Hell Clock review

Introduction

Hell Clock sends the player descending through warped, time-twisted dungeons as Pajeú, a warrior fighting to rescue the soul of his fallen mentor, The Counselor, against the backdrop of Brazil's real 19th-century War of Canudos. Developed by Rogue Snail and published by Mad Mushroom, it released 22 July 2025 to a "Very Positive" reception: 1,548 of its 1,844 English-language reviews recommend it, a large enough population that this review reads a representative cross-section rather than every entry. What emerges is a game whose campaign and mid-game draw enthusiastic, specific praise, alongside a clear and recurring set of concerns about where the experience goes once the credits roll.

Combat and build-crafting that reviewers rave about

The strongest, most consistent praise in the sample targets how the game actually feels to play. "10/10 sound design, visual FX, and game feel. Killing monsters is incredibly satisfying," writes one reviewer who calls it their game of the year. Another sums up the genre-blending pitch bluntly: "whoever came up with the idea of mixing Hades with Path of Exile (or Last Epoch) is an evil genius that created digital heroin." The loot and relic systems come in for particular praise for how dramatically a single item can reshape a build: one detailed review notes that "getting one good item can give you a new idea to make the most broken build you have ever done," a sentiment echoed by several others describing the genuine build diversity as a refreshing break from what one reviewer calls the recent "abundance of rogue-like slop."

A distinctive setting, well told

Few games in the ARPG/roguelite space reach for real-world historical inspiration, and reviewers consistently credit Hell Clock for doing so with care. One Brazilian reviewer writes simply that "being brazilian this game was a delight to go through," while another compares its position in the genre to Diablo 3's evolution, framing it as a spiritual answer to the question of "what was so wrong with" that game's frictionless loop. The voice acting draws specific praise for its regional authenticity, with one reviewer noting it "really feels like you are in Brazil at the time of War of Canudos," even while acknowledging the narrative itself stays relatively light compared to dialogue-heavy peers like Hades.

Static layouts, an unusual complaint for the genre

The sample's most surprising and frequently repeated criticism concerns dungeon design. "Layouts have 0 randomization," writes one detailed reviewer who had cleared half of Nightmare difficulty at time of writing, calling it "honestly pretty shocking" for a game built around repeated descents. Another reviewer, complaining about repetition, notes "super primitive map design in general, no monster/boss variety at all." For a genre where run-to-run variety is typically a core selling point, this is a real structural criticism that several otherwise-positive reviewers still flag as a missed opportunity.

The endgame problem

If there's a single dividing line in the sample between glowing and lukewarm reviews, it's what happens after the campaign ends. "Once you beat the campaign, the endgame begins - and this is where the experience fell apart for me," writes one reviewer, describing how "the game essentially resets your progress" through its Ascension system. Another, more sympathetic reviewer acknowledges the game is "indeed incomplete" post-campaign but still recommends it, noting the developers "are still testing out what systems would work best for their endgame." A significant rebalance patch (referred to in the sample as the "1.1" update) proved especially divisive: one long-time player who praised the game highly writes that after the rebalance, "it's not an enjoyable game anymore for me, it's punishing and demanding," explicitly framing the criticism as personal rather than universal. Several reviewers also report finding literal "beta: work in progress" placeholder text within endgame skill trees, a detail that undercuts confidence in the game's post-launch content despite it shipping without an Early Access tag.

What the achievement data shows

Hell Clock's 71 tracked achievements show a story consistent with the review sample's account: a strong campaign completion rate that falls away sharply in the deepest endgame content. Early story and boss-kill achievements sit comfortably in the 80-90 percent range, and mid-campaign milestones like reaching the game's "Red Portal" hold at a healthy 59.4 percent. But a cluster of hardcore-mode and high-tier "Hell" difficulty achievements, several tied to the Cursed War expansion content, bottom out at just 0.1 percent, reflecting both the difficulty of that content and how much smaller the audience is that pushes into the deepest, still-evolving endgame systems.

Value

At NZ$28.99 with no discount at review time, Hell Clock sits at a fair, mid-tier indie price point for a genre where players regularly report tens or hundreds of hours if the loop clicks for them. Even reviewers frustrated by the endgame generally don't frame the game as poor value for the campaign and early build-crafting alone, and the active development pace gives buyers reasonable confidence that today's rough edges are being worked on rather than abandoned.

Final Verdict

Hell Clock is a stylish, mechanically satisfying ARPG/roguelite that nails the core feel of combat and loot-driven build experimentation well enough to earn comparisons to genre giants like Diablo and Path of Exile, wrapped around a genuinely distinctive historical setting few other games in the space attempt. Its static dungeon layouts are a real structural oddity for the genre, and its post-campaign endgame remains a visible work in progress, drawing the sharpest and most consistent criticism in the sample. For players chasing a strong campaign and satisfying build variety, it's an easy recommendation; those hoping for a fully realized, endlessly replayable endgame should check in on the game's current balance state before committing.