Hellpoint

Got the game for free, gave it a fair shot. From a technical viewpoint, the game has plenty of flaws. Hits that don't register, sound files that won't play or stop abruptly (like the background music of a boss fight), camera snapping out of your locked target because it moved too fast around/over you, fidgety platforming, etc. In that regard, the game needed more time to iron out the kinks. But then there's also the problem of the devs not getting what they were trying to emulate with a soulslike. Bosses will use extremely quick moves with nearly no visual or audio queue, attacks come at you from off-screen with no audio warning, etc. Various early game bosses become common enemies later on, which is just lazy enemy design. Visually the game is both gorgeous and a mess. Some scenarios are great to look at and you do feel the horror sci-fi setting around you. But the devs' intention of having a dark atmosphere is held back by their inability to understand and apply lighting to the game. This is especially true in the Alma Mater Atrium Union Park area, which is filled with phosphorent-looking plants that don't actually illuminate anything while the area itself remains poor lit. The OmniCube Light is essentially mandatory because of the way lighting is handled in the game. I wanted to like the game, but there are far too many annoynces. A pity.

It's no Dark Souls, we know that already. Doesn't need to be, has its own charm. Good ambiance, real dark star stuff. Enjoyable.

Mix in some Dark Souls with a little bit of cinema like Prometheus and Event Horizon, and it makes this. Hellpoint looks awesome, feels awesome and it has a lot going for it. But, there's so much grind, so much dying, do much wandering and collecting and wandering the same ground over and over and grinding away (has the grind been mentiond?) And the player is lost from the start and remains so for a long time. Just, lost and losing and repeating over and over and occasionally getting a little bit further along before the next insurmountable roadblock comes along. Visually super cool, atmospherically incredible and has some great game features but, if your into masochism, this one's for you.

PROS: - setting, this game just blends sci-fi and occult in the most perfect way - combat (when not ruined by issues) is very "meaty" and tactical - random events (pay attention to that "clock" in the top left) add new level of terror to an already difficult game - loot CONS: Well I'll rather describe it here why I gave up on it even though it was the most interesting "souls" game to me; A.I. is often stupid in a way that it runs towards you in a straight line and gets stuck, platforming parts of map are sometimes problematic because character control lacks finesse for precision movement, but the worst; I uninstalled on 3rd boss (first double trouble). There are still glitches there when the one that can do ranged attacks can sometimes shoot through the walls. This made me very angry as combat makes no sense when unfair; died 2 times to study their patterns (2nd time ranged shot through walls) and then on the 3rd try he could should through the walls again, did my best to avoid (I'm not a Souls newbie) and died as 1 boss was down and their total health had only 10% left. Then I died because I rushed still frustrated from glitch in previous try and 5th time it happened again and that's when I decided it's not worth it with all the good points. In conclusion even with visible smaller budget, this game would be an easy recommendation and 4/5 IF issues were fixed.

Store page makes the game look good. Especially the concept images they show in the description. This is NOT what the game looks or plays like! Initially game seems good. Visuals kind of remind you of Hellgate London. Mystery about who you are and whats going on. You're curious to explore and find out whats happening. Within a short time it starts to fall apart and it just gets worse. Combat is easy but feels pretty good and is fun. But... The camera is AWFUL! If you're fighting multiple enemies or in a narrow space you'll typically have a camera view of only your characters back or inside your character model. If you or the enemy are on stairs or a ramp one of you will have their hits not register. Enemy AI glitches out and gets stuck. Bosses will bug out and do nothing. I even had one main boss actually fall out of the level and die before I even saw them! Blocking is sporadic. The same enemy and the same attack. Sometimes it blocks it sometimes it doesn't. Enemies sometimes randomly have invulnerabilty for no discernable reason. Enemies are solid and push you around, often this can result in you being stuck waist deep in the ground unable to do anything. The games lighting varies between extremely dark or stupidly bright washed out overbloom. The main thing that will kill you is gravity. You'll fall a lot. The game is stuff full of annoying fatal jumping puzzles. Made worse by the games awful platforming. Your character sometimes won't jump when you try or will randomly stop sprinting even on flat ground. Worst is that the developers use jumping puzzles CONSTANTLY! No rhyme or reason. Just jumps everywhere. If you turn a corner or go down a dark hall except a sudden drop. Always. The story is a jumbled mess. It seems like they couldn't decide what story they wanted so just did all of them. They try so hard to make it vague and enigmatic that its just forgetable. The true final boss is worst designed and balance boss ever.