Game Review: Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel

Thanks to Vampire Survivors, there is no shortage of swarm survivor games out there today. That’s good news for me because I am hopelessly addicted to them. Needless to say, I have played quite a few already, so I figured it was time to check out another one. This time, it’s Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel from Games Farm, ARTillery, and Grindstone. What does this one have to offer, and is it as fun and addictive as others in the genre have proven to be?

Let’s go!

Title: Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel
Platform: PC
Developer: Games Farm, ARTillery s.r.o., ARTillery
Publisher: Grindstone
Release Date: August 22, 2024
Price: $11.99

The Game

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell is a swarm survivor game, and if you’re unsure what that means, it’s a game that uses roguelike elements that both temporarily power up your character in a run and permanently power up your character from currency you earn in said run. The goal is to pick weapons, passives, and evolve them to survive wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies for a set length of time.

By that standard, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell doesn’t exactly break the mold, but what it does do very well is interweave Norse mythology into its gameplay. While just like any other swarm survivor, you can pick a class and gain class skills, when you level up, you will get to choose from Norse Gods with familiar names such as Thor, Loki, Freya, and others. Each God has a unique set of skills and passives, but you need to choose wisely because you can only have up to five skills total between Classes and Gods.

The game offers six classes, each of which needs to be unlocked by progressing through the game’s five levels. You are given the Berserker and the Seeress from the start, but can unlock the Revenant, Flame Sister, and Kin Slayer simply by completing the different levels on Normal difficulty.

While six classes and five levels don’t seem like much, there is a lot of replayability to be had here, thanks to the different difficulty ranks of Easy, Normal, Hard, Insane, and Endless.

The Gameplay

As mentioned before, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel doesn’t break the mold, but it doesn’t need to. What I love about the game is that it can be played both automatically and manually. By that, I mean you can walk around and have your character auto-aim attacks, or you can use the right analog stick (known as twin-sticking) to aim your attacks in one direction. What I love about this is that there is no option in a menu to switch between the modes because both are active at the same time. Simply just use the right analog stick to manually aim, or let it go and let the game auto-aim for you.

Here, you can be given a random selection from two of the unlocked Gods in your pool, or you may be given an option for your Class. Selecting one of the two will then present you with three random options that can be new skills (attacks) or passives.

From there, it’s rinse or repeat. Much in the same way that you unlock characters, completing levels will also unlock Gods to increase the pool of options. If you don’t like what is presented, the game gives you rerolls and banishes that vary per character. These can be replenished if you are lucky enough to get them as an option from a treasure chest that will spawn at certain points during your run.

Once a skill reaches Level 4, it will evolve into a more powerful form. Other games like Vampire Survivors and Holocure had you mix and match weapons and passives to find the right combination for evolutions. Just getting a skill to Level 4 eases that tension and makes the game a bit more accessible for those who hate to memorize things.

Along the way, one of your level-up choices will be to pick up a Sub-Class, further customizing your build and gameplay experience.

Once you have your build set, the ultimate goal is to survive. The strength of the enemies and the length of time it takes to complete a stage will vary based on difficulty; however, unlike most swarm survivor games, just surviving the timer isn’t enough. Here, you are given quests to complete. On lower difficulties, you don’t have much say in what quests you get; however, the higher up you go, the more quests are offered, and some quests (such as surviving an elemental storm) will have varying degrees of difficulty to choose from.

Once you complete all objectives, you have to summon a boss. Take it down to complete the level. If you merely survive the timer, the level will end, but did you truly complete it?

Customization

When it comes to swarm survivors, the point is to fail and try again, then take the currency you earn into a shop and permanently power-up your character. Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell is no different, but it handles it in a very minutely different way.

In most games, you will collect a currency (typically gold), and while you do that here, you’re not actually spending any of the gold per se. Instead, you are converting that gold into skill points, which you can then allocate to the different classes. What makes this game so flexible, unlike some others in the swarm survivor genre, is that if you like playing a certain character, you can farm gold on that character, convert the gold to skill points, and then allocate those points to other characters. This eliminates the need to force players to play characters that they do not enjoy just for the sake of leveling them up completely.

The character skill trees are not that in-depth, but they do have a significant impact. For example, I enjoyed playing the Revenant since I am a sucker for Hunter/Ranger-type characters in games such as these, and I was able to earn enough gold in a little over an hour to fully maximize the skill three. Another hour later, my Seeress’ tree is complete, and I am working on filling out the Berserker.

However, if you think that spending an hour or two just to max out a character is going to make the game short, think again, because the Gods you unlock also have their own skill trees to level up as well. With six Classes and eight Gods, there is plenty of farming to do.

But what about weapons? Completing Trophies (achievements) will give you another type of currency called Soulstones, with which you can unlock new weapons for each Class.

Each weapon has unique properties, different damage stats, and effects. Of course, there is always going to be a “best-in-slot” weapon for each class, but these different weapons add another layer of gameplay and open up different builds, which is quite refreshing.

You can also unlock skins for each character, giving you yet another thing to farm.

Overall Thoughts

Replayability is one of the biggest aspects of a swarm survivor game, and Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel offers plenty of it. In games such as these, the unlocks serve as the carrot on the stick to keep coming back, and while this game doesn’t have as many unlocks compared to others, the way the unlocks are layered gives you plenty to come back and strive for.

Each class is unique. Some offer a melee experience, while others are ranged as one would expect. Trying out the different classes, realizing the types of builds you can accomplish with them, and tearing through waves of enemies is the core of any swarm survivor, and this game does this very well.

The gameplay itself is fun, smooth, and feels extremely polished. Never once did I feel sluggish due to the game’s performance, nor did I have my suspension of disbelief canceled because of something that felt out of place.

As I mentioned before, being able to play with both auto and manual aim is great, the evolution paths are something you don’t have to think about, and the unlocks are not a mystery, as the game tells you exactly what you have to do to earn them. This is probably one of the more accessible swarm survivors out there in terms of “pick up and play.” This is a good thing because oftentimes, a game will leave you to figure it out on your own or go to a Wiki page to see what others have already figured out.

The difficulty range feels very rewarding, too. If you’re a casual, Easy or Normal will be right up your alley, but if you want a challenge, Hard and (especially) Insane await you. Of course, there are some builds out there that can make things easier, but that’s par for the course in games such as these.

Overall, I love this game. A testament to that is that I started a new run for the very specific reason to grab screenshots for this review. I completed three runs because I kept forgetting to take the screenshots, simply because I was having too much fun.

While Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell doesn’t offer as much as other swarm survivors, it doesn’t mean the game isn’t less fun. It’s very fun, highly addictive, and a fantastic choice to get someone into the swarm survivor genre, all while offering a challenge for seasoned veterans. There is a lot to enjoy here for a wide range of playing skills, and needless to say, this is going to be a game that I am going to strive to get 100% completion in!

The $11.99 price tag makes it an easy purchase, and I do believe that you get your money’s worth with it. For just a couple of bucks more, you can get the Collector’s Edition for some extra goods. If you’re looking for a swarm survivor that is steeped in Norse mythology, this is a must-play game. Even if Norse mythology isn’t your thing, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is still a must-play game.

Review Disclosure Statement: Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel was provided to us by Games Farm and Grindstone for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy. 

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