![blade and sorcery vr controls blade and sorcery vr controls](https://media.giphy.com/media/2wWYKcr5Kt9kcDuFDj/giphy.gif)
This uptick in difficulty requires you to constantly upgrade your weapons and armor, lest you’ll fall victim to the residents of hell. Enemy variety starts switching up, traps become whirling blades of death flying at you from all angles and bosses get more and more difficult. Thankfully, once you get past the first stage, things become incredibly challenging. I was a bit a soured on the experience because it felt like another Blade and Sorcery which, while fun, is terribly easy and more of a combat simulator than an actual game. Enemies basically walk up to you and welcome your weapon through their heads. The start of the game almost insults your ability as a player with how easy it is. Gladius VR had this vibe down correctly with its deep-voiced announcer giving weight to the proceedings, here, I would love the option to put this guy on mute. While this is cool for ambiance, shortly thereafter the voice yells out “Groovy!” or “Oh my, so bloody!” which makes it feel less like a serious fight through the underworld and more like a parody of some kind. At the start of each round, an ominous voice announces some background of the area. After each round, you gain money that you can use to buy weapons, armor, shields, potions, and different attack boosters. You progress through different levels and fight various enemies and at the end of each round, you can fight a boss. You are an undead warrior who is fighting in hell. The breakdown of the gameplay is fairly simple in Hellsplit: Arena. While Blade and Sorcery has set the blueprint and is undoubtedly the mother of physics-based melee combat games in VR, Hellsplit: Arena is right there as the Father of the genre. Getting a weapon hit in a semi-realistic way is incredibly difficult to pull off and getting the enemies to respond in a believable way to the impact is even harder. There are so many games that claim realistic physics, but very few execute them in satisfying ways.