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It seems to me that the next big wave of video games we're getting in the coming years could be from the recently popular bullet hell survival roguelike genre that includes hits like Vampire Survivors, Brotato and Halls of Torment to name a few.
In case you're unfamiliar with these types of games, they mostly have one thing in common - every one of them throws thousands of enemies at you while you try your best to kill as many of them as possible, level up and unlock new skills, powers and weapons that make it easier to defeat these never-ending waves enemies.
One such game is Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel which I got to chance to play as part of the Steam Next Fest demo and I can honestly say that we're potentially looking at the next big hit in this increasingly popular genre.
As you've probably guessed by the name, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is all about Nordic mythology, pitting you against hordes of different types of enemies that include skeletons, bugs, big armoured warriors and ultimately large Jotun bosses.
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In the demo, you can choose from three classes that resemble a berserker warrior, a ranger with a wolf spirit and a dark mage. There are some greyed-out classes too, which suggests more will be available once the game releases in early access.
Levels are Norse universes so you will be able to choose from snowy-covered Nilfheil to locations like Midgard, Alfheim, Muspelheim and others once the game releases. The demo allows only Nilfhem so you'll be stuck killing Norse monstrosities in this chilly place.
Once the run starts you'll slay enemies, collect experience crystals and level up. Every time you level up, the game will offer you several skills, be it active or passive ones. You can choose skills from your own class skill tree or choose the blessings of Norse gods like Thor, Freya or Loki.
For example, Thor's powers include a rain of thunderbolts, Freya can gift you her powerful divine sword while Loki also has a whole slate of tricks up in his sleeve. Every god will offer you several skills so it's up to you to combine them in the best way possible to ensure your character stays alive until the very end.
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The powers are truly special and once you finally nail a build with skills that complement each other, you'll get a very satisfying run in which you'll obliterate everything the game throws at you, including the bosses that spawn at the end of the run and can be very challenging.
During the run, you also have quests to complete that reward you with food to keep your health high and gold, which you can spend after the run on new gear, skills and so on.
The whole gameplay loop is extremely addicting and even now in this phase, I find the balance to be quite solid even though the game can be very hard even on medium (or it's possible I simply suck at these games).
I found myself going for just one more run before noticing that I've already spent an extra hour or more than I previously planned.
Visually, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel looks incredible with stunning graphics, smooth animations and solid VFX. In terms of performance, the game runs flawlessly even in very intensive scenes when my screen was looking pretty chaotic with hundreds of enemies and powers going off.
All in all, I found Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel to be incredibly fun and engaging which makes me very excited to play again when more content becomes available. Developer Games Farm have something special brewing here and I sincerely hope they continue in the right direction during early access period.
You can wishlist the game here.
