Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel from Grindstone brings us a fast-paced roguelike horde survivor experience inspired by Norse mythology. Check out our Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel review!

 

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel from Grindstone brings us a fast-paced roguelike horde survivor experience inspired by Norse mythology. Your task is simple and to the point: defeat anything that dares to get in your way. That means all of the hundreds of deadly enemies out to get you, as well as the massive bosses that will test your skills and show you how really good you are. As you destroy them, you’ll get a chance to earn divine blessings that will help you extend your run as you make the most of the godly powers given to you. You’ll explore areas spread through Niflheim, Muspelheim, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, and Helheim, with each location offering something different. After spending some time in Early Access, the game is now ready for its 1.0 release on PlayStation 5.

You’ll be able to use different characters to take on this quest – that is, once you unlock them – which will make it easier to find one that best complements your playing style. Only two of them are unlocked from the start. The characters that you’ll eventually be able to play as are the Berserker (unlocked from the start), the Seeress (unlocked from the start), the Flame Sister, the Revenant, the Warden, and the Kinslayer. The Berserker is a balanced character that is great at using its melee strength to deal a ton of damage to enemies that get too close. He has access to Rage, which boosts damage and HP regeneration, and Survivor, which greatly increases max HP. The Seeress is a witch who excels at attacking enemies from a safer distance by using her dark magic. She uses Eldritch Wards, which are triggered when damaged, with shield charges that grant her a bit of invulnerability, and Fortune, the ability to see the future, which can provide a boost to skills or rewards.

The Flame Sister is a fast rogue infused with fire that can jump in and out of danger with great ease. She uses Blazing Soul, the ever-burning soul that randomly bursts into nearby enemies, draining their life and giving it to her, and Inferno, an alternative attack with a chance to burn enemies. The Revanant is a ghostly archer that can attack from a longer range but at an overall slower pace. The Revenant has access to Haunting Wolf, manifesting a wolf spirit that hunts down enemies over a short period of time, and Ghostwalk, a very useful skill that allows him to enter a protective ghost state when dashing, which can lower damage for up to 50%.

 

The Warden is a tanky dwarf, which means it can deal good damage while also having the physical resilience needed to take a hit or two without feeling it. It can use Ground Smash, a mighty attack that uses his shield when dashing to deal extra damage, and Iron Within, which is why he’s an excellent tank character, thanks to an HP boost of 200. The last one of the bunch is the Kinslayer, a character that is new to this full release. She’s a fallen valkyrie getting a second chance, using Soul Remnant to fragment the corrupt soul of enemies, and Wing Beat, which increases her dash distance while knocking back enemies.

If you’ve played a horde survivor game before, you probably have a good idea of how things will control. You’ll be using the left analog stick to control the character of your choice, as that character automatically attacks enemies with the weapons and abilities at its disposal. You can aim with the right analog stick if needed. You can also set attacks to manual and unleash your mighty blows by pressing the R2 button. You can dash by pressing the L1 button so that you can hopefully avoid incoming attacks. Press the R1 button to use your weapon skill.

 

As you defeat enemies and bosses, you’ll get to collect experience points and coins. Experience points are used for each run so that you can hopefully level up as fast as possible. Once you do level up, you’ll get to choose from one of the Gods to earn one of their favors. Say you go with Thor. Once you choose him, you’ll be presented with three skills to choose from, which can include Goat Feast, Mjolnir, and Lightning Strike. Goat Feat will increase your health by 100. Mjolnir will add the powerful hammer to your arsenal for that run. Lightning Strike will unleash lightning that will strike in four fixed directions.

Be sure to visit the Skill Shop to be able to enhance your powers, earn favors of the Gods, and more. You’ll then be able to activate new stats, abilities, and passive and active skills by spending Skillpoints on the icons accordingly. Skill points are obtained after a run and will be converted from the gold you collect. You can deactivate them as needed, and the Skillpoints will be refunded, so that you can respec for the next run. Some of these upgrades for characters include Open Wounds, a passive skill for the Berserker that will give him a chance to inflict bleed upon attacking, or Heaving Ward for the Seeress, which will heal a small portion of health when Eldritch Ward is triggered.

 

As for the Gods that you’ll be getting closer to, they are Thor, Freya, Brokr and Sindri, Loki, Odin, Skadi, Njord, and Nidhogg. Only the first three will be available from the start, so you’ll have to work on unlocking the rest so that you can have more options for customizing each character’s build. Spend Skillpoints with each God to unlock additional abilities and boosts. Take, for instance, Thor. Spend some Skillpoints to boost the lighting damage of all of Thor’s skills, or unlock a permanent passive boost for all characters that will increase their maximum health by 20, thanks to Thor’s tenacity that empowers himself and his worshippers.

Trophy-wise, this one features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to work on. The list is split into 24 Bronze trophies, 11 Silver trophies, and 3 Gold trophies. What will you need to do in order to add that shiny Platinum trophy to your collection? You can get trophies for unlocking each of the additional characters in the game, defeating 50 Exploders, obtaining an in-game trophy, maintaining Rage for 60 seconds with the Berserker, defeating 1,000 Spiders, defeating 2,000 enemies in total, completing each area in the Insane difficulty setting, collecting 10,000 gold in total, applying burn to 2,000 enemies, freezing 2,000 enemies, eating 2,000 food, poisoning 2,000 enemies, dealing 450,000 damage in a single run, and reaching 1,000 total health, to name some examples.

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel from Grindstone brings us a fast-paced roguelike horde survivor experience inspired by Norse mythology. Your task is simple and to the point: defeat anything that dares to get in your way. That means all of the hundreds of deadly enemies out to get you, as well as the massive bosses that will test your skills and show you how really good you are. As you destroy them, you’ll get a chance to earn divine blessings that will help you extend your run as you make the most of the godly powers given to you. You’ll explore areas spread through Niflheim, Muspelheim, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, and Helheim, with each location offering something different. Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel launches tomorrow on PlayStation 5.

Disclaimer
This Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Grindstone.