Diablo rivals are a dime a dozen these days. Last Epoch and Path of Exile are going incredibly strong, and Torchlight is still worth a look at too. The ARPG genre is the biggest it’s ever been, so how do you stand out from the crowd? According to the beloved Halls of Torment, you style your game after classic ARPG dungeon crawlers but make it play more like Vampire Survivors.
What I love most about Halls of Torment is how it respects your time. Each attempt is capped at 30 minutes, so that tendency to go for just ‘one more run’ doesn’t feel nearly as overwhelming. Just like in Vampire Survivors, there are countless enemies to fight, bosses to conquer, and upgrades to find amid the chaotic combat, but everything feels manageable.
Halls of Torment also has a lot of old-school flair. With an art style not dissimilar to Diablo 2, Chasing Carrots’ ARPG is absolutely gorgeous. While most modern games like Diablo opt for much more realism, I can’t help but marvel at the dank late ‘90s aesthetic. If you’re looking for the gameplay of Vampire Survivors, the tone and visuals of Diablo, and a healthy smattering of roguelike elements to keep each run fresh, Halls of Torment is for you.
With a staggering 96% positive Steam reviews from over 21,000 players, Halls of Torment has amassed the coveted ‘overwhelmingly positive’ rating. If that’s not enough to entice you, developer Chasing Carrots has just launched the full, 1.0 version of the game.
Chasing Carrots says this will be the “biggest update to date for Halls of Torment,” with a slew of changes and additions coming to the Diablo and Vampire Survivors mashup. The biggest new piece of content is undoubtedly The Vault: the game’s final stage which requires some coins to enter but has no time limit. The game’s sixth stage is guarded by a giant face, and last I checked it looks like you’ll need 1,000 gold to enter.
The Scriptor can also be rescued from the Frozen Depths, and doing so means he can give you a look at all the collectible items and help you improve character stats with Torment Shards. The item overview means you’ll know “all the base items and variants that will be recoverable from the Halls,” helping you recover ‘uncommon’ tier items.
Then there’s the Shrine of Torment. Chasing Carrots wants to make Halls of Torment difficult again, so this shrine means you can customize the difficulty to match your ever-increasing skill and loot. Or if you just feel a touch masochistic, of course. There are also 30 artifacts that have many effects. Maybe they set you on fire, spawn tough monsters, or damage you when you collect gold – it’s a roll of the dice.
If you’re more of a completionist though, there are 500 quests to complete. These offer up plenty of rewards, and even some devilish character traits from the “extra crunchy quests.”
Chasing Carrots has launched Halls of Torment into Steam 1.0 as of Tuesday September 24, with a 25% off discount to celebrate, so expect to pay $3.74 / £3.21 until Tuesday October 1. You can get involved right here.
If you’re looking for more, there are plenty of excellent indie games to add to your library right now. Otherwise, check out the best survival games instead.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.
