SEPTEMBER 2024 UPDATE: If you found this post online, head over to my Halls of Torment 1.0 review instead. The game has been fully released as of this update!
What happens when you mix the retro aesthetic and feel of the older Diablo titles with the roguelike bullet heaven gameplay of Vampire Survivors? You get Halls of Torment, a deceptively complex survival game with features that set itself apart from others like it. So what does it offer aside from the old school artstyle and seemingly derivative formula?
For starters, players get the option to manually aim and attack, which can be handy in certain situations, such as when you want to focus fire on a boss or elite that’s hiding behind mobs of enemies. This alone already puts it above many others in the genre, as it provides even just a little sense of freedom when it comes to how you choose to play the game.
POWERFUL ENHANCEMENTS
Unlike some of the other games in this genre, Halls of Torment does not shy away from giving players very impactful upgrades right off the bat. Straight after your first level up, you can get enhancements ranging from 10% damage upgrades to an extra 50 base health, and sometimes even a combination of two different modifiers.
The second you reach level 2, the boosts you can get feel so satisfying that you’re likely to start killing certain enemies in one hit instead of two, and it’ll only get better from there. Every now and then, bosses also spawn and drop items on death, which add even more stat bonuses on top of what you gain with each level.
Once you unlock the Wellkeeper, you can start bringing these items out of each run and permanently unlock them in your stash. This makes them available to equip on any character, giving you a much needed boost right from the start. The shrine of blessings also gives you flat upgrades in exchange for gold, and these can be rerolled for free at any time.
ENDLESS DIVERSITY
With tons of traits and items to unlock and utilize, there is a near endless variety of builds that one can go for depending on their desired playstyle. Whether you wanna consistently deal massive critical damage or let your spells do the work for you, there’s no shortage of ways for you to try and beat each level.
As of writing this, my personal favorite has to be playing as the Exterminator with a high amount of range and attack speed. With a build like that, you get to watch numbers fly as your character spits out long projectiles from their flamethrower. It’s admittedly not the best way to clear the screen, especially since I have the powerful Cleric unlocked, but it sure is satisfying to deal lots of damage over time to bosses.
On that note, there are currently around seven characters in the game, each of which have a unique attack and combinations of traits to choose from. Although most players will likely be rolling as either the Swordsman or Archer for their first few runs, with the quests you’ll complete early on, as well as all the gold earned after dying, one can easily unlock at least two additional characters before reaching the harder stages.
The amount of diversity in the game is not limited to your options, however, as there is also a wide variety of both elite and regular enemies to encounter. Typically, you’ll start off facing fragile drones that merely walk in your direction and die in maybe one to two hits, but as the thirty minute timer ticks down, it will quickly spiral into a frantic mess that will have you worrying about how much damage you can deal and how fast you can run away.
Eventually, slimes that split on death, bulky enemies that spit out various kinds of projectiles, and even powerful bosses with special moves will start spawning. Unlike Vampire Survivors, this game will keep you on your toes by throwing in enemies that not only fill your screen, but also try to cut you off with varying kinds of attacks.
CONCLUSION
Although other games under this genre also offer a chaotic and fun gameplay loop, Halls of Torment has you quickly going from zero to hero way before you’re even halfway through a run. What also sets it apart are all of the other systems in place that will make your characters much more powerful right from the start.
It combines the addicting adrenaline rush gameplay of Vampire Survivors with the satisfying loot acquisition and aesthetic of old school RPG titles. It has quickly become my favorite “Survivors-like”, as I sometimes call these games, and I’ll probably be sinking dozens of hours into this just like I did with the ones that came before it, if not more as new content gets released.
