The explosion of indie isometric action RPGs is a welcome one, especially as it offers so many alternatives to just accepting Diablo as your only future. There’s nearly one for every taste at this point, which means we’re getting ones we didn’t even know we wanted.
For instance, Rogue Snail’s Hell Clock is a colorful Mike Mignola-styled action RPG/roguelike that borrows from Brazil’s history by adding a dark fantasy twist to the War of Canudos. It was only understanding what that means and seeing it put together that made it click in my mind that, yes, actually, I’ll have some of that.
The War of Canudos took place at the end of the 19th century and saw a clash between the First Brazilian Republic and the residents of the town of Canudos, which was in the Brazilian state of Bahia. It came about after the abolition of slavery and birthed a cult preaching salvation to the poor. That cult founded Canudos, and the state of Bahia got antsy about it and got the government to step in.
Canudos would defy attack several times despite being outmatched, but a fourth attack came with sizeable backing from the Brazilian Army, so Canudos and its residents met a brutal end.
See, I just liked the look of the game, but the real-life hook got me curious. Now I know a little about some Brazilian history, which enhanced my time with Hell Clock’s demo. It’s an interesting backdrop to the action, but it’s far from being the only interesting thing about it.
Hell Clock Fights the Future With the Past
That history is the building block for Hell Clock’s world and drives its dark fantasy. Resistance and oppression fuel the world and what’s found in it. You play as Pajeú, a warrior out to rescue the soul of his fallen mentor. The event is seen as pivotal in what will eventually happen to Canudos. As Pajeú descends into a hellish world to reclaim his mentor’s soul, he’ll be able to turn back the clock if and when failure occurs, giving the people another chance to tell their story. Each run gives you an opportunity to rewrite historical wrongs, defying the rule of law where it’s most unjust.
So Pajeú is fighting for the souls of all his people, and that’s some weight to put on an already challenging battle, but he also gains their collective power in that battle. So when you find Relics in the game world that give you new power, they’re forged by the history of resistance, and on the other side of things, the monstrosities you and Pajeú face are birthed from the evils of Brazil’s past.
So there’s a heady mixture of time-warping historical rewrites at play here, and that adds some kick to a game that needs to stand out whilst using a well-worn formula for its gameplay. There’s nothing wrong with that, as the Diablo/Hades model is popular for a reason, but having some under-the-surface depth should give Hell Clock some legs.
The art style and setting will be helpful, too. It’s reminiscent of Weird West’s fantasy-infused isometric RPG world aesthetically (with a bit of that Mignola style in there too), but the game itself plays at a far faster pace. The fight is intense, but your arsenal includes guns, knives, and more to add to the supernatural fury you will also wield, so a swarm of beasts is small change.
The demo offers an intriguing taste of what’s to come, so I’ll be sure to keep an eye on it when the full game arrives next month.
The Hell Clock demo is available now on Steam. The whole game will be released on Steam on June 18, 2025, for $19.99.
