Infernaxtakes place after the Holy Wars. The main character, Duke Alcedor, returns home from his battles during the Crusades only to find his village is overrun with demons. What’s going on? Is he the cause of this curse and more importantly, can he break it?
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That’s the general premise of the story which surprisingly has some depth for an 8-bit homage to classics. It is a hodgepodge of earlyCastlevaniagames,Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, andDark Souls. Do those three games combo together well inInfernax? The answer is mostly yes so here are some tips to get started with.
7Infernax Is Diabolically Hard, But There Are Heavenly Assist Options
Infernaxadvertises itself as a hardcore throwback to the 8-Bit era which is true. However, there are two modes to choose from between Classic and Casual. Players can downgrade their experience on Classic, but Casual players can’t upgrade.
Know that before jumping in. Also, thereare cheat codestofurther assist playersin this diabolical 2D adventure. Invincibility and infinite jumps can be unlocked from the starter menu. This should give players a boost if needed.
6Choices Matter
One of the most interesting thingsInfernaxbrings to the tableis dynamic choices. Some quests have alternate paths. For example, there is an early one involving an alchemist named James who is worried about people camping outside his hut.
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If players assist James, they can get a healing spell. If players assist the rogues, who will kill James, they can get a drain spell. Even using magic within a town can have consequences. Just know going in that everything players do can come back to either haunt or reward them. Save before attempting big decisions.
5Alternate Upgrades
There are threestandard RPG statsplayers can upgrade in the game including power, health, and magic points. At first, magic may not seem important but players will eventually unlock spells that will make life easier. There is the aforementioned healing spell, for example.
There is also a lightning spell that can target all enemies on the screen. That takes four MP charges to use which is why upgrades should be alternated. Try and keep all three stats within the same range of each other.
4Buy Everything, Talk To Everyone
There are multiple towns in the game and each location has shops. Each shop’s inventory is different from the last. It takes a while to unlock fast travel which is why it is important to buy everything as quickly as possible. Eliminate the need to backtrack as much as possible. To be clear, don’t leave an area until all goods have been purchased.
That might take some heavy grinding for gold but the rewards will be worth it. The first town has life upgrades, potion upgrades, a new set of armor, and an armor spell. All four of those things should help players in the first leg of the journey. Be sure to talk to everyone in towns too as they often have quests or even items to give out. These arestandard RPG proceedingsbut it deserves to be said reiterated forInfernax’ssake.
3Be Aware Of The Day/Night Cycle
There are a day and night cycle players should be aware of. There is no meter in the game to tell players early when the transition will happen. The night cycle doesn’t last as long as the day cycle. However, creatures in the night can mess up a journey.
Enemies are more plentiful duringthese haunting hours. More importantly, some quests require either day or night transitions to complete. There is a spell that can control these cycles. It can be purchased in the second town players should come across, Arkos. If the night is truly terrifying, players can simply stand still and time will flow naturally into daylight.
2Use That Shield To Your Advantage
Some games use shields as simple aesthetics. This was standard for 8-bit games at the time. It would have been perfectly understandable ifInfernaxwere to emulate that uselessness. However, to its credit, the shield is incredibly useful.
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It can block most projectiles if players are fast enough. Get into the groove of changing positions to attack as well as block. There is an upgrade later in the game that can allow Alcedor’s mace to knock back projectiles at enemies too. This is the upgrade that can break certain blocks too.
1Keep Manual Notes
The map is not the most detailed onea Metroidvania gamehas seen. There are keys players can refer to but the information is basic and not nearly enough. The aforementioned brick walls are not properly marked on the map for example. One of the best game maps within the past few years was in the remake ofResident Evil 2.
Not all games can have as detailed information as that game, but it would have been nice ifInfernaxtried a bit more. Because there aren’t a lot of internal details, players should instead take manual notes. A good idea would be to take two screenshots. One within the world and one where that point in the map is. This should save players from trying to do guesswork later on if they get stuck.
Infernaxwill release on June 22, 2025, and is going to be available onPC,PS4,Switch, andXbox One.
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