some lukewarm thoughts about Hell Maiden...
okay so i'm loving the gameplay a lot, i think it's super fun even though i'm not familiar with the genre. i didn't think it would be my cup of tea but i was so wrong, it's addictive and entertaining. character designs and animations are gorgeous as per usual, as is the music. the voice acting is great too, the VAs are very talented (i especially love how Dante sounds 💖), however... i have more than a few complaints about the current state of the game, which kinda saddens me since i was super hyped about it. i'm gonna make a list:
i want to start by saying that this game is currently in Early Access which means that it's far from finished and i'm perfectly aware of that. still and despite that:
there's very little content. i've only played for 4 hours and i already feel like there's not much else i can do... there are currently 2 stages ('Limbo' and Lust') and i breezed through Limbo. granted, Lust is a lot more difficult, but since both Horace and Homer are rescued in Limbo, there's no "event" to look forward to in Lust, and therefore, no real incentive to keep trying and trying. maybe it would have been better leaving Homer for the 2nd stage, since there are no more characters to rescue as of now.
speaking of little content, the dialogue is so, SO scarce. again, it's an EA, i know. but if you compare it to Fields of Mistria and Hades 2, two games that were initially released in EA as well, the difference is astonishing. i remember posting a review of FoM on Steam after playing for 10+ hours praising it because the dialogue didn't repeat even once! in this game, there are only 4 characters that are available and that you meet pretty much immediately and they have like. 3-4 conversations each? i can't tell you the exact number but it's very very few. when i got the "exhaust all dialogue" achievement i was flabbergasted. how is that all the dialogue we're getting? there are only 4 characters! and not all dialogue is voiced so that's definitely not the issue.
speaking of characters and since i previously mentioned voice acting... i don't like the decision of casting Phoebe to voice both Beatrice and Virgil. don't get me wrong, i don't mind the fact that they "recycle" VAs (majority of characters are voiced by the Little Goody Two Shoes VAs, except for Risa Mei if i remember correctly) but it's too obvious since, as of right now, those two are the characters we hear the most speak. sometimes they speak back to back and it's impossible for me to view them as two different characters because they sound the same... i know for people who aren't familiar with her voice it's probably not that noticeable but it is to me, unfortunately
also reminder that this game was set to release last year, so the fact that they delayed its release for months only for it to have so little content... i can't help being bitter about it. i wish they'd delay it even more. i don't mind waiting if it means i get to play the game for hours, find out more exciting things as i play, read more dialogue between the characters, explore more, etc. the good thing is that it will get an update later this year (allegedly) but since they haven't specified a date i won't get my hopes up. at least they released the game at a reasonable price (9,99€) i'll give them that, but... yeah, i'm not too happy about it.
anyways having said all of that, i assure you i have full faith in the potential, emphasis on potential, of this game. and i know it will be a banger and i will be super proud to having contributed to its development because this studio always cooks. but it's important to be critical about the games you play, especially when you paid for them so i had to share my thoughts, even if they're not super positive. i can only hope the upcoming update has an adequate amount of content that will make up for it.
amandla
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