AI LIMIT DLC: Eirene’s Furnace of War Impression

While well-executed enough, it is far from the kind of expansion that changes one’s opinion on the whole game.

A year ago, I gave AI LIMIT a decently positive review for its solid level design, interesting world-building and fun combat. Since then, my impression of the game has improved, as I’m quite fond of the protagonist Arrisa and how she’s actually an active protagonist with a shred of personality, unlike a lot of other Soulslike protagonists. As such, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the game was receiving a free expansion, titled Eirene’s Furnace of War.

Players are required to roll credits on the base game without starting a New Game Plus on that save file to access the DLC. After arriving at a new area and defeating a rather simple boss, the player will enter Eirene’s domain, the Furnace Arena, where she reveals her role in the larger design of AI LIMIT’s world. Eirene is essentially an arms manufacturer, and after the events of the story, is left masterless and fighting a war she has no reason to fight other than it is the reason she was created.

Eirene asks Arrisa to help her obtain combat data for a new experiment she is performing, and Arrisa agrees because the new weapon Eirene is developing will ostensibly help humanity survive. Thus, Arrisa begins the Trials of War, and that is where the narrative elements of the expansion mostly end, aside from a few lore-heavy conversations with Eirene that reveal some of her motives and the true purpose of the trials; conversations that feel more like the game checking a box rather than essential to the larger AI Limit narrative.

One of the new bosses in the Trials of War: Eirene herself.

Eirene’s Furnace of War adds three distinct game modes. The most prominent is the Trials of War, a roguelite game mode where the player starts without their previously obtained equipment and must start from scratch. Arrisa will travel through remixed areas from the base game, and upon defeating familiar enemies and bosses from the base game, players will be able to obtain items such as stat upgrades, upgrades to Arrisa’s other moves, such as her parry and shield, and even some passive buffs, such as a projectile that spawns when she gets hit. It is possible to become extremely powerful, which is good because even on the easiest difficulty, no run of the Trials of War is guaranteed to succeed.

After either completing a run or losing it, players can return to the beginning to spend obtained currency buffs that will make Arrisa more powerful in subsequent attempts, and also spend special currency on items that can be used outside of the Trials of War, such as a new outfit and weapons. Unfortunately, the items on offer here are sparse, but it is nice to have them nonetheless.

AI LIMIT’s developers aren’t resting on their laurels in the art department.

Additionally, Eirene’s Furnace of War adds two more modes. The first is a welcome addition: a boss rematch mode that can be used to challenge most of the game’s bosses after they’ve been defeated. This is especially welcome, as the Trials of War includes its own variants of some of the base game bosses that have their own designation, so players can practice against either version if they so choose. Each boss also has up to five difficulty levels to choose from, so those looking for an even greater challenge are able to ratchet up the difficulty, alongside an in-game timer that players can use to compete against themselves for the best time. This mode has also been coupled with a boss rush mode where players can fight a curated list of bosses in sequence without a break, which can be a fun way to reexperience some of AI LIMIT’s best fights.

Unfortunately, that is about it when it comes to Eirene’s Furnace of War. A solid 85-90% of the expansion is reused assets and is entirely focused on gameplay, and while well-executed enough, it is far from the kind of expansion that changes one’s opinion on the whole game. The fact is that this is only for those who enjoy AI LIMIT’s combat and boss design, and even then, those who are turned off by roguelite systems may want to stay away. While far from bad, Eirene’s Furnace of War doesn’t offer much that hasn’t been seen before, making it a relatively unnoteworthy addition to an otherwise solid game.

Disclosure: This article is based on a build of the DLC provided by the publisher.