Developer: Ars Goetia
Publisher: Dear Villagers
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
HellSlave II: Judgment of the Archon – Review
Back in 2022, Ars Goetia released a dungeon crawler titled HellSlave. Dungeon crawlers are a dime a dozen, and we can’t review them all. Because of this, HellSlave slipped under our radar, unfortunately. If HellSlave’s user ratings on Steam are to be believed, we missed out on an excellent dungeon crawler. We weren’t going to make the same mistake with the sequel, so when we got the opportunity to try HellSlave II: Judgment of the Archon, we jumped on it. Is HellSlave II hella good? (*Badum tsss*)
Story
In HellSlave II’s grimdark story, an apocalyptic war has broken out between six massively powerful demon lords. Humanity faces extinction, and even God himself has gotten tired of the whole ordeal. He dispatches a so-called Archon of Judgment to eliminate evil by destroying all of Creation. Being deleted out of existence isn’t something that our protagonist has on his bucket list, so he takes it upon himself to strike a deal with one of the six demon lords to gain dark powers and attempt to save the world. If this premise sounds ridiculous, convoluted, and over-the-top, then that’s because, frankly, it is. This is intentional, as the story is tongue-in-cheek and juxtaposes dry humour against its dark fantasy plot. The story is mostly told through graphic novel-style comic book panels, with collectible lore scrolls fleshing things out. This approach fits with the overall tone, though it does mean that there is very little room for NPC personalities to be fleshed out.
Graphics
We already mentioned the visual novel-style storytelling, but the entirety of HellSlave II’s visuals heavily lean into a hand-drawn aesthetic similar to that of the Hellboy comics. The colour palette relies heavily on black and grey tones punctuated by vibrant pops of color like red for blood and orange for lava. Enemies are varied and monster silhouettes are distinct, but environments lack the same visual punch. Initially, we felt disappointed by the repetitive dungeons and drab overworld, but as we kept playing, we realized that this toned-down approach was actually beneficial for overall gameplay clarity and at-a-glance readability. It also resulted in a game that isn’t too demanding in terms of performance, and we didn’t encounter any stuttering or frame drops during our playthrough.
Sound
The haunting atmospheric soundtrack is more than fitting for HellSlave II’s dark fantasy world, although we could have done with a little more variety. What’s present is fantastic though. While music makes up the bulk of HellSlave II’s soundscape, we’d say that the ambient audio and environmental sound design truly are the stars of the show here. Impact sounds, such as heavy clangs against shields, are punchy and dynamic. The sound effects contribute an energetic feel to the battles. There is no voice acting present, unfortunately.
Gameplay
The core gameplay of HellSlave II revolves around dungeon crawling and tactical turn-based combat. You take on the role of a Harog champion; a cross of an Archon and a demon. The player character is highly customisable. You start out as one of two archetype classes, Warrior or Sorcerer, and can then specialise through picking a sub-discipline. Later on in the game, you pledge allegiance to one of the six Demon Lords, each with a unique skill tree. Build respecs are fully supported and even encouraged too, which doesn’t just bode well for replayability but also really lets you tailor your character to your preferred playstyle.
Exploring your surroundings takes place in open-world-like areas, where roaming enemies are visible. As we mentioned before, the dungeons and overworld are lacking when it comes to distinct features, which can make navigation frustrating. Not only can you get lost, but accidentally wandering into the wrong location can affect the logic of a quest sequence, which in turn breaks immersion. Combat operates on a rather unique and interesting timeline system, where actions consume real-time seconds, determining when a character can act next. It’s a system that probably doesn’t fully come to fruition, as encounter difficulty is uneven. Regular mobs can often be instantly vaporized with first-turn burst builds, whereas bosses act as brick walls. We found ourselves having to respec specifically to make it past certain bosses. Fortunately, the game is very forgiving when it comes to rewarding you for your hard work. Clearing out all enemies in a map area even grants bonus stat points. HellSlave II balances on a tightrope between incredibly satisfying tactical combat and mid-to-late game drag.
If there’s one thing we’d really want to add to HellSlave II’s UI, it’s a “loot all” button though. As it stands, inventory management is tedious, partially due to loot overload and partially due to a cumbersome out-of-battle UI. Just a couple of minor changes could go a long way here. Apologies if we’re sounding harsh, because as a whole, HellSlave II is a compelling and deeply absorbing dungeon crawler. Its high replay value and low price tag of just €19.99 make it a strong recommendation for fans of the genre, but it doesn’t quite reach the level of perfection needed to call it a no-brainer. This is one of those games you’ll either love or hate.
Conclusion
Thanks to that rich build customisation, striking visuals and tactical timeline combat, HellSlave II stands out in an overcrowded genre. However, it can’t avoid the typical flaws of that same genre, including cumbersome inventory management, uneven difficulty spikes and an unwieldy world structure. Fortunately, there’s a meaty demo available as well, so you can give it a try before fully committing.
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