Hell Maiden makes a compelling case for mixing Hades, Vampire Survivors, anime and, uh, Dante's Divine Comedy

If I had a nickel for each video crippled adaptation of The Divine Comedy I'd lone person 3 nickels, but it's weird that it's happened thrice

I deliberation if you were to question backmost successful clip to astir the 14th period to wherever Dante Alighieri was astatine the time, and showed him Hell Maiden, a roguelike, slug hell, deckbuilding, '90s anime-esque, fundamentally instrumentality fabrication sequel to his Divine Comedy, he'd astir apt accidental thing similar "Mama mia" and dice connected the spot successful fearfulness of what his ain instauration spawn hundreds of years later. Yet arsenic ridiculous a conception arsenic it is - and it is ridiculous - the demo for it is rather good.

To comparison it to different games, Hell Maiden is similar a mash-up of Hades and Vampire Survivors, the second starring the complaint successful moment-to-moment gameplay. You play arsenic Dante himself, oregon successful this case, herself, who is backmost successful hellhole aft having reached Paradiso, with amnesia. And truthful she begins the ascension to eden erstwhile more!

When you commencement off, you're equipped with Dante's quill, which sends retired fiery blasts each 2nd oregon truthful akin to Vampire Survivor's whip. You tin person up to 4 weapons (at slightest that appears to beryllium the bounds successful the demo), said weapons represented arsenic cards. Leveling up gives you the accidental to take from 3 caller cards, which astir of the clip volition beryllium limb modifiers, doing things similar adding much projectiles, expanding damage, that benignant of thing, but you'll occasionally get caller weapons to use.

If you propulsion a duplicate modifier card, you tin fuse them with different to amended it, oregon spot it connected a antithetic limb if you truthful choose. There are adjacent immoderate cards that tin impact aggregate weapons depending connected wherever you spot them.

Like successful different Vampire Survivor clones you don't person overmuch power implicit your attacks, though you tin constituent them successful 1 absorption portion moving successful another, truthful you bash person immoderate control. This feels coagulated too, astatine nary constituent did I consciousness frustrated oregon overwhelmed by what was connected screen, I cognize each of my deaths was my ain fault. It's each rather tightly woven together, particularly awesome considering that whenever the crippled does motorboat it'll bash truthful successful aboriginal access.

The Hades constituent crops up successful the signifier of communicative operation much than anything. Upon decease you're brought to The Forum, a hub country wherever you tin bent retired and chat with assorted Poets of Limbo, specified arsenic Homer, Virgil, and Horace. It seems that befriending them lets you unlock different starter weapons, and they each let you to prime up antithetic limb and modifier cards too.

All of this is wrapped up successful an incredibly good rendered vaguely '90s anime creation style, astatine slightest erstwhile it comes to the dialog scenes. The remainder of the crippled is mostly pixel art, but determination are peculiar moves you tin usage that bash screen-wide harm pursuing immoderate stellar, afloat animated cutscenes showing disconnected these anime girlified versions of, I would similar to punctual you, precise existent poets.

For the astir portion conscionable mashing up genres, adjacent if it's done well, doesn't inherently colour maine funny successful a game, but with its highly good realised concept, I americium presently sold connected Hell Maiden. I conscionable anticipation nary 1 invents clip question truthful Dante doesn't dice sooner than helium was meant to.

Hell Maiden doesn't person a merchandise day conscionable yet, but erstwhile it gets one, it'll motorboat successful aboriginal access. You tin wishlist it connected Steam now.