At the moment only four weapons based on either cardinal sins or virtues are available—Sword of Justice, Daggers of Greed, Staff of Sloth, and Bow of Hope—though hints of future additions, like a halberd, appear in the game’s official artwork.

Then there’s the lack of real coordination tools. With no voice or text chat, you’re left to hope your team naturally understands the plan—which they often don’t—or rely on emoticons to direct those around you. Even if the emote wheel has arrows and objective’s icons, most of the time players won’t follow them.

Despite having an impressive world that encourages cooperation, massive wars against the afterlife’s forces, and a good God-killing hook for an exciting gameplay loop, there are some missing aspects that I can attribute solely to this being an early access release.

How much more difficult will the second world, Purgatorio, be compared with Inferno? How badass can I make my weapons? What’s it like to run around hell with a beagle by your side? These are all exciting questions I’m looking forward to answering once 33 Immortals

But I liked the vibe The Dark Woods area offers, letting me recover a bit from the hectic Inferno, and interact with these characters to help the story of 33 Immortals

Face the Wrath of God, and stay bold – for He will end your quest swiftly and often. Expand your epic arsenal with weapons empowered by sins and virtues, loot the spoils of His realms, equip potent new relics to match your playstyle, and gain permanent upgrades to your soul. Inspired by the Divine Comedy

Finally, Virgil (based on the ancient Roman poet) is also here, managing the Compendium should you need a refresher on how the game works and if really wanted to know the official name of that creepy silkworm with teeth that killed you on your last run (for the record, it’s called a Mangiatore).

You start a run by picking a weapon — justice sword, sloth staff or greed daggers — and each has a special ability that only works when three players stand together and activate it. It’s different for each weapon, but the effect is consistently grand. I stuck with the Staff of Sloth, a weapon that flings purple balls of magic and whose special ability slows enemies across a large swath of the battlefield.

is a unique approach to cooperative gaming that I didn’t realize I was going to enjoy as much as I did. I primarily enjoy single-player experiences where I’m free to suddenly drop without letting my party down – I’ve become an unreliable on-line raider with growing adult responsibilities that can pull me away at a moment’s notice.

Finishing 12 of these dungeons filled with waves of enemies is how the final fight against Hell’s mobs begins, all to prove the surviving souls’ worth facing Lucifer.

While there can be dozens of players on screen at a time, most special effects and projectiles of others are mostly hidden from your own perspective to keep the screen clear of distractions.

The tutorial ensures you experience failure firsthand, as the relentless enemies eventually overwhelm you. 

I had good luck defeating Torture Chambers with just three or four fighters Completa, but six was always welcome, hence my eventual shepherding. I also ended up prioritizing keys when shopping at the Bone 33 Immortals Gameplay Shrines scattered around Inferno because, dang it, I love unlocking chests.

Complete these to earn a variety of helpful loot and resources that you can then put into your character, increasing your odds of success as you proceed to tackle the next Torture Chamber, and then the one after that, and so forth.

The game begins with a 33-player map, Inferno, which is an arid wasteland of roaming demons, 12 Torture Chambers and one big ascension battle to complete. The minions running around Inferno are easy enough to dispatch for practice and Em excesso bones (the game’s currency), or you can run right by them without punishment. Torture Chambers are miniboss rooms designed for six players to tackle at once, but you can enter them with fewer than six, even alone. However, you’re unlikely to get far solo. The minibosses are hulking skeletons and big, flopping demon worms with plenty of health, and they always have hordes of minions as backup.