Maid of Salvation Review

HunterX, reimagined from above

Maid of Salvation is a dark-fantasy top-down action RPG from Orange Popcorn, the studio behind the side-scrolling HunterX series and 3000th Duel, reworking its established metroidvania formula into a new top-down perspective. Fast-paced combat built around combining melee weapons, firearms, and magic skills sits at the centre of the experience, wrapped around exploration of a gothic world populated by maids, undead, and ghosts. Following a steady pre-release patch cycle, a Next Fest showing in October 2025, and a short delay after its release date was first announced in September, the game launched on 23 October 2025 at NZ$21.99. Its review sample, a substantial 206 reviews at the time of writing, sits at Very Positive, with longtime fans of the developer's earlier titles forming a notably vocal and enthusiastic core of the audience.

Combat draws the most consistent and specific praise in the entire sample, and it isn't close. One reviewer, having played the studio's prior HunterX titles and 3000th Duel, notes the game shares "the exact same map system, levelling system, karma system" as its predecessors but reframes them through "a perspective twist" that keeps the formula feeling fresh rather than recycled. Another calls it "fluid and responsive combat" with "much skills and equipment to combine," praising the game's focus on "no nonsense dungeon crawling" over padding or filler content. A third reviewer, who completed three full 100%-completion playthroughs to earn every achievement, calls the game "phenomenal," crediting its boss encounters and combat depth with keeping them engaged across dozens of hours despite what they call "minor quirks." Several reviewers specifically single out the parry system as an accessible but genuinely rewarding addition, with one self-described poor "blocker" noting the game "makes it super easy" to parry successfully without feeling like the challenge had been removed entirely.

Where the sample turns more mixed is story and presentation. Multiple reviewers explicitly rank narrative as the game's weakest element, with one writing plainly that "the story is pretty lacking but the combat is excellent," a sentiment echoed closely by others who frame the plot as functional scaffolding for the combat rather than a draw in its own right. Art direction draws sharper, more specific criticism from at least one detailed negative review, which describes an inconsistent mix of anime and chibi character designs that never settle into a coherent visual identity, noting that "sometimes you're fighting a giant-headed cartoonish skeleton, other times a semi-realistic one." That same reviewer also questions the game's use of Japanese voiceover despite the studio's Korean origins, reading it as an aesthetic choice that sits somewhat awkwardly against the rest of the presentation. Music draws more muted praise than the rest of the package, with one reviewer calling it "a bit lackluster" even while otherwise enjoying the overall experience.

Progression systems produce a similarly qualified response. Several reviewers describe the skill tree specifically as underwhelming relative to the strength of the combat it's meant to support, with one writing that "unlocking more of it doesn't feel 'felt' in the gameplay, albeit most are passive" -- a complaint that recurs even among reviewers who otherwise rate the game highly. A smaller, more pointed complaint targets dodge recovery mechanics directly: one reviewer, still recommending the game overall, describes a brief forced pause immediately after dodging before the character can resume moving, calling the delay "terrible" and hoping the developer addresses it in a post-launch patch. A minority of reviewers also push back on the game's genre framing, arguing that a hub connected to separate zones via portals doesn't constitute a genuine metroidvania in the way the marketing implies, regardless of the map-tracking UI borrowed from the studio's earlier games.

The most serious concern in the sample, though it appears in only a small number of reviews, is a reported controller bug significant enough to prompt an explicit purchase warning. One reviewer describes the character moving automatically and unpredictably whenever any movement key is pressed, on both controller and keyboard, calling the issue's triggers "random" and writing directly: "Do not buy until a patch is released, you have been warned." That report sits against a much larger volume of reviewers, including at least one playing on the original 512GB Steam Deck, reporting no such issues -- suggesting an inconsistent, configuration-specific bug rather than a universal problem, though one serious enough to flag clearly given how it was described. The developer's visible post-launch patch cadence, with four separate update posts in the month following release, suggests active efforts to resolve exactly these kinds of launch-week reports.

Value framing rounds out the sample on a broadly positive note, even among reviewers with real reservations. At NZ$21.99, multiple reviewers frame the price as fair given the length and replayability of the campaign, with one specifically noting they'd "definitely play again" after finishing their first run, and another calling it a confident AA release that compares favourably to "the AAA slop we usually get" despite its budget scope. That framing recurs across the sample regardless of individual complaints about story thinness or skill-tree depth, suggesting most reviewers view Maid of Salvation's shortcomings as trade-offs inherent to a smaller studio's combat-first focus rather than genuine value-for-money concerns. The developer's active post-launch patch cadence -- four separate update posts within the first month addressing reviewer-flagged bugs -- also reinforces a sense that the rougher edges here are being treated as fixable rather than fundamental.

Verdict

Maid of Salvation delivers on what its developer's fanbase came for: fluid, weapon-and-skill-driven combat and genuinely strong boss encounters that earn its Very Positive rating from a review sample stacked with returning HunterX and 3000th Duel players. Its story and skill tree feel secondary by design, its art direction draws specific and reasonable criticism for inconsistency, and a launch-week controller bug is worth checking on before buying. But for action RPG fans who prioritise how a game plays over how it looks or reads, this is a confident, combat-first entry in Orange Popcorn's growing catalogue.