Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel doesn’t waste time with subtlety. From the moment you drop into Niflheim, the game throws you into a Norse-flavoured bullet hell where survival is measured in seconds and progression is earned through grit, reflexes, and a steady stream of divine upgrades. It’s a roguelike auto-shooter/schmup hybrid that straddles genres with expert craft — waves of enemies, procedurally generated abilities, and a ticking clock that ensures every run ends in a tense showdown leading to triumph or obliteration.
Reviewed on Xbox and currently in full release after a long stint in early access on PC, Jotunnslayer casts you as a banished soul clawing your way out of the icy depths of Hel. The premise is simple: survive the hordes, summon and defeat the realm’s boss, and unlock the next map. While the narrative is thin — more a backdrop than a driver — the atmosphere is thick with Norse mythology. Niflheim is a frozen wasteland filled with pasty bugs, skeletal warriors and frost giants. Muspelheim, the second realm, blazes with lava and chaos. Each environment is distinct enough and the enemy design reflects that, offering visual and mechanical variety that keeps the action fresh.
Gameplay is built around the Vampire Survivors-like formula albeit with a slightly Diablo feel: Movement (including dodge rolls) are manual, attacks (except a single weapon skill) are automated, and every kill drops XP orbs that fuel your build. Level up, choose a new ability, and repeat. An unusual twist comes in the form of quests — mid-run objectives like lighting braziers, collecting mushrooms, or surviving curses. These add structure to the chaos and reward players with coins that can be spent between runs on powering up the hundreds of class and God-specific powers. Quests are a smart addition that inject pace and purpose into runs—not to mention variety.
There are currently five playable classes: Berserker, Seeress, Flame Sister, Warden and Revenant. Each has its own playstyle and unlock conditions, with the Flame Sister, Warden and Revenant gated behind progression. The class design is solid, offering enough variety to encourage experimentation. The Berserker is all about brute force, while the Seeress leans into ranged control. The other additions mix things up further, and the expanded roster since early access has helped the game feel more complete.
My personal favouite class is the revenant – who is essentially a classic ranger who uses primarily ranged archery to cut through minions. The twist with this characters comes from the fact that he is represented as a human male that has been possessed by the spirits of a pack of wolves. This means that in addition to his archery, the wolves also deal with enemies at close quarters, and turn his normal dodge into a “Ghostwalk” move that offers invulnerability, attack bonuses and other boons depending on your build.
Combat is fast and frantic, with enemy waves growing in size and complexity as the clock ticks down. Boss fights are a highlight — each one introduces unique mechanics and serves as a satisfying capstone to the level. These encounters feel genuinely challenging, and beating them unlocks new maps and modifiers, feeding into the game’s strong sense of progression. Levels can be replayed on hard and endless difficulties and unlike some games in this genre — hard is really, genuinely hard,
Visually, Jotunnslayer is striking even on console. The environments are rich with detail, and the enemy designs — once generic in early builds — now feature a diverse cast of horrors drawn from Viking lore. The UI is clean, and the effects are punchy without overwhelming the screen. It’s a game that knows how to build atmosphere, even without a deep story. The music that accompanies each fight is oppressive, well-crafted and perfectly judged to create a powerful atmosphere.
That said, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is not without its flaws. The twin-stick controls on Xbox can feel a tad superfluous, especially when trying to aim in tight spaces where most attacks will fly vaguely outwards in the direction you press (rather than at the exact enemy your brain is targeting). Movement and attack direction don’t always sync intuitively, leading to moments of frustration when dodging or lining up shots. I don’t see this as any kind of dealbreaker, and indeed, I don’t think many Survivor-like games even include aiming.
Its core loop is highly addictive. The game rewards skill, experimentation, and persistence. Unlocking new abilities, classes, and realms feels well-earned, and the procedural nature of each run ensures no two sessions play out exactly the same even though the maps are ultimately quite barren and samey. For fans of Vampire Survivors, Hades, or Returnal, there’s plenty here to sink your axe into.
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is a stylish, satisfying roguelike experience that blends Norse mythology with bullet hell chaos. It’s not narratively deep but the progression, atmosphere, and combat make it a worthy addition to the genre. If you’re looking for a game that lets you slay giants, dodge curses, and earn the favour of the gods — this one delivers. As it stands, it’s possible that Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is now my favourite game in this genre, and that’s no small feat.
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is available now for Xbox, PC and PlayStation.
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