Hell Survivors: A stylish reverse bullet-hell experience inspired by Vampire Survivor.
If you've had the pleasure of playing Halls of Torment (or Diablo 1, from which it is inspired), this game shares much the same hellish vibes and a few gameplay elements, such as inventory management, albeat with a darker and more refined aesthetic.
The gameplay loop is simple. Cozy and satisfying. You might be familiar with it already.
.Choose a class, weapon, and equipment setup from your unlocked elements.
.Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill KILLLLLLLLLL.
.Build your character from a choice of upgrade at each level up, get gold, get equipment.
.Win or Die.
.Unlock (more) upgrades and do it all again.
From a visual (UI and SFX) perspective, quality is everywhere, cohabiting with room for improvement on the edges. Notably, sometimes the weight and impact of some gameplay elements, such as monsters, guns, abilities, and EXPLOOOOOOOOSIONS can be felt satisfyingly. Which then contrasts less positively with the odd monster or the odd mechanic. Such as a monster hitbox being a little too large here, taking damage from an explosion without any clear visual indicator there, not much feedback when a dash is ready.
Speaking about Dashes, this game is Dash-Lite. That is to say, a Dash mechanic is present, but it is (by default) utilitarian. Limited in use and importance compared to the rest of the mechanics. Hell Survivor doesn't try to be a fancy reflex-based game, is what I'm trying to say.
Upgrades include a satisfying mix of passive stat boosts and abilities. Equipment management is simple and not overbearing. Difficulty is weighted toward an early learning curve. The early game tend to be a bit too level-up intense for my taste, with the occasional lackluster "stat stick" upgrade.
Information about the various elements of the games is light. The stats are clearly indicated, which is better than some other games. However, this is where the access to information stops. As of this time, there is in-game documentation of any kind, such as information on monsters, game mechanics, the various stats and their interaction with guns and abilities, maps, etc.
It should be noted that the game is still missing some elements, as others have noted in other reviews (such as the meta-mutation system), and that the content at this immediate start in Early Access might be a little too thin for some.
There's a free demo, too, which for the reason above you might want to try first as the demo and early access still share much in common.
