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A hack-and-slash roguelite with a ton of potential but a lot of problems - Helvetii Quick Review

11K View2023-02-07

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Skip Helvetti, unless you really enjoy hack-and-slash roguelite games. Helvetii features invigorating combat and beautiful hand-drawn visuals inspired by Celtic mythology. That might sound like it will provide an enjoyable experience, and it can, but the game also has some big issues.

TIME PLAYED

I played Helvetii for three hours. Each run lasted anywhere between five to twenty minutes before I embarrassingly met my fate, and I never managed to make it further than four stages.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Combat. I loved how dynamic combat felt in Helvetii. Each swing and thrust transitions fluidly into the next attack. When I performed combos perfectly, my character danced through the battlefield. Paired with dodging, airborne abilities, and a medley of other options, Helvetii succeeds wonderfully at combat.

• Characters. Each character in Helvetii looks unique and features their own abilities and combos to change the game’s pacing. I personally enjoyed using Nammeios, a powerful druid that flings spells and commands a crow.

• Monsters. In Helvetii, I was introduced to many monsters that all varied in style and had their own abilities. Each provided a unique challenge, which made the game a little more exciting to overcome.

• Art style. Helvetii utilizes beautiful and mesmerizing hand-drawn visuals to look at.

WHAT SUCKS

• Tutorial. When I first opened Helvetii, I immediately popped into a game, thinking that maybe I’d be introduced by a helpful tutorial. I eventually played Helvetii blind for around forty minutes before realizing that the tutorial was actually located on the menu screen. Although that’s pretty embarrassing to say, I feel like it would’ve been avoided if there was an indication of the tutorial upon opening the game for the first time or a guide at the start of Helvetii.

• Environment. Although Helvetii’s art style is absolutely stunning, it can be a little hard to see monsters in areas. It’s not necessarily the art design itself, but the placement of different structures and environmental objects that partially blocks enemies on the screen, especially dogs. I found it really frustrating when a monster that I couldn’t properly see killed me.

• Shop. I loved the idea of a shop providing items that boost my stats in Helvetii, but I hated how it’s implemented here. At the starting stage, I’d only earn around ten coins to purchase an item. Unfortunately, since the shop is randomized, items can cost anywhere from five to twenty-five coins. It was frustrating to check in on a shop feeling hopeful, only to find it full of stuff I couldn’t buy anyway.

• No second chances. If you die in Helvetii, you need to restart the run. My dodging skills couldn’t live up to just how unforgiving this system is. I really wished the game allowed me to retry the level at least once.

• Camera panning. This might be nitpicking, but panning the screen to check out the area felt pretty useless as a tool in Helvetii, seeing as monsters only spawned once I stepped into a specific spot. I’d have preferred a bigger field of view rather than the option to pan the camera.

💬 Will you play Helvetii or are you going to pass on it? Tell us down below.

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