Rising Hell

Going into this review, I was thinking Toge also developed this game, but I guess they just published it. I've been a fan of most of Toge's games over the years. They're an Indonesian company and they have their on unique 2D aesthetic that works well. Sort of makes sense someone else developed this game. My ex wife is Indonesian, and while I will forever hate that evil b!tch, I love Indonesia. If you've never had Indomie instant noodles, go try it. Toge knows what I'm talking about. Anyhow! Rising Hell is an incredibly polished and compact rouge game. The music rocks. Graphics and sound effects are super effective and fit the metal/hell theme spot on. For a vertical climbing game, it doesn't feel cramped. The random and different paths add to the variety of each run and it's hard to predict what you'll see ahead. There's different kinds of optional bonus rooms on each floor that add to the variety. Grind to unlock new characters and modifiers for each character. Each character makes the game feel completely different. One character makes it feel like a beat em up, another makes it feel like a shooter. The difficulty gets pretty brutal past the first or second stage. …

This was a pleasant surprise. Once you figure out the gameplay loop it's pretty fast and addicting. It's not gonna blow your socks off but it's very much worth blasting through. Took me 3 hours to finish the main game and some challenges, but there's higher difficulties and multiple characters to play with if you want more. I for my part was pretty happy that the game wasn't artificially dragging things out and therefore didn't take me long to "finish" for a roguelite.

Controls are clunky for PC/Keyboard. Not for me.

Rising Hell i vertical platformers with simple combat. You either hit an enemy with your weapon or you jump from below him and perform a double jump which is called Hellbreak. You can chain as many Hellbreaks as you want and thereby rise up quickly while at the same time destroying all basic enemies. For killing enemies you earn your main in-game 'currency' which you use to buy upgrades. The upgrades you get offered to chose from are random which is where the roguelike aspect of the game comes into play. At the end of every stage you fight a boss. The pixel art is detailed and shows your classic heavy metal hell depiction. I played most of my time on the steam deck OLED and the game runs without any stutters at a constant 90 fps. The game might not have a log of long time content but for the cheap price point I would recommend this game.

Rising Hell is a relentless action-platformer roguelite developed by Tahoe Games and published by Toge Productions. Built around the simple but compelling idea of escaping from the depths of a demon-infested underworld, the game transforms vertical movement into the core of its identity. Instead of wandering through sprawling levels or labyrinthine maps, players are constantly pushing upward through a nightmarish tower of fire, monsters, and deadly traps. This focus on ascent creates an immediate sense of urgency that separates the game from many other entries in the roguelite genre. The gameplay is centered on speed, reflexes, and momentum. Every stage is designed to keep players moving, encouraging them to leap from platform to platform while cutting through hordes of demonic enemies. Combat is easy to understand but satisfying to master, with attacks, aerial strikes, and movement abilities blending together into a fast-flowing rhythm. The game rewards aggressive play, and standing still for too long often leads to disaster. As players climb higher, they encounter increasingly dangerous enemy combinations and environmental hazards that demand quick reactions and precise executio…

The boss design choices drag this game down so much. Each boss fight is longer than the chapter itself. They are a chore to fight. In the demo, you can bind controls to mouse. Here you cannot. The binded controls "confirm" and "back" will be reset to default upon closing the game. ♥♥♥♥ the tainted ♥♥♥♥♥♥. also this game hogs an astounding amount of ram memory