The Soulslike genre is quite popular for offering its ambitious action, unforgiving combat, and exploration of worlds like no one else. Hell Is Us takes a similar path to creating a Soulslike feel, but in a unique way. Rogue Factor (the developers) intentionally added no map and no quest markers to the game for players to experience a journey filled with ancient mysteries in a war-torn country of Hadea. Moreover, it is quite forgiving in terms of dying and save points, but the combat itself is brutal. Like any other Soulslike, it requires players to get familiar with the combat system and game mechanics to pursue the story. Moreover, it requires more player attention on every single detail to solve every puzzle and complete good deeds throughout the game. Here is our review of Hell Is Us, developed by Rogue Factor and published by Nacon.
NOTE: The review copy of Hell Is Us was provided by the publishers. This review was done on a PC.
Story
Hell Is Us takes place in a fantasy war-torn country, Hadea. You play as Rémi, an ON (Organization Nations) Peacekeeper. He ventures into Hadea to find his parents. He only knows a little about his parents and that he was smuggled as a kid from the Village of Jova. Moreover, his father was a Blacksmith in the Village of Jova. The things in Hadea is critical as it is in the midst of civil war between Palomist and Sabinian religious factions. Players will get to meet characters from these factions to learn more about the lore of the war and the actions taken from both sides. In addition to the civil war, this war-torn country is also infested with creatures named Hollow Walkers. Rémi has to explore all around the country in search of his parents while solving the ancient mysteries to unlock the way forward.
Gameplay
Hell Is Us is a third-person action-adventure video game with a semi-open world of Hadea to explore. There are six main areas of Hadea to explore, which unlock as the story progresses. Exploration and concentrating on items you find are the key processes for solving puzzles and completing good deeds for NPCs. Good Deeds are like side quests, but mostly they are not given by the NPCs. They start upon finding a certain item. You have to read through the description and decode its link to a certain area, item, or character within Hadea. Most of the time, items will have a use in other areas rather than the area where you found them.
Solving puzzles is crucial to unlocking new ways and progressing in the main story. While speaking to the NPCs or exploring an ancient site, it is essential to concentrate on the dialogue and notes. In most of the caves and ancient sites, you will see boards with ancient writing. Use the drone to translate the writing to understand. It is very easy to get lost during exploration because there is no quest marker to assist you to your next objective or a map to look at your current position. That is why the game encourages you to be attentive during exploring new areas. The Data Pad is very useful as it holds all of the discovered information regarding items, research items, key items, good deeds, etc.
Gameplay Loop
Other than that, the overall gameplay loop is quite comfortable. You will find save points throughout the areas of Hadea to save your progress manually. There is no Bonfire or Grace system in Hell Is Us. Moreover, the enemies that you have killed don’t respawn when you die. However, if you leave the main area and come back to it using the APC, the enemies will respawn. The APC is a military truck that you unlock early in the game. It is your main way of traveling to the different areas of Hadea. As you progress in the story, more areas will unlock for you to explore. You can use the save points to fast-travel to your APC and then go to the discovered areas of your choice freely.
Combat and Weapons
In addition to exploring Hadea, meeting with NPCs to learn about the lore, and solving puzzles to progress in the story, the combat system feels both similar and unique. The initial combat plays out Soulslike games, where you strike creatures with melee weapons and dodge to avoid taking hits. Moreover, block or parry the incoming hits. The stamina decreases as you attack, dodge, and block, and its maximum capacity stays at the point of the maximum health. It means, if you have low health, the stamina capacity will be the same. With low stamina, the character’s attack will deal less damage and become vulnerable often.
However, as you progress and unlock the crafting ability, you will be able to put Glyphs on the weapons. These are like weapon arts that let you perform unique abilities at the cost of Lymbic Gauge underneath the stamina bar. In addition to that, you can also unlock skills for the Drone. Using your drone and weapon attacks in a fight with multiple enemies gives a unique experience. Moreover, most of the tougher enemies in the game have Haze. It is a spirit that they host during the fight. To defeat the enemy, you will have to first defeat the Haze and then the enemy.
There are different types of weapons available in Hell Is Us, including swords, polearms, greatswords, twin axes, etc. Each weapon that you currently use will gain experience points and level up to the max capacity, increasing the overall stats. You can take those weapons to the blacksmith to upgrade them, which will increase their grade and the maximum level capacity. Moreover, you can also enhance the grade of your defensive gear for more protection.
Visuals and Sound
Hell Is Us is visually stunning and portrays a well-crafted world of Hadea. There are open fields, swamps, hills, caves, dungeons, ancient sites, and so on. Each location in Hadea is detailed to perfection, which immerses the overall experience during exploration. The audio and sound queues during the exploration and fights also lift up the ongoing sequences. The voice acting for all NPCs is great, and you can feel the tension in their voice.
Verdict – Score 9/10
Hell Is Us is an amazing, ambitious action-adventure video game that lets you go on a mysterious journey throughout the country of Hadea. Due to no map and no quest marker, it makes you take notice of every little note that you find while exploring. Sometimes the puzzles are quite tough to decode, which gives Indiana Jones vibes. You can say that it is a Soulslike, but it is something more than that, with its unique approach to uncovering the events. I highly recommend Hell Is Us to anyone who likes action-adventure games with mysteries.
Hell Is Us is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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