There are a lot of games on Steam right now that clearly owe something to Vampire Survivors, especially now that the whole bullet-heaven style of gameplay has become so popular. However, Hellforged, from developer Moonpyre, caught my attention because it looked like it was taking that type of game and putting it much closer to something like Diablo, with a dark fantasy setting and more traditional action RPG progression incorporated into each run. I’ve played plenty of games like both of those over the years, so I figured there was a pretty good chance Hellforged would be up my alley. And, after spending some time with the game’s free demo on Steam, that very much turned out to be the case.
Hellforged is described by Moonpyre as an “extraction bullet-heaven,” so there is more going on here than simply entering an area and surviving against increasingly large groups of enemies. There is permanent gear progression, a skill tree, crafting, and quite a bit of control over how each run can develop, but the actual gameplay itself is simple enough that I can settle into it without having to think too hard about every second of what I’m doing. That’s probably the biggest reason I’ve enjoyed the demo as much as I have so far, because once everything starts working together, Hellforged becomes one of those games I can sit down with and suddenly realize I’ve been playing far longer than I intended to.
Hellforged Is Easy to Get Into and Even Easier to Keep Playing
Check out Hellforged on Steam
A typical run in Hellforged takes place in the Undercrypt, where enemies continue showing up while I work my way through the area, level up, and gradually improve whatever build I’m using. At the beginning of a run, things are fairly manageable, but it doesn’t take long before there are enemies all over the screen and multiple abilities going off at the same time. The interesting thing is that it never really felt overwhelming to me once I got used to the pace of it. If anything, that was when I started enjoying it the most, because there is a point where I can stop thinking quite so much about every individual enemy and just focus on where I’m moving and what I want to do next.
That’s where the Vampire Survivors layer really comes into play, because a lot of the appeal comes from watching a build gradually become more powerful during a run. However, Hellforged is also much more involved than simply choosing another upgrade every time I level up and seeing how long I can survive. There are objectives and challenges to complete throughout the Undercrypt, different routes and layouts to work through, and loot to find along the way. Completing every challenge in a stage can also cause the Goblin Merchant to appear, which gives me three random cards to choose from in exchange for gold. If I don’t like any of them, I can reroll the choices, although the cost increases each time.
The other big difference is that Hellforged doesn’t let me keep everything I find just because I picked it up. I eventually have to extract from the Undercrypt, and anything I collect during a run is lost if I die before I make it out. I have a certain fondness for extraction games, simply for the risk-reward loop of it all, but I think it works especially well here because the whole game isn’t built around the stress of potentially losing everything. Most of the time, I’m still focused on building my character up and clearing the enemies around me, and the extraction side becomes more important once I actually have something in my inventory that I care about.
At the beginning of a run, things are fairly manageable, but it doesn’t take long before there are enemies all over the screen and multiple abilities going off at the same time.
It also changes the way I look at a run once things have been going well for a while. If I’ve found some gear I want to keep, I have to start thinking about whether I actually want to keep going or whether I’m better off getting out while I can. At the same time, if the build I’m using has become strong enough, there’s always the temptation to stay down there a little longer and see what else I can find. I like that the game leaves that choice up to me, because it adds something to each run without getting in the way of the part I’ve been enjoying most, which is simply getting stronger and seeing how far I can take a particular build.
Mortenzia Has Easily Become My Favorite Hellforged Character
The Hellforged demo currently has two playable characters, Thoren the Paladin and Mortenzia the Dark Elf Mage, and I enjoyed both of them quite a bit. Thoren is much more suited to being right in the middle of everything, and I had some good runs with him once I started getting used to how he played. Still, I’m a spellcaster main in pretty much every RPG I play when I’m given the option, so Mortenzia was probably always going to have an advantage with me.
Mortenzia was introduced alongside Hellforged‘s official Steam demo, replacing the earlier playtest version that only featured Thoren. Moonpyre says she was designed with her own mechanics and a completely different playstyle from the Paladin.
Even so, I don’t think I expected to like playing her as much as I do. Once I start getting the right abilities together during a run, Mortenzia can become ridiculously overpowered, especially when several of those abilities start working well with one another. I’ve had runs where I reached the point that I didn’t really have to worry about most of the normal enemies around me anymore, simply because so much damage was going out at once. I know some players might look at something like that and wonder whether the balance is off, but for a game like Hellforged, I think becoming that powerful is part of what makes it so much fun in the first place.
That’s also where I started getting into that rhythm with the game that I mentioned earlier. Once Mortenzia gets strong enough, I can just start moving through the Undercrypt and focus more on where I’m going than on every enemy nearby. I’m still paying attention, of course, especially when stronger enemies show up or I get into a boss fight, but there’s a point where everything settles into a pace that I really enjoy. I can zone out a little, keep moving, and watch the build I’ve put together do what I built it to do.
What helps here is that Hellforged doesn’t leave the entire process up to chance. Before starting an expedition, the Arsenal lets me determine which abilities are able to appear during a run. There is still plenty of randomness involved once I’m actually in the Undercrypt, so I’m not guaranteed to get everything I want, but I at least have some control over the pool I’m working with. I like that quite a bit, because it means I can decide what kind of build I want to go for before I start without knowing exactly how that build is going to come together.
Once I start getting the right abilities together during a run, Mortenzia can become ridiculously overpowered, especially when several of those abilities start working well with one another.
For Mortenzia in particular, that has made experimenting with different combinations one of my favorite parts of the demo. There are abilities that work especially well together, and once I find a combination I like, the Arsenal gives me a better chance of seeing those abilities again on another run. At the same time, I can change things around if I want to try something different, so I haven’t felt like I’ve already found one setup that I’m going to use forever. Considering the demo only gives me two characters right now, there’s already a surprising amount of room to play around with how I want each of them to work.
Hellforged Has Quite a Bit of Permanent Progression Outside Each Run
The other thing that has kept Hellforged from feeling too much like a standard bullet-heaven game is how much of its progression continues after an expedition ends. Gear I successfully extract with can be equipped back at the hub, so I’m still improving my character outside of the temporary levels and abilities I gain during a run. That makes finding something useful in the Undercrypt much more exciting than it would be if everything disappeared when I left, and it gives me another reason to make sure I actually extract once I have something worth keeping.
There is also a Blacksmith who can be used for crafting and salvaging, which means unwanted equipment still has some use once I bring it back. I appreciate that because Hellforged drops enough gear that I’m obviously not going to equip everything I find, and having something else to do with it keeps the loot side of the game from feeling quite as wasteful. It’s also another part of the demo that makes the whole thing feel much closer to a traditional action RPG than I expected when I first started playing.
The Eternal Tree is another part of that permanent progression, giving me a way to improve my character outside of individual runs. The demo only gives players an early look at the system, but even that has been enough to make me feel like I’m working toward something every time I go back into the Undercrypt. Between the gear I’m bringing back, the Eternal Tree, and the abilities I’m unlocking for the Arsenal, there is usually something I can do after a run before I head back in again.
Progress made through the Eternal Tree is permanent, so upgrades purchased there carry over between expeditions rather than resetting when a run ends. That makes it one of Hellforged‘s main long-term progression systems alongside extracted gear and Arsenal unlocks.
I think that matters quite a bit for me because I’m much more interested in long-term character progression than I am in seeing how high I can get on a leaderboard or how long I can survive in a single run. Hellforged gives me both sides of that. I still get the satisfaction of starting relatively weak and becoming much stronger over the course of an expedition, but I also get to keep improving the character after that expedition is over. It’s probably one of the biggest reasons the demo has held my attention so well, because even when a particular run isn’t especially good, I don’t necessarily feel like I wasted my time.
Hellforged’s Demo Has More in It Than I Expected
There are also several difficulty levels to work through, and the higher ones introduce Map Difficulty Affixes rather than only making enemies stronger. Mythic is currently among the highest difficulty options available in the demo, and that’s where the game’s systems start mattering quite a bit more. A build that feels overpowered earlier on isn’t necessarily going to carry me through everything the game can throw at me, so there is still a reason to continue improving my gear and figuring out which combinations work best.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
Bosses give me another opportunity to see whether a build is actually as strong as I think it is. The demo includes the Executor and Crypt Prince, and there is also a system tied to Chaos that can be used to summon another boss during an expedition. That works especially well with the extraction side of the RPG because there may be times when I’ve already found gear I’d like to keep, but I also have the option to take on something more dangerous before leaving. Sometimes I’ll probably make the smarter decision and extract. Other times, especially if Mortenzia has become as ridiculous as she can get, I’m probably going to see what happens.
A build that feels overpowered earlier on isn’t necessarily going to carry me through everything the game can throw at me, so there is still a reason to continue improving my gear and figuring out which combinations work best.
The demo also includes Hellforged Trials, which are recurring challenges with their own leaderboards. That’s not necessarily the part of the game I’m most interested in, since I’m more focused on the progression and trying different builds, but I can see why players who really get into Hellforged would spend a lot of time there. Once someone has already worked through the normal expeditions and started putting together stronger builds, the Trials give them another place to use what they’ve learned.
There are even a couple of rewards players can earn in the demo that are supposed to carry over once Hellforged moves into Early Access, including the Demoslayer title and a unique weapon cosmetic for Thoren. Again, those aren’t necessarily what has kept me playing, but they do make the demo feel like something worth spending time with rather than a temporary slice of the game I’m going to lose everything from once the full version arrives.
Moonpyre has also continued updating the demo since it launched, with changes to balancing and quality-of-life features, so it’s pretty clear the developer is still actively working with what players are doing in it. There’s already enough here that I could have easily understood what Hellforged was going for without most of those extra systems, but having all of them available has made the demo feel much more complete than I expected.
I’m Already Sold on Hellforged
I went into the Hellforged demo mainly because the idea of a game like Diablo with the general combat style of Vampire Survivors sounded like something I would probably enjoy, but I think what has surprised me most is how well everything around that basic idea works together. The extraction system gives me a reason to care about surviving once I’ve found something useful, while the permanent gear progression gives me a reason to care about what I’m finding in the first place. The Arsenal also gives me enough control over my build that I’m not completely relying on luck every time I start another run.
Moonpyre has also continued updating the demo since it launched, with changes to balancing and quality-of-life features, so it’s pretty clear the developer is still actively working with what players are doing in it.
More than anything, though, I just genuinely enjoy playing it. I like Thoren, but Mortenzia has already become the character I keep wanting to go back to, especially knowing how ridiculous she can get when the right combination of abilities comes together. As someone who almost always ends up playing a spellcaster in RPGs anyway, she was probably always going to be the character that worked best for me, but I also think she represents what I like most about Hellforged so far. The game lets me spend the first part of a run putting something together, then eventually reach the point where I can stop worrying quite so much about the build and just enjoy what I’ve made.
Of course, this is still only a demo, so there’s plenty I haven’t seen yet and plenty about the full game that can still change. But I don’t really need the demo to sell me on the idea anymore, because it already has. At this point, I’m mostly interested in seeing how much more there is to Hellforged once Moonpyre adds more characters, more abilities, and more content to work through, because if I can already spend this much time with what is available now, I can only imagine how much worse that problem is going to get once there’s more of it.
Hellforged launches on PC via Steam in Q4 2026.
