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Hell Maiden News

The Poets of Limbo are here!

[h3]Meet the Poets of Limbo! 🏛️✨[/h3][p][/p][p]In Hell Maiden you won't only count with the help of Dante's beloved, Beatrice, but with the support of the Poets of Limbo — Virgil, Homer, Horace and Ovid — who will grant you their Blessings throughout each run.[/p][p]* From left to right: Virgil, Homer, Horace and Ovid.[/p][p][/p][h2]Who are the Poets of Limbo?[/h2][p]In Dante's Divine Comedy, Limbo is where the souls of virtuous pagans reside. Poets, philosophers, great thinkers and artists from antiquity who lived without sin, but whose lives came to an end before they could be introduced to God's glory. [/p][p]Thus, we took inspiration from Dante's most admired historical figures and brought them to life as the Poets of Limbo![/p][p][/p][h3]Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)[/h3][p]Our inspiration for Virgil came directly from the Divine Comedy, rather than the original author of the Aeneid. That said, she is the post-mortem reincarnation of the Roman poet Virgil and not simply a different interpretation the Divine Comedy's Virgil. Just like in the original work, however, she will be Dante's guide throughout the entirety of Hell Maiden.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)[/h3][p]The author of the famous and influential poem, Metamorphosis. Much of Ovid's personality, memories and attitudes are inspired on the author's biography and the real-life events he experienced, as well as on his body of work, including his love elegies such as Heroides and Amores. [/p][p][/p][h3]Homer (Homerus)[/h3][p]Who doesn't know about Homer and his timeless works? Our interpretation of the legendary poet was very much based on trivia and the many myths surrounding his life. As a result, our Homer is just as mysterious and elusive as the real-life historical figure she's based on![/p][p][/p][h3]Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)[/h3][p]As one of the world's first autobiographers, there's a lot to know about the original Horace — his beliefs, life-events and even his likes and dislikes. While we're taking a lot of liberties with our interpretation of Horace, she's no more assertive and level-headed than the historical poet himself.[/p][p][/p][h2]How are they relevant to the gameplay?[/h2][p]In Hell Maiden, the Poets of Limbo will be supporting Dante throughout the story and you, the player, throughout each run with their Blessings.[/p][p]Each Poet will have their very own character-themed pools featuring rare (and super rare) cards that can totally make or break your builds. As such, you'll definitely want to strategically aim for a certain Poet's skills and abilities depending on your play style![/p][p][/p][p]* All text, visuals and details are still place-holders.[/p][p]Additionally, every Poet of Limbo will come with their own exclusive assortment of Signature Weapons, perks and even Ultimate Attacks — each with their very own 2D animation cut![/p][p]* A still frame from Ovid's ultimate attack animation.[/p][p]You'll be able to chat with each Poet of Limbo in-between each run to get know them better. They'll be available in the Forum intermittently, so make sure to talk to your favorites whenever you spot them![/p][p]What's the Forum, you ask? That's where the Poets of Limbo live their quiet and uneventful lives.[/p][p]* Taken from development build, in no way representative of the final game.[/p][p][/p][h2]How many Poets of Limbo will there be?[/h2][p]There are a million possibilities when it comes to which historical figures we could potentially include in Hell Maiden. At this point in time there are only four Poets — Virgil, Homer, Horace and Ovid — but we're actually missing one of vituous pagans Dante Alighieri admired most — Lucan.[/p][p]Her character design and profile will be revealed in due time, so don't forget to follow our socials![/p][p][/p][h2]Why portray them in this way?[/h2][p]Given our studio's visual identity and past works (Little Goody Two Shoes and Pocket Mirror), we couldn't pass up on the opportunity of reimagining the Divine Comedy and giving both the work, and the characters within it, our very own anime twist![/p][p]With other games such as Hades and Limbus Company as inspiration, we find it super fun to explore these historical figures' work and lives, and to breathe new life into classical poetry through this playful lens. [/p][p]We hope Hell Maiden's reimaginings of Dante, Virgil, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan (and many more to come) will be not only memorable and fun, but interesting to interact and play with![/p][p][/p][h2]Thank you for reading this far![/h2][p]We love sharing more about Hell Maiden while it's still in development and hope this short post sparked your interest in the game.[/p][p]Don't forget to add Hell Maiden to your wishlist and share it with friends if you haven't already, we really appreciate all of the support we're getting for our first independently published title! ❤️‍🔥[/p][p]Want to know more about Hell Maiden and our vision for the game? Check out this interview![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Follow us on social media:[/h3][p]X/Twitter Join our Discord Check out our LinkTree for more![/p]

Thank you for 10k wishlists! ❤️‍🔥

[h3]Hell Maiden's reached 10k wishlists![/h3][p][/p][p]Thank you all so much for wishlisting Hell Maiden and supporting our new title — we're beyond grateful and can't express to you enough how much this means to us here at AstralShift![/p][p][/p][p]We're working hard to bring Hell Maiden to you as quickly as we can, so keep an eye out for updates and follow us right here on Steam so you don't miss anything.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Follow us on social media:[/h3][p]X/Twitter Join our Discord Check out our LinkTree for more![/p]

Hell Maiden — now available to wishlist on Steam!

[h3]Introducing Hell Maiden![/h3]

We’re very excited to introduce our newest title — Hell Maiden — and finally reveal all we’ve been working on behind the scenes for the past few months!

The game is currently still under development and will be released on Early Access right here on Steam. The release date is still to be announced.

Keep on reading for more information about gameplay, visuals, storyline and development!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]What is Hell Maiden?[/h3]

At its core, Hell Maiden fuses the horde survival roguelite genre with deck-building mechanics to create a fresh new experience where you’ll collect, stack and merge a myriad of cards to build unique hands and decimate Hell’s toughest fiends.

Spirit Cards are divided into two different categories — Weapon and Mod Cards. Pick your favorite Weapon Cards and equip them with Mod Cards to unlock different abilities, bonuses and status effects.

Better yet, you get to keep and use your opponents' own signature Spirit Cards in your own deck by defeating each circle’s guardian!

To conquer all 9 Circles of Hell, you’ll count with the help of the Poets of Limbo whose Blessings and signature Spirit Cards provide unique abilities, perks and ultimate attacks to mix and match and create unstoppable builds.



There are hundreds of possible Spirit Card combinations to try out, each one with its original tarot-inspired illustrations.

Hell Maiden’s visuals blend the retro and nostalgic graphics of the 2000s with a modern and expressive twist featuring hand-painted environments, visually stunning combat animations and eye-catching ultimate attacks with dynamic 2D animation cuts.

All accompanied by an original OST that blends dance music with an aristocratic gothic flare while retaining AstralShift’s much beloved charm.

[h3]Storyline and Characters[/h3]

As an original sequel to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, Hell Maiden will take you on a brand new journey through the 9 Circles.

Dante is now inexplicably back in Hell after having reached Paradiso — and she's lost all her memories to boot!
Unable to remember anything about her past life or her first journey through Hell, Dante is determined to climb her way back to Heaven and once again come face to face with Paradiso's higher powers in search for answers.

Accompanied by the Roman poet Virgil and protected by the sanctified Beatrice, you will not only have to make it through the dark abyss, but also find and rescue the Poets of Limbo whose fate now depends on you!



Meet legendary poets, philosophers and artists of antiquity such as Homer, Ovid, Horace and Lucan, and help them find their own way to salvation!



[h3]The vision for Hell Maiden[/h3]

AstralShift has come a long way since the release of Pocket Mirror and Little Goody Two Shoes and, after the release of the latter, we decided to explore different genres, mechanics and approaches to game design — that’s how the initial ideal for Hell Maiden came up.

We decided to blend game genres we enjoy — horde survival and deck-building — and not only fuse them into one single game, but to bring in a lot of our inspirations and creative vision to truly create a unique title.

As it is an Early Access game, we’ll be very close to players’ experiences and do our best to adapt to feedback and move forward with the community’s needs in mind. We’ll keep updating everyone both on social media and right here on Steam about the game’s development and future additions.

We’re hoping the game breathes new life into its source material with an original take on Dante Alighieri’s work and that its message of love, hope and passion will resonate with players!



[h3]Follow us on social media:[/h3]
X/Twitter Join our Discord Check out our LinkTree for more!