lamb can command cult members to take care of tasks around the base or to worship.  Worshipping at the central shrine provides devotion, which operates as a currency that can be used to unlock new buildings for the base.  Keeping your cult members happy and alive requires cooking meals, cleaning up after them (there's poop!), and building their faith through daily sermons and rituals.

That's only part of the gameplay though--the other part is where the roguelike elements kick in.  The four old gods that must be conquered are each locked in a dungeon full of enemies that must be defeated.  Each dungeon area has a sort of theme and a certain number of rooms that randomly spawn--most rooms contain enemies that must be defeated, but some rooms contain special characters who give the lamb buffs, new weapons, or other helpful opportunities.  The combat is surprisingly enjoyable--different weapons spawn at the start of the dungeon and sometimes can be swapped at random points throughout the dungeon.  Each dungeon area must be cleared multiple times before you can face off and try to defeat one of the old gods.

My full playthrough clocked in at 24 hours.  It's probably possible to have a playthrough be either longer or shorter depending on how much attention you decide to pay to follower requests and side tasks.  I usually opted to complete my follower requests, so it took some extra time.

Pros:

+ The gameplay loop is very fun and the way they divided it between fighting through the dungeons and managing your cult is genius.  In order to keep things balanced you have to figure out how to split your time between fighting through the dungeons and taking care of cult needs at the base.  It's easy to feel gung-ho about charging through a dungeon only to return to a base full of dissenting followers because you neglected their needs.  I suppose that some people may find the base management aspect a bit tedious, but it's worthwhile because of the combat buffs that you can unlock through member faith.

+ Multiple gameplay difficulties with unlockable permadeath mode upon completing a full playthrough.  I opted for the default difficulty ("balanced" I think) and found the combat challenging, but definitely doable.  It's one of the roguelikes where you can spend resources to upgrade things between dungeon runs--ever so slightly making things easier for the next run.

+ Run your cult how you want to.  You can choose to be a ruthless tyrant or a benevolent redeemer--it's all in the doctrine that you choose.

+ Okay, the "cute" label on Steam is somewhat deserved.  Your followers all take some kind of animal (or weird, demon-like) form.  The lamb itself is also pretty cute.  The gameplay and premise of the game is decidedly not "cute" though--you can sacrifice your own followers and be pretty nasty to them...if that's the vibe you're going for.

+ Managing your cult can be hilarious.  Your cult members live their lives while you're away--they age and can die; they get into fights; and, best of all...they poop!  It's completely possible to come back to base and find a pretty apocalyptic scene--poop everywhere!  Dead bodies rotting in the middle of the compound!  And sick cult members barfing all over the place from the lack of sanitation.  Luckily, all can be fixed with a little bit of time and effort.

If you don't keep your cult members happy they can dissent--basically they start speaking against you and they can turn other members against you.  If their level of dissent gets too high, they will eventually leave the cult (taking some of your hard earned resources with them).  They can also randomly reappear in a dungeon...and you have to fight and kill them.

For some weird reason my cult members kept requesting to eat poop.  This is something that you can do--cook a special poop dish and make them eat it.  Sure, it'll probably make them sick, but they asked for it, right?  To deny them would mean a loss of faith in your leadership...so who am I to keep them from eating poop?

The bonfire ritual is a flaming good time!

You can perform special rituals--some of them are more mundane, like a funeral for a dead member, but you can also make your followers trip on mushrooms; you can sacrifice followers (a possible solution for those dissenters--teehee); you can marry your followers (as many as you want!  It's your cult after all!); and many other funny and more serious options.  Some rituals raise faith and others will make it drop.

+ Discoverable cosmetic options to give your cult members a unique look.  Plans for special outfits drop in later dungeons and also when you do certain tasks in your base.  You can also purchase follower appearances which will make it possible to find many different types of animal/demon followers throughout the game.

+ It's still being updated.  Part of the reason I chose to grab it was because it was on sale thanks to a recent major gameplay update.  The update revolves around "sin" in your base and includes new buildings, events, and unlockable cosmetics.

+ The music fits the game well and doesn't get annoying at all.

+ Ran well.  I only had one issue where it randomly got stuck when I looted a certain relic.  Sadly I had to scrap the entire dungeon run and re-load, but it did only happen that once.

+ There are a few packs of cosmetic oriented DLC available for purchase.  They include new decorations for your base, new outfits, and possibly some new follower forms.

+ Discoverable items that drop in dungeons.  Each zone has a sort of theme and you can find a nice array of decorations to give your base the perfect vibe--be it bones or leafy wreaths.

+ Replayability factor is high.

+ You can pet the dog!  Some of your followers take a dog form (although, it can be a bit hard to tell) and you can pet them for a little extra loyalty.  If you see a dog shaped option when you speak to them, give 'em a pet!

Cons:

- Controller "recommended."  As soon as I started the game it prompted me that I needed a controller.  You can play with mouse and keyboard (something that I briefly considered), but it really wants you to use a controller.  I busted out my handy, Amazon Basics XBOX 360 controller and it worked like a charm.  Granted, I always am a little bit awkward with a controller at first.

- If you're someone who takes religion VERY seriously, this game might make you feel some...feelings of the negative sort.  It's not directly making fun of religion, but it's definitely incorporated certain aspects of religion that might make some people feel uncomfortable.  Overall, I found it to be very silly though.  If you're someone who has strong feelings about religion...maybe skip it.

Recommendation:

Cult of the Lamb is an absolute blast.  The base building and management aspect of the game perfectly combines with the combat to make for an A+ gaming experience.  Don't be fooled by the quirkiness; it's a real gem.  Highly recommend!