After about my third death, it became very clear to me that it’s dangerous to go alone in 33 Immortals. My sinful pride was getting the best of me as I navigated the Inferno, inspired by Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” filled with all manner of infernal beasts, creatures, and tortured souls, presented with crisp, beautiful hand-drawn animation. I thought my experience with ARPGs would be enough to push back against this enemy horde alone – I was wrong. It’s once I found other Rebel Souls (fellow players) to tag along with when my journey through Hell became a bit more manageable.

33 Immortals describes itself as a distillation of the MMO raid experience, an action-packed roguelike where 33 players are placed together on a large world map, a land littered with charred buildings and jagged spears of stone surrounded by flames. It’s also full of monsters. Lots of monsters.

In the first part of this game, conquering Hell is an exercise in structure. Your goal is to defeat Lucifer, the “boss” of Inferno, but first you must work with other players to unlock an Ascension Battle just to reach him. How do you do that? Glad you asked: You must complete 12 Torture Chambers, mini raids where you are grouped up with up to six players to battle multiple waves of monsters. 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.

This multi-tiered approach to finishing your roguelike “run” is challenging, yet very fun to play with — even though I only managed to complete just three Torture Chambers before succumbing to the elements (aka ‘ripped apart by monsters’). As I would learn during repeated runs – it seems the number of completed Torture Chambers is retained should you die and reenter Inferno — the larger the group of fellow Souls I traveled with, the larger my chances of survival became – and you can imagine how much bigger those chances get with 32 other people on your side. Leaning on one another’s skills and class abilities to unleash a balanced attack against waves of monsters is a key to success.

And becoming familiar with your abilities – and how they interact with others – is deeply important. Before you enter Inferno, you’re given the choice to pick one of four weapons, which also assign you a class: Bow of Hope (Shooter), Sword of Justice (Tank), Daggers of Greed (Fighter), and Staff of Sloth (Specialist). Each of these weapons have a primary and secondary attack that rely on you inflicting damage on enemies to build up their respective gauges.

For example, hitting enemies with the Sword of Justice will generate ‘Justice’ points for you to execute special attacks like Heavy Slash or Guard. Or like with Daggers of Greed, you generate ‘Greed’ off enemy hits; the amount of ‘Greed’ you build up determines the amount of damage you’re able to inflict with a takedown attack.

Of all these choices, I liked playing with the Bow of Hope the most, as it kept me at a decent length away from enemy attacks. Also, its Guiding Light feature, where returning arrows sliced through monsters on the way back into my quiver, allowed for a nice interplay of positioning to my targets so I could double-up on damage. I really like how 33 Immortals’ combat system is constantly finding ways to encourage you to go on the offensive.

There are three types of currency used in 33 Immortals that you’ll want to get a handle on. First, there’s Dust, which you earn from defeating enemies and can be spent at a Dust Shrine to upgrade characteristics like Attack, Vitality (Health), or Empathy (Co-op). There are also Bones which can be found in Urns and world chests in Inferno, used to buy healing, teleport stones (lets you warp across the world map), or a chest key that can open a locked chest full of useful loot found only in Torture Chambers’ chests. And then there are Shards, found inside the chests of Torture Chambers, used to spend on weapon upgrades and more when you’re in the Dark Woods (I’ll touch on this in a moment).

Upgrading your character and focusing on strengthening your class abilities is what will keep you in the fight through Inferno, along with working with other players, and the variety of currency you can earn here feeds into that. The reliance on other Souls to unlock the more difficult sections of 33 Immortals 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 online raider with growing adult responsibilities that can pull me away at a moment’s notice.

33 Immortals’ elegant solution here is to have a surplus of souls available on the world map at seemingly any given time – 33 to be precise – ready to jump in and help fill up any open slots. But should any Soul die, they will go back to the Dark Woods and not be replaced in that instance, making it vital to collaborate to give you and your Souls the best shot at taking down Lucifer. That also means you can join an open game at any time – there are more than enough enemies around should I just want a quick “pick-up and raid” session to earn some Shards to spend on cosmetics and Perks in The Dark Woods, your home base on this adventure. Having a constant flow of Souls in and out Inferno also fits nicely within the narrative of 33 Immortals — with this being Hell, there’s no shortage of damned souls looking for a chance of redemption. And loot, apparently.

The above-mentioned Dark Woods is a staging ground outside the realm of Inferno, free of enemies, and where you’ll be able to upgrade your Soul for its next run by speaking to some notable literary characters. It’s here where you can spend some of the Shards you’ve earned from those Torture Chambers or in your fights with Elite Bosses in Inferno.

Speaking with Dante will help you equip and upgrade various Perks like Fortitude of Heart, which increases vitality, or Guiding Light, which lets you inflict Status Effects on monsters. As your Feat level grows you can equip additional Perks (a maximum of six). Beatrice (Dante’s guide in “The Divine Comedy”) can also be found here in the Dark Woods to help with your progression, managing your Feats, like “Kill 35 Monsters” or “Complete 5 Torture Chambers.” Completing a Feat gets you Feat Points (XP) which then contribute to your Feat level. As this grows you can unlock additional features like weapon upgrades and more.

You’ll also find Charon, who manages the in-game shop, where you can equip and manage cosmetics for your Soul. One of those customization options is a pet by your side – I’ve got my eye on a little beagle companion. 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).

Of all of these, I found myself spending most of my interactions with Beatrice, tracking my various Feats and working to increase my Level and eventually unlock even more features. 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 unfold.

Just a short time with 33 Immortals revealed a surprising amount of depth for what could first appear to be a simple action-roguelike. And there’s so much more for me to see: What’s the Ascension Battle like? How hard is it to face down Lucifer? 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 launches into Game Preview on March 18.

33 Immortals (Game Preview) launches March 18 for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Cloud.

33 Immortals (Game Preview)

Thunder Lotus

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★★★★★

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33 Immortals® is a co-op action-roguelike for 33 players. Play a damned soul, and rebel against God's final judgment. Pick-up and raid, cooperate to survive hordes of monsters, defeat massive bosses, and face the wrath of God in a fight for your eternal life. Join the rebellion Your mortal life has been judged sinful, and your soul’s fate is to be punished for all eternity – but an uprising is brewing among the damned! Press on as a renegade in the immortal rebellion against God’s final judgment, and fight for your eternal life. Pick-up and raid Jump start your rebellion – dive straight into epic co-op battles with instant matchmaking. Fight through a lean, mean distillation of the MMO raid experience. 33-player co-op Find true strength in numbers. Optimize your skills and tactics to bolster your 33-player team, and tip the odds in your favor through powerful cooperative moves. Sustain your numbers as best you can, for only the strongest group of survivors stand a fighting chance in brutal boss battles. Rise above the Almighty 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 Experience your soul’s epic journey through the afterlife rendered in beautiful hand-drawn animation. 33 Immortals is a unique take on Dante Alighieri’s literary masterpiece, the Divine Comedy. This game is a work in progress. It may or may not change over time or release as a final product. Purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game.