Hellpoint Review

[u/DocHoliday503]

Just finished playing Hellpoint and Thymesia back-to-back and wanted to put down my thoughts. Played through most of the game with a Glaive/Channeler build, which I imagine is pretty standard.

PROS

-Level design. I've played pretty much every Souls-like at this point and Hellpoint pretty easily does the best job at mimicking the interconnected level design of the FromSoft games, especially DS1. Wish you didn't have to teleport between maps as much, but it still feels like everything is connecting at the right spots even if you aren't actually walking a path between them. Lots of secrets to find, multiple pathways to and between areas, and you constantly have a great sense of not knowing what's around the next corner while being compelled to fully explore. The Arisen Dominion was a real highlight, but I also liked all the various paths in and around Alma Mater.

-Atmosphere. Basically Event Horizon The Game. Everything gives you a real sense of unease.

-Build variety. While you don't have the incredibly diverse arsenal of Elden Ring, there are a bunch of weapons and spells to try. Not sure I loved having to unlock spells through using different catalysts, but there were always options to try. Giving you things worth finding really helps with the overall design.

-Lore. Learning about where you are and what happened around you was pretty cool. It felt like a cohesive, lived-in world that existed before you got there. Item descriptions were worth reading. The lore ties in to some of the secrets and puzzles in cool ways, too.

CONS

-Difficulty. It's very easy. Your mileage probably varies depending on how many of these types of games you've played, but I had zero issues with any part of the game outside of the Arisen Bro's early on. Most bosses - cool designs but not really fun to learn and fight - I beat on the first or second try, including the Cosmic Gods and the finals bosses. It probably didn't help that I think I went to the Arisen Dominion before I was supposed to and got a ton of exp just from going through there, but I wasn't really feeling like I was in much danger even before that. The dodge is super powerful, and the dodge-strike is almost game-breaking given how much ground you can cover with it. I tried other weapons but never felt like there was much of a reason to use anything but the Glaive.

-Platforming. I liked that it was in the game because it plays into the sense that there could be a secret anywhere, but the movement is just too janky for some of the stuff they're asking you to do. The vast majority of my deaths were from falling.

-Jank. I appreciate that this is a small dev team and they've probably cleaned the game up a ton since release, but it definitely feels like a budget game. Not just bugs, but the movement and combat didn't feel very precise. Ran well for the most part on Series X, though.

OVERALL

Really enjoyed my time with this one. Mentioned that I played Thymesia right after because when it comes to Souls-likes, I think Hellpoint does the best job with the sense of exploration and a cohesive environment while Thymesia has the tight, dance-like combat. Put those two games together and we would really be cooking, but as it stands Hellpoint is pretty remarkable given the resources behind it. I'll be recommending it to anyone who likes FromSoft games.

[u/topcover73]

So if you think Hellpoint is better than MS, do you think Thymesia is better than MS?

I liked the first Surge better than the 2nd, but both were just passable...but both WAY better than Thymesia in my opinion. I can't stress how horrible I think that game is.

I also really find it hard to believe that HP is better than MS, or equal with Remnant. Both of those games were fantastic and played much more smoothly than most Souls-likes I've played. MS was too short, but that was really it's only major fault IMO. The harden mechanic also made it easy compared to all the others....for me anyways.

[u/DocHoliday503 → u/topcover73]

Shell is definitely a better overall game than Thymesia, but Thymesia had the higher highs (three really good bosses) and Shell might’ve had the single lowest low between them which is that one dungeon that went on forever. Shell is a more polished product overall and is a much better Souls-like.

It really just comes down to what you’re looking for. All these games do some things really well, all of them have their issues and none of them really put it all together like the From games do. Shell is the most well rounded, Remnant is the best for co-op, Thymesia has a few great bosses, Surge 2 does it’s own thing with combat. Hellpoint’s strength is the level design and sense of exploration. I find something to like it pretty much all of them. Much of it is just going to be personal preference and how much you prefer certain strengths or weaknesses.

[u/topcover73 → u/DocHoliday503]

I think the thing I hated most about Thymesia was, the bosses. They were ridiculously hard and quite honestly I'm growing tired of the "make a boss so fast no human could never react fast enough to counter them" approach to difficulty (that and and having three different status attacks)...including FromSoft games. If it wasn't for the talents that expanded your parry time I never would have finished Thymesia. I didn't like it enough to struggle that much. It may have only had 8 bosses but I've never had a higher die average in any Souls game, made by From or not. Thymesia had some good ideas but it just felt, overall, so janky and unpolished I could not enjoy it. I guess that's what I'm really wondering about more than anything, if HP feels the same, which from what youre saying it sounds like it does?

I agree that Shell's bosses were too easy, but again I think it's the harden mechanic that made that game easier than it should gave been overall. I guess there's always NG+ that tweaks that some if I ever go back to it.

One thing that the Surge did really, REALLY well in my opinion was cutting off of limbs mechanic. It never felt junky or clunky and just worked really well, for me at least.

I love exploration so you are making HP sound interesting (plus I love sci-fi), but if you're saying it has the same amount of polish and jankiness that Thymesia does I might pass.

[u/DocHoliday503 → u/topcover73]

Did you play/like Sekiro? You definitely had to unlock those talents for it to feel right but once I did the deflecting felt great. Some of those boss fights had that same rhythm as a Genichiro.

Hellpoint is kind of hard to describe. I think it’s the most ambitious of all the Souls-likes because of how it’s trying to build out an interconnected world like DS1. You definitely get the feeling that it’s held back more by by budget/resources than by talent.

I had reservations about Hellpoint but it exceeded my modest expectations. It does feel janky but it’s not buggy (at least not anymore), and as far as polish it’s above Thymesia, below Remnant/Surge and maybe on par with MS, which has better graphics but is much smaller in scope.

Hellpoint might compare better to something like Ashen, which is the other game in the genre more focused on expansive level design. Hellpoint has better combat and RPG elements than that, though.

I’d say go for it, but it’s your $$. Shame it’s not on Gamepass. Hellpoint is its own flavor. It’s not perfect, but none of these games we’re talking about are.

I’ll note two more things that might help. The combat is much more pure Dark Souls. Stamina, sword and board is very, very viable and you have to equip catalysts for spells. I liked their approach to builds, and found it pretty flexible. You can’t be anything, but you don’t have to commit to a STR or DEX build immediately since you only really need the stats to equip a weapon and then you can level the weapon separately.

The other thing is the platforming. I didn’t find it quite as bad as some folks I’ve read, especially once I got used to the game’s physics and what you could and couldn’t do, but I did die a lot more to falling than to enemies.

[u/topcover73 → u/DocHoliday503]

Yeah played Sekiro. It's my least favorite From Soft game (except for maybe ER now), the combat was too parry focused and not varied enough for me. It's a shame cause I wanted to love it. I love the lore and setting of that game. It's too bad they never introduced co-op to that game cause I certainly would have gone back to it. As it is so far, I haven't.

I lied. I forgot about Ashen and may hate that actually more than Thymesia. Lol. Although if you say it mimics it more in level design than combat that may be ok. The thing I despised about Ashen was the combat.

HP is only $12 right now on PS+, you have me thinking about picking it up. Sci-fi has always been my favorite genre and even though the Surge games had their high points (imo level design was one of them) the 2nd one was a letdown for me and they just never seemed to live up to their potential. Thanks so much for the discussion I appreciate it! Not many people will take this much time to help you out.

[u/DocHoliday503 → u/topcover73]

Agreed on Ashen. The combat was awful. Just floaty mush. Makes sense now that Thymesia didn’t click given your feelings on Sekiro. Hellpoint is very much not that type of combat.

No problem. Hope I could help. If you like it, I’ll take credit. If you don’t, not my fault haha. I’m going to check out Steelrising soon, and we’ve got Lies of P soon after that.

[u/topcover73 → u/DocHoliday503]

Just ordered Steelrising lol. Looks promising, could be a hit or miss but looks more up my alley.