Finished it last night, 30+ hours, no guides (don't know why you would need a guide, none of the puzzles were particularly difficult), closed a bunch of Time Loops, finished 70% of the Good Deeds, opened 4 vaults, absolutely loved it.
Without a doubt the main draw of Hell is Us is it's narrative, world-building, sense of discovery and lore. It's impressive that they invented a fictional country with it's own rich history that exists within our actual, *real* world. All of this framed by the mythology of the supernatural elements and the factions intertwined with these strange events. This world, it's mysteries and it's various environments were more than enough to keep me fully engaged throughout which is important because the game has a lot combat but the foes you face get old rather quick.
The lack of enemy variety is this game's Achilles' Heel, I'm baffled by the choice to have this singular, homogenous enemy with only minor variation. Even more head-scratching is the almost complete absence of boss battles. I say almost because there is technically *one* boss battle in the entire game but that's literally it. This is a colossal missed opportunity, especially given the lore and how creative they could have got with the emotions, every key quest in Act 2 should have culminated in an epic battle with the associated emotion, shame that only Terror tried to do something with it.
I appreciate how the game handles it's optional quests and collectibles. This is one of those titles where I want to hunt down every last email, knick knack, written note, strange antique and everything in between primarily for the writing, just to learn more about this weird land. Case in point:
The Lodge of Loathing. Imagine finding your enemy so abhorrent that you willingly blindfold yourself so you don't need to see what you mercilessly slaughter (AND you forego sleep). Fucking badass.
I previously touched on Hell is Us' willingness to tackle heavy themes and it's one of the things I admire most about the game. In one location we learn from NPCs just how much the media manipulated the populace to hate each other, the tremendous power they wield to instigate conflict and brainwash the masses. As with the topic of war it should get you thinking of our reality and what the media does, they've been doing it for decades and in the age of social media it's only gotten worse. None of this comes off as preachy, it's simply solid, thoughtful rumination.
The art and some of the environments are truly impressive, often feeling mythical and otherworldly. Making your way through the Tower to reach the ramparts your met with hundreds of banners flapping in the wind, is is a powerful, lasting image. When going through more "traditional" environments like a lab or sleepy town the game seems to channel the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, ultimately striking a nice balance between the familiar and strange and almost always giving the player something interesting to look at:
I enjoyed Hell is Us quite a bit. It was one of my most anticipated games of 2025 and it mostly delivered the goods. It's been a stellar year though and I think it came out at one of the worst possible times even *before* Silksong (amazing) was announced to be releasing the same day, talk about bad luck lol. I sincerely hope the game sells well enough to keep this dev team going, I want more. They are a creative team with something to say in an ever-crowded space, I wish them all the success in the world.
TheDarkPhantom
Man that's very impressive that you managed to do it without a guide.
