Here's the thing about young, modern, mainstream gamers: they have a lot to say, and they're often wrong.

A bunch of you were wrong on this one.

Leading up to the release, I willfully poisoned my eyes and mind with the usual mainstream gamer nonsense chatter/assumptions.

All of it was wrong.

Even after the "early unlock" began, the nonsense continued: 'It's boring.' And my favorite: 'Everything is filler for no story.' The people who say this are the same people who gave Elden Ring a perfect score, a game that does the exact same thing Hell Is Us does narratively, revealing the story/situation as the player advances.

I was gifted this on my Xbox Series X, but 3 hours in, I wanted to experience it on PC with GeForce Now, which I've been using for almost a year now.

First off, I can't relate to the "UE5 is garbage" claims. I'm not saying people haven't been having problems, but I've been playing UE5 games on GFN Ultimate and the experience has been near-flawless every time. So my own verdict is this: your machine just can't handle UE5 games, or your configuration is off in some way. Of course, the beauty of GFN Ultimate is that no expense has been spared to put together machines with the best components that do not bottleneck, always have the latest drivers, and are tweaked just right. So UE5 has always been a dream for me. And that being said, the game is gorgeous.

The character animations are a step above any other soulslike I've played. My one pet peeve about soulslikes has always been that the characters feel stiff, which I realize to some extent is a benefit for the action elements, but Hell Is Us strikes a nice balance of realism and fluidity with snappiness. So the action elements are satisfyingly visceral. You feel a real connection with attacks and defense, and it can get really chaotic with dual-wielding. As your "Lymbic" arsenal grows, combat becomes increasingly satisfying, and the drone (straight out of The Division) is a nifty strategic element, proving crowd control in the early game.

What is this "Lymbic" stuff? I don't know. But therein lies the beauty of the narrative. The lore is faux-historic stuff that deliciously borders on biblical. The name Hell Is Us does refer to human beings being 'just the worst', yes, but it also refers to Hell in a literal sense, as in the place. And that's all I'll say about what I know of the story thus far. So not only are you going to be tasked with enduring the darkness of man, you'll be facing the darkness of Hell, or whatever Hell-like force these people are fighting.

The music in this game is just beautiful. It reminds me at times of Jerry Goldsmith's score for ALIEN, that old, spare soundtrack that so often emulates creeping, crawling things. The work here is as much a part of the world as the physical textures are. If you removed the score or scored it in another style entirely, the game wouldn't be nearly as effective in imbuing a sense of constant dread. And the world is dreadful at every turn, even in broad daylight. Don't turn the music off, ever. You should be slapped on the wrist if you do.

Some other things I want to point out: exploration is soulslike, yes, but you'll be reminded of Resident Evil when you find useable, examine-able items and weapons, and with the item menu opened on the fly by right trigger and the weapon menu opened by left trigger, everything you need in the moment is quickly accessible.

TL;DR

Hell Is Us is a beautiful, atmospheric game that takes advantage of UE5.

The experience is a slow burn and declares in its introduction to have been designed to require your initiative to explore. All you have is a compass for finding your way around. Maps and magically-appearing waypoints are nonexistent. If an NPC (fully-voiced, all of them) tells you to find the ruins to the west, that's all you get.

This is a game to be experienced layer by satisfying layer, in the most organic way possible.

Enter and stumble about. And enjoy.