Developer: Perfectly Paranormal
Publisher: Perfectly Paranormal
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Tested on: PS4
Helheim Hassle (PS4) – Review
With the release of Perfectly Paranormal’s game Helheim Hassle in August of last year, many people noticed a tiny thing missing. That tiny thing being a PlayStation version. While the game debuted on the same day for PC, Xbox, and Switch players alike, those of us sticking to the PlayStation were left standing in the proverbial Norse winter cold, which was a shame considering the great reviews the game quickly racked up. Thankfully the devs have now fixed that, with the game releasing for PlayStation earlier this month. This means that for us it’s once again time to take a trip to Viking hell.
Story
Helheim Hassle tells the comedic – and slightly morbid – story of Bjørn, a young Viking who isn’t the same as others in his town. Instead of dreaming of slaughter on the battlefield, dying a brave warrior’s death, and being carted off to Valhalla, Bjørn would much rather prefer to take the pacifist approach: to grow old and spent his eternal afterlife in Helheim, essentially Viking hell for the old and lame. Imagine his annoyance when an unfortunate accident ends up killing Bjørn and an even more unfortunate misunderstanding means he does get to go to Valhalla. A thousand years later the immortal Pesto, who is running an errand which requires her to go into Helheim, revives Bjørn to get his help with the entry. The agreement is made that if he helps her solve the puzzles to get in, they can probably convince the Viking gods to let him stay there instead. And thus starts the strange journey these two undertake.
Graphics
With its pretty unique animation style, Helheim Hassle once again showcases the charming knack for graphics Perfectly Paranormal showed off so well in their previous game Manual Samual. If anything, it only has become better with time. Bigger chunks of the story are delivered through animated cutscenes that are particularly fun to watch, especially combined with the stellar voice acting talked about below. The game has a clean interface that helps greatly with the puzzle-solving.
Sound
As commented on in our original review, the music in Helheim Hassle is fine but not amazing. It’s often overshadowed by the voice acting, which really manages to steal the show. With over twenty talented voice actors in the cast, every character from the mains to the extras are fully voiced and the delivery of the lines is spot on. This is essential since the game relies heavily on its comedic timing to be as funny as it is.
Gameplay
Helheim Hassle is a puzzle adventure game with a rather interesting mechanic. Due to Bjørn’s status as a resurrected dead person, he has the ability to detach the different parts of his body while still controlling them interchangeably as he does this. This ability comes in particularly handy as you start to encounter puzzles because your different body parts have different stats that make them more suitable for one task as opposed to another. Your head might be able to get into smaller spaces or be thrown up to a ledge, but your detached arm can be faster when climbing. Using this fun mechanic, you platform your way through the levels.
Your detached body parts have their drawbacks, however. Since they lack a mouth, your other body parts are not able to talk to people and your head alone won’t be much use trying to pull a lever. Some buttons need a certain amount of weight to be pressed down, requiring you to gather enough of your body parts to operate them. The result is a series of bizarre puzzles challenging the way you divide and unite your body in a Frankenstein display to get through locked areas and reach Helheim’s center. Some clever thinking will be required, but overall the game’s short length means there isn’t as much diversity in the mechanics used.
Along the way, some side-quests will pop up and there is a whole assortment of collectibles to gather, from letters containing extra lore to purely cosmetic items. The game has a handy fast travel system that makes it easy to go back to previous areas if you’ve missed something or are passionate about collecting everything.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, Helheim Hassle manages to be both entertaining and innovative, with a puzzle mechanic we haven’t encountered in any other game before and a funny, if dark, kind of humor. The great voice work and nice graphics round off this enjoyable experience that makes us wonder what Perfectly Paranormal has in store for us next.
Helheim Hassle (PS4) - Review,
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