Halls of Torment

by Aethyna Jul 11, 2023 | 1 Votes | 51 Played | 0 Reviews

10 rate

Genres:

Action

Graphics:

Labels:

Demons , Shooting , Bullet Hell , Retro

Platforms:

Publishers:

Chasing Carrots In this game, you get to descend into the bowels of the Hall itself with your hero of choice, battling all the demonic creatures that will try to swarm you to death. Level up, equip, and upgrade your heroes, or even unlock new ones, as you descend further into the Halls of Torment! Play Now Similar Games

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Summary Plotline Gameplay Graphics/ Sound Conclusion

Summary

Halls of Torment can be summed up as a Diablo-themed "Vampire Survivors", and it fits into that role perfectly. In this game, you get to descend into the bowels of the Hall itself with your hero of choice, battling all the demonic creatures that will try to swarm you to death. Level up, equip, and upgrade your heroes, or even unlock new ones, as you descend further, taking on increasingly challenging demons and bosses!

Plotline

The game immediately launches you into the gameplay without any introduction to the setting or the story, but while you’re fighting various demonic creatures underground, you may encounter shrines and other survivors who may shed more light on the Halls of Torment and why it is seemingly overrun by demons. No spoilers, though!

Gameplay

As aforementioned, Halls of Torment features a Vampire Survivors-style gameplay that’s action-oriented and somewhat strategic in nature. In this game, you’ll need to try to survive the dungeon you dive into by making sure you don’t run into any of the enemies you encounter – yes, this means you can’t “touch” them - nor get hit by any of their blows or projectiles.

You’re not completely helpless, though! You can deal some sizeable damage of your own, allowing you to slay these demonic creatures as you go. You can choose one of two options available, either manual attacks, which means a whole lot of clicking, or auto-attacks. Naturally, to save yourself from certain carpal tunnel and to prolong your mouse’s lifespan, you’ll want to have auto-attack on most, if not all, of the time. You need to move your mouse cursor toward the group of enemies you want to target, and your hero will attack accordingly.

Combat in Halls of Torment is similar to a twin-stick shooter in the sense that your hero can move in a different direction as opposed to the direction you’re shooting at. Slain enemies will drop coins and experience points. Coins can be used for upgrades once you return to the surface, while experience points will level up your hero while in a dungeon.

Leveling up is crucial in this game, and it’d be best if you could do it fast. This is because every level up will grant your hero a new trait that will improve their overall stat. Some traits are better than others, so it’s best to choose the best one for your hero at that time. Note that traits are temporary and only apply for that run only.

Another important point to note is that time is really of the essence here since powerful bosses will be spawned at certain time intervals. If your hero isn’t strong enough by then, you may find yourself embroiled in a difficult fight that may turn even more so when later bosses are spawned in. Bosses typically have much more health than normal enemies, and they often come with unique abilities that you’ll do well to avoid. In return, they usually drop extra loot, including the Scroll of Mastery and a treasure chest, but usually not both at the same time. You’ll face multiple bosses per dungeon.

Besides leveling up, your hero can gain additional, albeit passive, damage-dealing abilities, such as Lightning Strike, Arcane Splinters, and Phantom Needles, by picking up a Scroll of Mastery. In addition to randomly getting them from boss drops, the game will usually give you at least one right from the start of a dungeon run, and it’s wise to make a beeline for it as soon as possible. These abilities can be further upgraded via their corresponding traits too, but you can’t have the same ability twice, despite the game giving you the option to do so. You’ll just be wasting a scroll.

Bosses may drop a treasure chest instead of a scroll when defeated as well. A treasure chest contains equipment that you can equip on your hero, giving him/her additional stats that might just help them prolong their longevity in the dungeon. However, you won’t get the retrieve all the equipment you’ve looted in a dungeon in this game. Only the one you’ve placed in the well will be saved in your stash for future runs by the wellkeeper for a price, that is after you’ve saved him from the Halls of Torment, of course.

The game starts with the “default” hero class, the Swordsman, but you can unlock the Archer and other heroes, along with new hero upgrades, dungeons, and traits, as you progress by completing specific quests. Hero upgrades are permanent upgrades that apply to all your heroes. They can be purchased at the Shrine of Blessings once you die and return to the surface using the gold you’ve accumulated. To make it easier to change your build, you can easily refund all upgrades whenever you want.

It's really hard to find fault in Halls of Torment, even if it’s still an early-access title. For an EA game, it has a surprising amount of content already, and the gameplay is really well-polished. Aside from minor tweaks to balance the game further, Halls of Torment is basically ready for launch.

Graphics/ Sound

If you love the aesthetics of old-school Diablo, a.k.a. the original Diablo, you’ll fall in love this the graphics here. From the pixel-y visuals and its retro style, the graphics will make you reminisce about those long gaming hours dungeon crawling during your childhood. In terms of sound, the game managed to nail the creepy atmosphere from Diablo pretty well. The game even has voice acting for the more prominent characters in the game, like the cupbearer and the wellkeeper.

Conclusion

Halls of Torment flawlessly combines the dark and foreboding theme from the iconic Diablo series with the simple to get into yet addictive nature of action-packed bullet-hells like Vampire Survivors. In addition to the fun and satisfying progression, the amount of content available here is astounding, and of course, replayability, at least until you’ve unlocked everything the game has to offer, including new heroes and dungeons, is high. For its low asking price, Halls of Torment is definitely worth getting if you’re a fan of both games.

New Game Added: Halls of Torment

by Aethyna Jul 11, 2023

In this game, you get to descend into the bowels of the Hall itself with your hero of choice, battling all the demonic creatures that will try to swarm you to death. Level up, equip, and upgrade your heroes, or even unlock new ones, as you descend further into the Halls of Torment!