Infernax (2022)

This title is a retro-inspired action platformer by Berzerk Studio that pays homage to classics like Castlevania II and Zelda II. The MC is called Alcedor, a knight returning home to find his land consumed by demonic corruption. The game’s pixel art, chiptune soundtrack, and grim tone perfectly capture the feel of 8-bit era games while adding a touch of modern polish. Its tight combat, brutal difficulty, and exploration-heavy structure make it both challenging and rewarding for players who enjoy mastering precise mechanics and uncovering secrets.

What makes Infernax stand out is its morality system, which allows you to make choices that affect quests, story outcomes, and even the game’s endings. This layer of consequence adds replayability and gives depth to what could otherwise be a straightforward retro homage. Each decision feels weighty, and the different paths encourage multiple playthroughs. The game also features optional modern assists, such as easier difficulty modes and save points, making it more accessible than many of the old-school titles it emulates.

This may sound like a strange thing to mention since most titles nowadays have these features as standards, but back in the day, you almost always needed to play the whole game in a sitting, or rely on passwords of some kind. However, this game can be punishing early on, with tough enemies and unforgiving platforming sections that may frustrate less patient people. Some design elements intentionally mimic the clunky quirks of older games, which might not appeal to everyone, fortunately for me, this is not a big deal. Still, its fair challenge, variety of secrets, and excellent atmosphere make it one of the better examples of modern retro gaming.

For fans of classic action-adventure games who crave a blend of nostalgia, grit, and meaningful choices, this game is a must-play. It is one of the best of it's kind, and I'm biased since I'm a fan of this style. I also recommend diving into it's easter eggs, it starts pretty early, even when choosing your MC's name can affect the gameplay entirely, changing your default weapon and look, drastically changing how you play the game, it is a fun experience to try and replay using other names and playstyles.

The game is quite authentically retro, to both its benefit and detriment. It has some great body horror art, nice soundtrack, and is a total homage to games like Zelda 2 and Castlevania. But man did I want some more modern sensibilities.

I’m not a Castlevania fan, so the fact that I enjoyed it at all is surprising. I liked that the rpg systems were minimal, there weren’t tons of consumables and familiars, etc. But it did have pretty tedious combat (bosses were an exception), slow movement, and flat level design.

The map was serviceable to a point, but trying to track quests, remember where things are, or even getting around with its lack of shortcuts or warping was too tedious for me.

It’s not one I would revisit but if the cons don’t bother you and the pros entice you, it might be more up your alley than mine.

A few weeks ago I queried the /r/metroidvania subreddit asking about the "best metroidvanias on PC gamepass". I got a number of suggestions including Monster Sanctuary (meh), Record of Lodoss War (decent), HAAK (not even on Gamepass) and... Infernax?

I had never even heard of the game and at a glance I got 8-bit vibes and along with it, an assumption that it was probably something shallow and simplistic. Boy was I wrong. Not only is the game not shallow, or short, it rides the perfect line between retro and modern.

Everything about the core design and implementation straddles 1992 and 2022. The aesthetic and design of the characters and even the way the same few character models stand awkwardly in the middle of empty rooms evokes classic NES RPGs. Yet despite this very obvious homage, there is just enough little extra bit of polish in the framerate, animations, gameplay and more that makes it play like a modern platformer. If you're going to be smashing someone a few thousand times over ten hours, it'd better feel crisp and satisfying... and it does.

As you get deeper in, you realize Infernax is much more modern than it seemed at first glance. Bosses, quests, multiple endings, secrets, spells, abilities... and the gore. The game literally oozes and explodes blood and body parts EVERYWHERE. That boss you just killed? His guts flew into the pool below you and the nice blue water is now tinted with blood. That next boss you killed? His corpse is still lying there, mangled, and your pet bird seems intent on continuously stabbing at it until you finally walk away. And if that isn't enough? There is even a fake Game Genie interface off in a corner where you can enter secret codes... and one of them ups the gore even more!

The only real gripes I had during my playtime were twofold. One - the quests can be a bit difficult to keep track of. The quest log is somewhat basic and if you don't remember exactly what a quest is referring to, you may forget where the quest giver was or exactly what they wanted. Two - the bosses are easy! Perhaps this was just the case of that RPG thing where I leveled too much prior to going through the main dungeons but most of the bosses died on my first try. The harder ones took only two or three attempts. I don't think metroidvania or retro platformers have to be tough-as-nails but there could have been a little bit more challenge or length to these encounters.

Infernax is clearly a labor of love and nostalgia. The difference is that while we've seen that before from many developers, this time Berzerk didn't just have good intentions or come close. They nailed it. Infernax is fantastic and I can't wait to play through again with one of many secret characters, to finish the quests I missed and get new endings. Highly recommended to those who played video games in 1992. Also highly recommended to those who just started playing today.

A very fun game that hooked me from the beginning and gave me a feeling similar to the one I get when I play a game from the Souls series.

Unfortunately, I ended up leaving it after a few hours because it is another of those retro games that, although they are very well designed, are so difficult that I end up getting bored. And I'm someone who loves all of From Software's souls-like games, so I consider my resilience to be not exactly low.