Helvetii Review: Helvetii Does So Much Right, But Still Feels Wrong

There are some games that get almost everything right but somehow still feel wrong. They’re some of my least favorite to review because so much about them is right and interesting that I really want to like them, but small choices made during development stop all the good from coming together in a cohesive way. That’s the case with Helvetii, a gorgeous action game featuring tight controls, an excellent soundtrack, and exciting combat, but which I wanted to be done with within hours of starting my journey. So what stops Helvetii from living up to the games that inspired it, such as Muramasa: The Demon Blade? Let’s take a look.

A Yawn-Inducing Story

Set around 100 BC, Helvetii has you playing Divico, a war chief who receives tremendous power from a mysterious source. Meant to help him end the war, it does so only at the cost of causing a great rot to spread throughout the land, slowly seeping into his heart. Joining forces with the druid Nammeios and half-beast Renart, they must try to reverse this power destroying the world.

I wish I could say the story was memorable, but it really isn’t. None of these characters have much in the way of a personality beyond a bit of snark. The differences in their play styles were the only factor in choosing who I wanted to play as. You’ll get a bit of story right at the start of the game, but other than that, most of the game is spent with only brief interactions between the core characters.

Beautiful Style, Solid Substance

As soon as you jump into your first run through Helvetii, you’ll notice that the art style is exquisite. Inspired by the works of Vanillaware, the game moves incredibly fluidly and looks like a drawing come to life. Smooth animation and strong performance allow you to fight off a wide variety of enemies as you run through the game.

Each area has you fighting through individual rooms, navigating a maze, and searching for the area’s boss. Defeat them, and you can go on to the next location. While that sounds simple enough, these areas are sprawling mazes with many directions to take. Exploring them fully allows you to earn additional weapons and items which can enhance your abilities and make you stronger. Stores also allow you to purchase upgrades, giving you some control over how you’ll develop your power.

Which character you choose does matter to a degree. Your main character is more of an all-purpose fighter, while ideally, Nammeios will act more at a distance. Renart is faster and has the most fluid movement at the expense of power. While the three do feel somewhat different, I rarely found myself in a situation where it felt like one would be far more useful than the others. The basic flow of combat is pretty familiar, no matter who you choose to play as.

An Issue Of Design

That basic combat is solid if unspectacular. This is a fairly standard action game though it controls well and features a nice degree of challenge. Common enemies initially aren’t much of a threat, but by the time you get a few areas into the game, you’ll start to find some who can give you a challenge. Bosses are often giant with attack patterns that aren’t too hard to learn but which switch enough while you fight them that you’ll need to stay on your toes. Little about Helvetii’s combat truly stands out, but it’s enjoyable enough. It also performs well on Switch, which is always a concern with this sort of game.

What really gets in the way of Helvetii being all it can be is the roguelite structure of the game. I mentioned runs above, and that’s because you’ll need to make your way through each area again and again, slowly making progress as you learn more and unlock permanent upgrades. A lot of games have used this style in recent years, and it isn’t inherently a bad thing. There are some fantastic roguelites out there. The issue for Helvetii is that each run here feels so familiar. Bosses are always the same, and while areas aren’t identical, there’s so little interesting about the environments beyond the art that every run feels nearly identical. When you’re running through the first area for the tenth time, and it doesn’t feel any different from the other nine times you’ve done it, that’s an issue. As you learn and master these early areas, it becomes downright annoying because there’s no reason for you to replay these fights that have no hope of doing anything but wasting your time. With this little variety, Helvetii would have been far better served as a more straightforward action game.

Conclusion

Despite gorgeous visuals, a strong soundtrack, and solid combat, Helvetii stumbles on basic game design. With this little variety within each area, the choice to make it a roguelite was a mistake and quickly left me wanting to move on to a different title. There’s certainly fun to be had here, but whether you’re looking for a great roguelite or action game, better options exist to meet your needs.

Final Verdict: 3/5

Available on: Switch (Reviewed), PS4, PC; Publisher: Red Art Games; Developer: Team KwaKwa; Players: 1; Released: February 3rd, 2023; ESRB: E10+ for Everyone 10+; MSRP: $16.99

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Helvetii provided by the publisher.