Jötunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is a bullet hell roguelite in the tradition of Vampire Survivors, a genre of game I’m quickly coming to appreciate. While Jötunnslayer: Hordes of Hel stands out with its Norse mythology aesthetic and heavy dark fantasy, Diablo-like visuals, the Early Access game could use some work before launch. That being said, it’s far from a bad game even in its early state and is worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre.
Personally, I’m getting a bit burnt out on Vikings. It feels like the whole Norse aesthetic has been overused lately, especially in video games, with everyone turning to it as the next go-to fantasy setting. That being said, Jötunnslayer: Hordes of Hel still intrigued me, and after giving it a shot, I found it interesting, though in need of some improvement.
The traditional gameplay pattern of other titles in the genre is shaken up with the inclusion of a quest-based gameplay loop. Jötunnslayer: Hordes of Hel challenges you not just to kill enemies and gather gold or item pickups on the map before bosses spawn at set time intervals, but also to complete as many quests as possible before time runs out. You eventually face the boss at the end of each level. These quests vary and are engaging, ranging from fetch quests to defending points with special modifiers and enemies.
Gold is one of two currencies in the game. It’s used to purchase upgrades for individual characters or gods, which apply to all characters. The other collectible is a special ore used for unlocking new weapons, making the collect-a-thon aspect of the game straightforward.
Something Jötunnslayer: Hordes of Hel does exceptionally well is its visual and audio presentation. The game’s maps are absolutely gorgeous, with a gritty, washed-out, Diablo-like aesthetic. The thematically appropriate weather effects make you feel like you’re in the cold realm of Niflheim or the burning wastes of Muspelheim, the two maps available in the current Early Access version.
The visual effects of your powers range from decent to stunning, with lightning being a personal favorite. When these effects land, they truly deliver, making you feel like you’re wielding divine power. The excellent audio design enhances this further, with the sound of thunder accompanying Thor’s lightning strikes, giving you the sense of delivering a godly doom to Hel’s hordes.
Despite their cool effects (some more so than others), a lot of abilities didn’t feel satisfying to use. At times, it felt like my abilities weren’t dealing nearly as much damage as they should. Mighty thunderbolts barely slowed a horde of bugs, while other abilities dealt decent damage but lacked visual impact. Some abilities, particularly Loki and Odin’s, felt underwhelming overall. Loki’s Jörmungandr ability was especially disappointing, lacking a visual element to match its description.
I’d like to see many of the abilities reworked, whether in their effects, visuals, or both. While this might seem like a big undertaking, the abilities currently span an extreme spectrum—from visually stunning and enjoyable to utterly unsatisfying and weak. This imbalance makes it easy (at least for me) to stick to a handful of powers across multiple games.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m growing weary of the Viking aesthetic, but even putting that bias aside, I didn’t find the playable characters particularly exciting design-wise. While they might appeal to others, they felt a little generic and unremarkable to me. The Berserker stood out with a more interesting silhouette compared to the others and had subtle design elements that grew on me over time.
The enemy mobs were less memorable, consisting mainly of generic skeletons and armored figures with little flair. The bosses were a different story—more visually striking and distinct—but overall, the game falls short in character design, with many designs feeling generic and uninspired.
Bosses being the most visually interesting enemies is both expected and appreciated, especially since their special moves add variety and create unique gameplay challenges.
Being in Early Access, Jötunnslayer: Hordes of Hel isn’t without bugs.
During one of my normal difficulty runs on Niflheim, I experienced a sudden drop in frame rates during a fight with the Bone Jötunn. I’m unsure what triggered it, but the drop made the fight nearly unplayable. My Berserker began skipping across the screen, and dodging attacks became almost impossible. Frustratingly, this led to me losing the encounter, erasing 20 minutes of effort and the associated unlocks.
This issue persisted every time I faced the Bone Jötunn on normal difficulty, forcing me to fight at about five frames per second. This random performance drop is clearly a bug, likely tied to one of the titan’s special moves. Hopefully, it’s something that will be resolved before the game leaves Early Access.
While I’ve both praised and criticized the game’s visual presentation—praising its aesthetic and backgrounds while critiquing the abilities and character design—I feel Jötunnslayer: Hordes of Hel will likely appeal to many fans of the genre, with some minor tweaks and a thorough bug-fixing pass, it has the potential to emerge from Early Access as a popular title.
Pros:
- A great aesthetic and awesome visual and sound design in most places
- A good twist on traditional genre gameplay, offering some new challenges to familiar players
Cons:
- A lack of interesting enemy varieties or exciting characters
- Some underwhelming abilities greatly limiting the amount of powers you want to play with
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