Grim Trials
Una competente prueba de acceso a la academia de Hades
Grim Trials builds a fun, colorful and technically solid action roguelite, although the influence of Hades weighs too much on its identity and limits its ability to surprise.
Introduction
It’s difficult to talk about Grim Trials without Hades immediately appearing in the conversation. The structure of its attempts, the pace of combat, the presentation of its improvements and the way of presenting characters and improvements are very clearly reminiscent of the work of Supergiant Games. That doesn’t stop Grim Trials from working, because those responsible understand well the formula they are using. The problem is another: for those who have already played Hades and Hades II, it is difficult to find enough elements that separate both proposals.
That being said, Grim Trials is still a remarkable and fun game. Its action responds well, the progression maintains interest between attempts and the visual presentation stands out from the first moment. Familiarity ended up weighing on our experience, but it doesn’t stop Grim Trials from still being fun when it gets into combat.
An easier academy to follow
History opts for a more compact development than that of Hades. It does not insist on introducing dozens of characters or lengthening each conversation until it is difficult to follow who is who. The academy functions as a meeting point and allows the story to advance without constantly imposing itself on the action.
This containment suits him well. Interactions provide context between attempts and maintain a sense of progress, but don’t make the narrative a burden. For those who enjoy roguelites for their combat and disconnect when the story begins to multiply names, relationships and subplots, Grim Trials is much easier to follow.
The proposal is more direct and maintains focus better. There is a story accompanying the action without forcing us to study a family tree every time we return to the academy.
Scythe, crossbow and satisfying combat
The fights take place in arenas organized on a hexagonal grid. This arrangement helps to read distances and forces us to monitor the position of the enemies before launching into the attack. Grim Trials combines the scythe for melee with a crossbow that allows you to keep your distance, so there is some room to adapt each fight to your preferences.
In our case, the balance quickly tipped towards melee. Aiming with the crossbow never quite fit the way we played, and as soon as we found a reasonably good weapon, we preferred to get in close and settle fights with blows. Combat works especially well at close range: attacks and dodges feel good and chaining actions is agile.
The ability to switch between the two tools provides options, but in the end, each player will end up finding their favorite way of fighting. The crossbow can be useful for keeping certain enemies at bay, while the scythe favors a more aggressive and close-up approach to play.
Progression that works, although it does not always encourage experimentation
As is usual in the genre, each attempt allows you to collect upgrades, receive random blessings and prepare a configuration with which to face the following rooms. There is also persistent progression, so failure is not equivalent to returning to exactly the same point. There is always the feeling of moving forward between attempts.
The system could offer a little more differentiation between weapons and ways of fighting. Once we found a formula that worked for us, we had little reason to abandon it. That convenience can be nice for anyone looking to consolidate an effective setup, although it does somewhat reduce one of the common pleasures of roguelite: discovering strange combinations and taking risks just to see how far they can go.
The progression also includes equipment crafting, with a QTE that aims to make the process a little more participatory. The idea is not bad, although it would be appreciated if you allowed a couple of opportunities before penalizing the mistake. A new player will still be learning the general pacing, progression systems and how weapons work, and penalizing a failure during a time spent upgrading equipment may discourage some players.
A visual identity marked by its reference
Grim Trials stands out visually from the first moment. The settings, the characters and the heavy metal atmosphere form an attractive whole and give energy to each encounter.
Even so, the shadow of Hades appears again. Grim Trials draws so much from its style that it produces immediate familiarity. It has good visual ideas but it would have been nice to move away a little more from the aesthetics and staging that Supergiant Games popularized.
The result continues to work visually and maintains a coherent direction, although this influence makes some of its successes seem less its own.
Performance and localization
The PC version ran smoothly during our review. We found no performance drops or errors that interrupted games. In an action game where dodging and reacting in time is essential, this stability allows you to fully concentrate on combat.
The location is also at a good level. The texts are available in English and Spanish and we found nothing that hindered the understanding of the story, the improvements or the different systems.
The good
- Satisfactory combat, especially with melee weapons
- Attractive heavy metal atmosphere
- Story more compact and easier to follow than other references of the genre
- Good performance on PC and clear texts in Spanish
The bad
- Hades’ influence is too evident
- Weapons and combat systems need further differentiation
- The crafting QTE can unnecessarily frustrate new players
Conclusion
Grim Trials is a good action roguelite and deserves the rating. Its combat works, the story doesn’t get scattered, and the heavy metal setting adds energy to its art, while the PC version ran smoothly during our review.
His main obstacle is a too visible influence from Hades. Those who know the two Supergiant Games titles well will find few surprises and may take a while to discover what Grim Trials brings to the table on its own.
Still, when their systems fit together and we find a melee weapon that suits our way of playing, it’s fun and satisfying.
Recommended for
- Players looking for an accessible action roguelite with a compact structure
- Hades fans who do not need a radically different proposal
- Those who value hand-to-hand combat, persistent progression and a marked heavy metal setting
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