Hell Is Us could also be one of the vital distinctive video games of 2025. Phase Soulslike, section journey sport, section detective simulator, this gargantuan puzzler is dense, immaculately detailed, and devilishly darkish. You received’t play the rest adore it this technology.
You play as Remi, a sociopath that has snuck his approach into the struggle torn nation of Hadea – apart from this isn’t his first time right here. Remy was once born in Hadea and smuggled out as a kid, however he’s made his go back on the lookout for his oldsters with little or no data to head on.
Merely realizing that he got here from a village known as Jova and that his father was once the blacksmith there, Remi begins digging round and asking questions. That is when Hell Is Us starts to unfurl its very massive yarn, and it wishes you to start out taking notes – actually.
Hell Is Us does no longer function a conventional map or marker machine. As a substitute, virtually the whole lot you wish to have to navigate its international is within the environmental main points. Small specifics in discarded notes, descriptions from surviving characters, and visible design – all of it’s diegetic and brilliantly immersive.
A datapad will stay be aware of the massive primary quest descriptors to indicate you in the fitting route, however the sport’s Just right Deeds (its model of aspect quests) are solely down for your reminiscence and a spotlight to element.
You’ll mark particular items of proof for your datapad, however we opted to scribble down our findings in a real notepad. By the point we have been finished with the sport we had pages full of ramblings of historic royal feuds and image scribblings.
That can make you suppose that Hell Is Us is a hardcore sport, and in some respects it perhaps is. Then again, Rogue Issue has masterfully designed its international in order that throughout over 30 hours with the sport, we by no means as soon as felt the absence of a conventional map or quest machine.
If a personality describes a landmark that you just should cross to, they’ll come up with all of the main points you wish to have to determine it out. As well as, a compass and audio and visible cues are there to lend a hand, making discovery and exploration really feel very herbal – we by no means as soon as were given misplaced. And whilst a notepad actually did lend a hand us, we don’t suppose it’s necessary.
We’re large fanatics of this means, however it will had been an entire bust if the arena itself was once neatly designed however narratively uninteresting. Then again, Hadea might cross down as one of the vital attention-grabbing online game worlds in fresh reminiscence.
Constituted of a dozen or so open ranges, various from expansive fields to claustrophobic libraries, Hadea is a rustic steeped in spiritual feuds and ravaged by means of a bloody civil struggle. It’s an oppressively darkish surroundings every now and then, with some streets suffering from corpses of kids and horrendous visions of genocide round each and every nook. And there are ghoulish creatures too simply to make issues worse.
Such a lot of the arena’s narrative centres round a non secular divide between Palomists and Sabinians. It sounds as if reasonably floor degree to start out – the Palomists hate the Sabinians and the Sabinians hate the Palomists – and we don’t actually know why.
You’ll meet a number of characters from all sides, gaining extra context alongside the best way. Fairly frequently those other folks can have essential data that will help you to your quest, however you’ll additionally lend a hand them by means of discovering pieces, whether or not the ones be keys, medicine, and even simply clearing the best way for them.
Every so often an merchandise for an individual in a single degree will also be present in any other, and it’s then that you just must be making psychological or bodily notes so that you could whole your excellent deeds. Those frequently have small gameplay rewards, however extra frequently than no longer it is a chance to be told a bit of bit extra about Hadea and its ongoing warfare.
Then again, Hell Is Us and its central narrative aren’t so inquisitive about the main points of its present struggle such a lot as it’s the historical past that were given them there within the first position. Fairly briefly you’re exploring deep cave methods and studying via historic scripts detailing inquisitions, massacres, and royal betrayals. The best way the sport frequently broadens and delves deeper into its conspiriacies is spectacularly entertaining.
Thru its notes, talking with NPCs, and finding out the surroundings, the sport starts to shape an historic narrative that in spite of being actually outdated information, is ceaselessly captivating. The sport nails the cultured of deserted medieval church buildings, caves, and towers, so from a visible standpoint it’s extremely cool.
Then again, by means of being attentive to its tale, which is a byproduct of its arms off design, uncovering those places or fixing historic mysteries feels improbable. It’s like the most efficient form of moments from the Indiana Jones motion pictures or Uncharted video games, the place you’re uncovering issues that experience no longer been noticed for centuries, while slotting in any other puzzle piece within the jigsaw this is Hadea.
Narratively then Hell Is Us is an absolute doozy, however in a unusual form of approach. The whole thing attention-grabbing about it has already took place. This isn’t actually the type of sport with expansive cutscenes or gripping personality arcs, and Remi as a sociopathic protagonist is just a little uninteresting. However there’s one thing enthralling about piecing in combination any other a part of Hadea’s historical past by means of finding an outdated letter or a knight’s corpse. A second quite very similar to Silent Hill 2’s unending staircase had us sitting at the fringe of our seat with anticipation.
It’s no longer all letter studying and Hadean sightseeing in fact. Hell Is Us is divided by means of an affinity for puzzles and battle. Puzzles are virtually solely about opening new doorways to discover even additional. You’ll be piecing in combination portions of ancient wisdom to make up door codes, matching up artifacts to positive positions and discovering essential keys to open new pathways.
It’s virtually like a Resident Evil sport with its option to degree design, with tight mazes that you just’ll progressively open up. There are a couple of puzzles in right here that had us racking our mind – fortunately we had the ol’ notepad to fall again on – however not anything ever feels impenetrable.
One thing we reckon other folks will fight extra with, alternatively, is battle. Made up of melee guns, you’ll take at the light nightmares wandering Hadea with swords, polearms, axes, and greatswords, every of which will also be levelled up, upgraded, and carried out with a form of elemental injury kind. Talents will also be carried out to those guns, and the similar will also be stated on your little drone Kapi.
Enemy selection isn’t all that, however the sport does throw harder and harder demanding situations your approach as you delve deeper into the sport. Maximum creatures will in the end host those types of vibrant spirits known as the Haze, which want to be killed first prior to injury will also be finished to the principle goal. Then again, should you aren’t fast sufficient, the Haze will respawn.
We performed at the onerous problem, so battle will also be brutal every now and then, particularly when a couple of enemies are attacking immediately, alternatively, we for my part loved the problem. There’s a great mechanic that permits you to achieve again well being from injury finished to enemies if you time a faucet of R1 proper. It method you’ll totally flip round fights if you’re tactical and play issues gradual.
Then again, fortunately the sport is reasonably forgiving on the subject of dying. Should you die in a degree any enemy you killed will stay useless, and there’s no penalty for dying. The one example the place enemies will respawn is should you in reality go away one degree to any other, alternatively, as soon as you determine tips on how to shut the mysterious timeloops, you’ll then freely discover those cleared ranges.
There’s an possibility of Efficiency and High quality mode on each PS5 and PS5 Professional. The bottom PS5 was once in large part clean crusing on Efficiency, with some framerate hiccups when transitioning between primary spaces. At the PS5 Professional the sport ran close to flawlessly, with the tiniest little bit of pop-in. Then again, it didn’t ruin an another way extremely sharp taking a look sport that successfully utilises PSSR. We additionally famous some refined however great DualSense haptic implementations.
