Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times is a colourful puzzle RPG that boasts of over 102,400,000 possible spells, each glued together from 40 collectible magical runes. As ever with such marketing beats, the big number is kind of a lie: the majority of those spells will be functionally indistinguishable, and in any case, you do not need 102,400,000 spells.
No, don’t spray your Vimto in outrage. You do not need over a hundred million spells. Say it with me: “I did not have 102,400,000 spells before, and was perfectly fulfilled. I am whole. I am enough. I will conquer my base insecurities.” There, you are sufficiently composed to watch Rhell’s trailer, in which there is sass, sarcasm and some lovely, 4:3 ratio landscapes. 4:3! Now those are numbers you can trust.
Watch on YouTube
(Update: OK, the trailer is actually presented in 16:9, but the game is designed to be played in 4:3, with an option for modern landscape view. Stop hollering at me, SpacemanSpiff!)
Rhell is the story of a young wizard in a world where almost everybody else has disappeared, thanks to a sorcerous calamity. There are only 12 people left, in fact. Your job – after breaking out of jail, anyway – is to gather those runes and roll back the apocalypse.
“Wander through 9 distinct areas at your own pace – from flooded libraries and underwater cities to volcanic factories and crystal caves,” explains the Steam page. “Each location tells its own story through environmental details and hidden lore, along with characters that have their own mysteries to unravel. Some areas connect in unexpected ways, rewarding those who explore thoroughly. ”
Rhell starts off “loud-mouthed” and “hot-headed”, but if you befriend other characters – they range from a rogue chef to a concussed princess – she may soften and put aside her loud-headed, hot-mouthed ways. It doesn’t sound like you’ll ever make a better friend than your spellbook, in which you’ll keep and combine the aforesaid 40 runes to solve the game’s various terrain conundrums.
Need a route up to a busted window? Combine a Force Push with a Force Twist to shunt and reorient a pillar. Need a trusty steed? Supersize a rock and grant it life. “Why was I created, Master?” the rock will ask. “Because I couldn’t be arsed walking over this bridge,” you will answer, before magnetising, miniaturising and duplicating yourself in a fit of divine pique.
Rhell released this week and still has a demo, as of writing. I haven’t played much of that demo, just enough to escape a castle and acquire the power of frost, but I’m enjoying the Playmobil landscapes and the brain-boggly bendiness of the puzzle design. So far, Rhell isn’t too much of a snipey little killjoy, just somewhat standoffish. This is promising, because I don’t like playing games in which my character is a jerk, even if I have the option of persuading them to be otherwise. Read more on Steam.
