My thoughts on Hellclock— A fast, brutal rpg built on Brazil’s darkest history

#neverstopplaying

I found the premise of hellclock very exciting — a dungeon crawler action rpg with a dark fantasy twist based on real history set in a post-independence young Brazil. I had the game on my wishlist ever since it was announced on android and I finally found time to play it over the last couple of days.

One of the things that stood out immediately for me was that this game was extremely fast- paced. The basic structure is that there are 4 acts in total. Each act consists of beating 21 levels in a single run within a time limit. A boss fight happens every 7 levels.

You've got to manage items during that run. If you die you go back to the main hub. It's not expected that you'll beat an act on your first try. If you die you lose the temporary stat boosts in the level but you get to keep skill points and currency that you can use to make your character stronger.

Where hellclock is unique is that the encounters are rarely balanced. Either you will get overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies that are thrown at you or you will cut through them with ease. The game does a very good job in making you feel extremely powerful if you build your character well.

By carefully leveling up your gear ,distributing skill points and stacking up stat boosters you can do an insane amount of damage. At the final level I was inflicting 1 Million+ damage per bullet fired!

But given how little the game explains its mechanics and how it immediately throws you into the dungeons I guess it could be a bit overwhelming for some as it was for me.

From the story perspective the game follows Pajeù who seems to be trapped in hell. The game never explains why but eventually it becomes clear that he is trying to make amends for his failure in the Canudos war looking to find justice and redemption — seeking closure on a past that is too painful.

The story is based on real historical events and most bosses are actual historical figures in the Canudos war.

I think it served the game well thematically and there was a 'twist' at the end that I won't spoil here but as someone who was not familiar with this particular episode in history I had no idea what was happening.

I developed a greater appreciation for the story AFTER playing the game when I decided to look up what actually happened in the real canudos war.

This game is free for google play pass subscribers. So if you've got a couple of games you like on play pass lined up it will be worth it to go for the subscription and get hellclock as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidGaming/s/fFiiVmVKp3

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