Hellpoint

Lore & Background

Hellpoint is a third-person action role-playing game that has been described as a 'Soulslike' due to its similarities in gameplay mechanics with the Dark Souls series. The player has light and strong attacks, an evade mechanic, and a healing gauge that refills by dealing damage to monsters, with up to two healing injections storable. Exploration is heavily emphasized, with secrets hidden behind secret doors or in seemingly inaccessible places reachable via the jump mechanic. The game's setting is the space station Irid Novo, which orbits a massive black hole; the station's position relative to the black hole influences enemy strength.

Reader's Guide

Hellpoint's significance lies in its contribution to the Soulslike subgenre within a science-fiction setting, distinguishing itself from the fantasy norm of many such games. The game was funded through a Kickstarter campaign launched in 2017, which raised CA$64,500 against a CA$50,000 goal over two years, and was declared funded in 2019. A free playable sequel chapter, Hellpoint: The Thespian Feast, was released on February 20, 2020, set half a century after the main game. Reception was mixed: Metacritic rated it 'mixed or average,' while OpenCritic reported weak approval, with only 21% of critics recommending it. The game's legacy includes its multiplatform release across several generations of consoles and PC, as well as its unique mechanic tying enemy difficulty to the station's orbital position around a black hole.

Did You Know?

• The game's Kickstarter campaign raised CA$64,500, exceeding its CA$50,000 goal.
• The space station Irid Novo orbits a massive black hole, and the station's position affects enemy strength.
• OpenCritic reported that only 21% of critics recommended the game.