Hellpoint

Significant bugs, performance issues, and an almost entirely unoriginal foundation hold Hellpoint back from greatness, but the creepy atmosphere and satisfying combat progression manage to salvage some enjoyment for this sci-fi Souls-like.

Hellpoint is a reasonably decent sci-fi/Soulslike effort that sticks closely to FromSoftware's well-worn formula whilst introducing a few neat new tricks and twists of its own. The combat here is solid, the space station setting often spectacular and the narrative as enticingly cryptic as you'd expect from the genre. However, the whole thing suffers massively due to myriad technical issues on Switch. Constant crashes to the console's homescreen, a seriously flaky framerate, long loading times and a pretty huge graphical downgrade result in an experience that's infuriating for all the wrong reasons and one that it's almost impossible to recommend in its current form. Here's hoping Cradle Games has some big patches incoming.

The truth of Hellpoint is that even with all the jank and annoyance, it’s working with a well-known and beloved formula in an interesting setting, with enough tweaks to feel like its own thing.

Hellpoint is certainly cut from the all-too-familiar Souls cloth when it comes to character progression and combat, but it's the sense of exploration that makes this one Soulslike that shouldn't be missed.

Dark sci-fi Hellpoint sits smack-dab in the centre of soulslikes quality-wise. It's not terrible, but it's far from a good one too. Should you wait for a price drop, and a couple of fixes for its technical issues? Frankly, no. The strong atmosphere and cryptic plot have the capacity to provide the incentive to endure the many flaws and keep on playing, but aggravation and plain 'ol boredom will soon ruin everything. IF still willing to try it out, stay away from the Switch port, as it is the worse one yet.

Souls-like game without satisfaction, which can not resist and can not persuade players.

Hellpoint is a well-thought-out, co-op soulslike that brings welcome additions to the formula; however, the Switch port is troubled.

Hellpoint is a decent game with some issues of its own and if I had to give the game itself a score, it would be a 7.5 or so. Unfortunately, this port is rife with bugs and I can't really say I recommend it. If you're interested in playing this title, I'd say check it out on a different system. If you got to play on the Switch, wait for a bugfix. Or not and prepare for Hell.

The ‘Soulslike’ genre has taken off over the last few years. Ever since Dark Souls brought the notion of challenging and unforgiving gameplay to the masses, more and more titles are attempting to recreate the formula. Hellpoint is the latest to attempt to break into the Soulslike genre. Whilst it’s Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4 release was in 2020 (check out our review of Hellpoint on the Xbox One), it’s only recently made it’s way to the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Cradle Games, Hellpoint takes the Soulslike genre into the dark depths of space, but can it hear us scream?

The bugs, framerate drops, and rare crashes were present, but as of this review the developers have plans to address these issues in future patches. While this is a new addition to the Soulsborne genre, there are far more successful examples out there. Fans of the genre may want to look elsewhere.