RiftMode
Imagine years after the apocalypse, where the only thing left was the rubble of what once was and demons fighting to keep control due to their actions. If there was an ounce of hope to help end the madness, would you accept the role knowing that it could be your last, or would you lose all hope and sacrifice yourself to the evil? If you were the chosen one, would you be able to embrace the darkness to battle it? When you think about it, any choice under the circumstances is going to be the hard one to make. But does the developer, Ars Goetia, bring us something more with this sequel to Hellslave? Let’s find out with Hellslave II: Judgment of the Archon for PC.
Hellslave II: Judgment of the Archon is a dark fantasy dungeon-crawler RPG. Thousands of years of demonic warfare have torn the world to shreds. Six demon lords, locked in an endless war, have brought ruin to all. Tired of this infernal chaos, the heavens have unleashed the Archon of Judgment, an unstoppable force set to destroy everything. The Archon descends to end the demon war once and for all.
So before you go in trying to destroy everything that is wrong with the world, there are a few things that you should be aware of. First, I am not going to spoil anything for anyone as I am only going to show footage from the early parts of the game. Second, make sure you take the time to read what is happening to understand what is going on. And finally, have some fun. With all that said, let’s continue…
Once you start the game, the first thing you will want to do is go into the options. For those who may be more sensitive to shaking on the screen, there is an option to turn off the camera shake as well as the flash effect. You also have a choice of how you want the icons to show, as they can be PlayStation or Xbox, as well as the controls (which we will talk about a little later), play in a windowed mode, your language, and the game speed and volume. Once you have everything the way you like it, it’s time to get into the fun.
The first thing you will do is pick a slave slot; then you have to get started customizing your creation. The first choice is going to be: do you want to be a warrior or a sorcerer?
Warrior
If you select the warrior, you must then select your discipline. Your three choices are:
Wild Tracker allows you to listen to the ghosts of the wild beasts to track down your enemies and tear them to pieces as you slake your thirst for power.
Unleash Hate allows you to unleash all your rage on your enemies, destroy them with fire, and devour their charred remains. The time of hate is here.
And then there Art of Combat, which gives your enemies no quarter as you deploy your arsenal of techniques to annihilate the monsters that cross your path.
Sorcerer
If you select the sorcerer, you must then select your discipline. Your three choices are:
Mind-Bending allows you to twist time and space to annihilate any resistance and crush your enemies in your terrifyingly agonizing grip.
Nature’s Rage has you as the catalyst of the terrible rage, of an immense power that will vaporize your enemies before they even notice.
And then there is Black Death, which allows you to spread disease and pestilence, then sit back at a safe distance, and watch as your enemies die a slow and painful death.
Once you have made your choice, you customize your character. Here you can select if you want to be a male or female, and customize things such as hair, beard (no, females cannot have a beard), face, build, eyebrows, eyes, hair, & skin color, along with your horns and the color of your horns. Then once you have your character the way you want it, it’s time to pick your name. Keep in mind, you are humanity’s last hope, so make your name mean something. Once you have humanity’s last hope ready, you then must select your difficulty. Don’t worry, if things become too challenging, you can always change this.
But once that is said and done, you can’t really start a sequel without having some type of cinematic opening, now can you?
Your very first mission is to meet up with Sublyn, in the North of the valley. This also serves as your tutorial, where you will learn how to move, which the tutorial shows you as using WASD (you can use the arrow keys or by right clicking of the mouse, which the tutorial doesn’t tell or show you). This will also show you how to use your mission log and the world map, and force you into your first combat against wolves, where the tutorial shows you how to select a power to attack and target. During battles, at the top, you will notice a bar; this is your Time Bar. Each power has a fatigue cost, which will determine when you can next play, as you can view your and your enemies’ positions. Crystals help you gain life and mana when needed, which you will not want to waste. If you need more information about your fight, you can check out the Fight Log. After every battle, as long as you survive, you will have the opportunity to add to your inventory, including switching out your gear and equipment.
Your character can carry gear across roughly twelve different equipment slots, and you won’t be hurting for storage when it comes to holding everything you pick up along the way. The drops themselves range across multiple rarity tiers, and enemies tend to be pretty generous with what they leave behind, leaving you with enough variety to actually experiment and settle on a playstyle that clicks with you.
You will be talking with individuals, which, depending on what is said, can allow for new missions to embark on. You will be entering dungeons where you will need to defeat enemies and collect items, such as gold, that can be used to buy new gear and equipment. However, keep in mind, not all gear and equipment can be usable from the start as some require certain levels for you to be for you to be worthy. So keep attacking what you can, build up that experience and those levels.
While making your way through the dungeons, you’ll spot a small monster counter tucked beside your health and mana bars, keeping a running tally of every enemy you put down. Clear out every last creature in a zone, and you’ll pocket two bonus stat points for your trouble — matching exactly what you’d get from leveling up — which gives you a pretty good reason to be thorough rather than rushing past anything. Those points feed into four core attributes: strength, health, magic power, and mysticism, the latter of which ties directly into your mana pool.
Those earned points can then go toward fleshing out and expanding your skill tree, gradually shaping and strengthening your build over time. And yes, before anyone asks — the horns and beard are absolutely doing what they need to do.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. Just as with Hellslave, every scene in Hellslave II: Judgment of the Archon, whether it was an interaction, battle, or going from one location to the next, has this art style that is a beauty to look at and should be appreciated. Even with all the action during the battles when it’s you versus how many enemies, it was a real joy to look at and made me want to see more. The sound, from the start of the game and all the way through, has this dark ambient/gothic/medieval darkwave of music and sound that truly complements the gameplay and art form.
There are some things I would love to see updated and added. First, the controls. In Hellslave, there was the option of using either keyboard and mouse or a controller. Here, it’s just the keyboard and mouse. It would be great to see an option for controllers, as the new Steam controller would be perfect here as an option. Second, the loot. Right now, you have to select each item you want to add one by one. It would be nice to see an add all loot button or a way to select all the items you want after selecting a button. And finally, a Hellslave III. Maybe this time there can be online co-op. Come on, Ars….Hellslave III.
Hellslave II: Judgment of the Archon embraces its darkness without hesitation, challenging you to keep moving forward even as every step asks something more of you. Strength is never handed over without a cost, and the farther you descend, the more those costs begin to shape the person you are becoming. At first, the demons feel like the obvious enemy, but eventually they become almost familiar—another obstacle in a world that has already taught you to expect horrors around every corner. The real unease comes from the changes taking place within you: the fading hesitation, the growing willingness to compromise, and the lingering thought that it may be easier to become part of the darkness than to stand against it. The Archon’s judgment looms over that transformation, turning every act of survival into something that feels like it will eventually have to be answered for. So here’s what it wants to know — and maybe what you should be asking yourself before you take another step: if the Archon looked into you right now and rendered its verdict, would you be ready to hear what it decided?
Hellslave II: Judgment of the Archon is out now for PC via the Epic Games Store, Fanatical, Humble Store, and Steam.
To learn more about Ars Goetia, please follow them on Facebook, follow them on Instagram, follow them on X, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going to see how I do as a sorcerer — and until the Rift opens again, know that you are appreciated.
