Phenixx Gaming

Warning: This review contains depictions and descriptions of pixelated gore, death, and other subjects that might be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

I tried to review Infernax when it was first released back in early 2022. What quickly stopped that endeavor was that Infernax contains sequences of flashing lights that trigger my particular photosensitivity issues pretty intensely. I wrote about my first impressions of Infernax as best I could before I was physically forced to stop playing. To my delight, I’ve discovered that its developers have since added an accessibility option that (at least for me) eliminates the “demon of the flashing lights,” as I call it. Now I can properly review Infernax, and I’m genuinely excited to do so.

Within Infernax’s main campaign, your character is a famous knight who has just returned to his homeland following a battle. Instead of the welcoming committee you may have been expecting, you’re greeted with the discovery that the Duchy of Upel is in the grip of a mysterious, evil curse. As a knight and a duke, it’s your solemn duty to show this unholy power that it picked the wrong place to set up shop. Take up your armor, shield, and mace, and allow your steadfast faith in the gods to guide you on your quest to destroy the source of this blight.

You soon discover that a nearby, strategically important citadel has been sealed by dark magic. The seal’s symbol is a pentagram whose points contain gems which represent the five strongest enemies you’ll have to defeat. Each of these foes has taken over a castle within the Duchy of Upel. This brings me to the first aspect of Infernax that I quite like: Infernax isn’t shy about honoring its forebears as a Metroidvania game. Both aesthetically and in terms of its gameplay, Infernax is easily one of the most well-executed fusions of early Castlevania and Metroid games I’ve ever played.

What do I mean by that? Your main objective is to travel to the five castles in question and defeat the bosses that have laid claim to them. However, it’s up to you to determine the correct order in which you do that. Infernax doesn’t hold your hand in virtually any way, but it also avoids being unreasonably confusing or difficult because of that. That concept evokes memories about the commonalities among the franchises of yesteryear that would be combined to form what we now call the Metroidvania genre.

Infernax won’t start you out with a set of objective markers and an arrow on the ground that serves as the most efficient route to them. Instead, it gives just enough guidance to allow you to succeed and feel powerful. You can travel to most areas of the in-game map at any time even though you’re intended to progress in a specific way. However, Infernax has subtle yet clear ways of steering you in the right direction compared to other Metroidvanias.

Some games might steer you in a certain direction with such frustrating things as unexpectedly powerful enemies or instant-death hazards you can’t bypass without abilities you acquire later on. In contrast, Infernax prefers to place harmless environmental obstacles in your path as a means of getting you to follow the intended path. In other words, Infernax has a clever (perhaps uncommon) way of causing players to think, “Oh, I’m not supposed to be here yet. I’ll make a note of that and come back later.” I really like how Infernax goes about this.

Even within the five castles you seek, that mechanic of mentally noting places you need to return to later is quite well implemented. You’ll encounter at least one door in each castle that needs a key to open. You’ll need to explore the castle thoroughly to find these keys, which can also lead you to spells and abilities you’ll need to continue progressing. Speaking of castles (which are essentially Infernax’s equivalent of dungeons), I also appreciate that you can leave a castle at any time rather than being trapped inside the castle until you’ve defeated the boss within.

The main reason you might want to leave a castle midway through is so that you can buy upgrades to make clearing dungeons easier. The two upgrade currencies are experience points (“XP”) and gold. You can get both of these by slaying monsters and completing side-quests for NPCs you can encounter outside of dungeons. You can spend XP to upgrade your character’s base attributes, namely attack power and maximum health and magic points. You can only acquire these upgrades by visiting so-called “Save Shrines,” which are (as the name suggests) the only places you can save your progress.

You can spend gold by visiting many NPC vendors you’ll encounter in towns and settlements during your journey. Blacksmiths can sell you more powerful weapons and armor, and you can pay the local magical scholars to teach you new spells or upgraded versions of spells you’ve already learned. In towns that have inns, you’ll find brewmasters who will sell you potions that restore your health and magic points or even give you such potions free of charge. Inns also allow you to rest, which restores your health and magic and elapses in-game time until the next sunrise or nightfall.

I like that Infernax clearly labels buildings that contain these vendors and facilities so that I always know exactly where to go in towns depending on what I need. Speaking of elapsed in-game time, that brings me to another well-implemented aspect of Infernax. Infernax has a day-night cycle that affects the core gameplay loop in certain meaningful ways. You might encounter different types of enemies in the same areas, depending on whether it’s daytime or nighttime, for example. There are also several side quests given to you by NPCs that you can only complete at night.

These subtle yet noticeable changes justify the existence of Infernax’s day-night cycle and encourage players to pay attention to it. There wouldn’t be much point to having the in-game time-of-day change if it didn’t affect gameplay somehow, so I’d say Infernax addresses that pretty well. Speaking of justifying gameplay mechanics, there are several rather small aesthetic touches within Infernax that I like because they help immerse me in its atmosphere. For example, your character temporarily becomes increasingly covered in gore when fighting several enemies at once.

The topic of gore brings me to a few things I dislike about Infernax, though. Frankly, you’ll see a lot of pixelated blood and guts. This can be reduced via the in-game options menu, but it might still be a turn-off for some potential players. The designs of most enemies you’ll fight (especially bosses) are also pretty gruesome, and there’s nothing in the options menu to address that. There are also unique (and, thankfully, censored) cutscenes for just about every possible way you can die within Infernax.

I think it’s a good thing those animations exist. Not because I enjoy witnessing horrible things happening to my character, but because the presence of these situational cutscenes helps demonstrate how much care and attention to detail was put into Infernax. To be clear, I have no problem with Infernax’s default levels of gore, even though some of its bosses have creeped me out quite a bit. Still, this aspect (understandably) won’t sit well with everyone. I’d suggest you keep that in mind if you’re thinking about trying it out.

In summary, now that I can play Infernax without quickly becoming physically ill, I greatly enjoy what it offers. Even though the accessibility options I needed took a while to be added, I can honestly say that Infernax has been well worth the wait. I consider my newfound ability to play and enjoy Infernax to be not just a small, personal victory for me but a strong testament in favor of standardized accessibility options being added to all games by default. Infernax helps me succinctly explain why I wish more developers put this much care into their games’ accessibility.

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Infernax

$19.99

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Strong, well-executed Castlevania and Metroid influence is on full display.
• Small aesthetic touches complement the game’s atmosphere well.
• It’s better that much-needed accessibility options have been added late than never.
• Gameplay forces you to develop and trust your skills more than you otherwise might want to.

Cons

• Even the improved accessibility options might not be sufficient for some players.
• The amount of gore and many enemy designs might be off-putting, even when reduced via settings.