Hell Maiden Preview – Bullet Heaven Bliss

I have been following Hell Maiden since its preliminary announcement, and it is at all times thrilling to see a mission I personally anticipate really come into fruition. Loads of its growth particulars had been tied behind developer Astral Shift’s Patreon, so I used to be in the dead of night for a lot of it, however attending to precise play and see the way it’s all come collectively has been a real pleasure.

Hell Maiden is basically the pure evolution of the Survivors-like — or moderately, Bullet Heaven — style. Whereas I can’t declare to have performed all of them, I do know a good bit about Megabonk, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors, and several other others. Hell Maiden is the primary since Vampire Survivors (the very progenitor of the style) that looks like a real step ahead. 

Even now, in Early Entry, Hell Maiden makes a robust first impression. Having completed most of what this preliminary launch has to supply, I am rattling close to determined to see what else it has to supply. 

Lifeless Poets Society

When you’re unfamiliar with Bullet Heavens, consider Bullet Hell video games like Ikaruga. You are dodging a ton of bullets and preventing in opposition to overwhelming odds. That concept nonetheless stays true to Bullet Heaven titles like Hell Maiden, besides you are the one taking pictures out 1,000,000 completely different projectiles as hordes of enemies always rush to defeat you.

In Hell Maiden, gamers take the position of Dante, the poet recognized for penning the eponymous Dante’s Inferno. This journey takes place in Hell, and proper now we’ve got entry to Limbo and the primary circle, Lust. These are the 2 battlefields the place we tackle hordes of enemies and, run after run, your goal is to destroy as many enemies, survive the time restrict, and tackle a boss on the finish.

Finishing a run progresses a narrative that stored me intrigued, even when it’s kind of complicated to comply with at instances. I feel I am lacking a great deal of context, since I have not learn Dante’s Inferno, nor have I dove into items by different characters in Hell Maiden, together with Ovid, Vergil, and Horace. Although, figuring out Homer, the purported writer of The Iliad and The Odyssey, helped me perceive some dialogue.

The story is, nonetheless, a focus right here. Few, if any, Bullet Heaven video games I do know of go for story, however Hell Maiden takes a type of Hades strategy in that regard. Within the hub space we respawn in, gamers can work together with stated poets and be taught extra concerning the characters. There is no relationship-building kind mechanic, however I would not be stunned if that comes down the road.

The voice solid does a wonderful job at respiratory life into these characters, however the artwork is the place issues actually stand out. Their pixelized character sprites are charming, however their portraits are the place Astral Shift’s signature Shojo-esque model shines. These poets — all ladies, as a result of why not — are beautiful, and their varied facial expressions add rather a lot to every interplay. 

It stays to be seen the place this narrative takes us, however there’s a thriller and quite a lot of questions I would love solutions for. Alas, it is too early to know what path Hell Maiden will take us, however I’ve little doubt we’ll be diving into the deepest pits of Hell to seek out out. 

From Limbo to Lust

One other space the place Hell Maiden distinguishes itself is its deckbuilding mechanics. Whereas deckbuilding could be a little bit of a bogeyman phrase for a lot of avid gamers, consider me after I say it really works nicely, and you are not essentially making a deck within the conventional sense a la Hearthstone. 

So this is the way it all works: Dante can use as much as 4 completely different weapons in a run, and every weapon can have three completely different modifier playing cards. These playing cards begin at a worth of 1 and go as much as three, and also you guessed it, they are often upgraded 3 times. To improve a modifier, you want two of the identical card. Straightforward sufficient. 

These modifiers are the place issues get actually loopy, as a result of you’ve gotten the potential to make some insanely inventive, very OP builds. Some mod playing cards are your commonplace “improve vital harm by X quantity,” however others may improve the variety of projectiles of playing cards to its proper. So that you even have to think about the way you place the playing cards in your deck, which provides a pleasant little component to the gameplay.

Weapons themselves are all fairly distinct, every tied to the completely different poets thematically. Unlocking a brand new poet grants Dante entry to their skills. Some, like Dante’s Quill, is a really dependable, quick swipe assault with a smaller vary. Others shoot out AoE-like spells or projectiles, however regardless, mod playing cards have the potential to drastically have an effect on the way in which these weapons behave. 

Hell Maiden can be very liberal with its degree ups, so you may always be getting upgrades to your weapons, selecting new mod playing cards, and choosing blessings that give your character enhancements like elevated motion pace or further dashes. And, on the finish of the run, you may spend a forex to boost your character completely. 

Hell Maiden Preview | Remaining Ideas

Final however not least, boss fights. These aren’t simply your common beefy enemies, consider them like Hades bosses with their very own assault patterns inside their very own space. This places your construct to the take a look at to see simply how sturdy it truly is, and extra instances than not, I melted the bosses down. Boss fights flip this Bullet Heaven right into a Bullet Hell with all of the projectiles you need to dodge, resulting in some tense moments.

For me, I want to help Early Entry video games and play what they’ve to supply for just a few hours, then patiently look forward to its eventual launch. I am not that affected person with Hell Maiden, as a result of it completely hooked me. Evidently, I will be anticipating each replace up till it launches sooner or later. 

Hell Maiden was previewed on PC with a code supplied by the developer over roughly 11 hours of gameplay. All screenshots on this preview had been taken by the previewer throughout gameplay.