My playtime: 09:46 (based on in game clock before going to the final area).

Intro
Hell Gates is an adventure game where you have to explore an island, kill some monsters, and defeat the bosses.. without any words. You are also free to do whatever you want in whichever order you want.

Music
I actually like the music. It sounds relaxing and i don't mind listening to it for a long time. I think i have heard some musics somewhere, although i can't really remember.

Graphics
The mapping looks great. I don't really have any complaints with the mapping except for some parts where you hardly can figure out that the path is walkable. I didn't find it a problem at first before i reach a dungeon (ice temple) and had no idea on how to go to the exit before realizing that i can walk on a path that i thought was a wall. The same dungeon also have a place where you have to "climb" (in the glacier thingy) and i find it hard to see the walkable and non walkable path.



Story
There really isn't much story in the game. The game starts with our main character and his loved ones boarding a ship where suddenly someone comes out of nowhere and kidnap the girl. I think that the story looks great even though the story isn't the game's main selling point.

The game
Before i start, i just want to let you know that i have no idea what to do before i read the guide that is bundled with the download. I know that the game was made without any word for a contest, but i think it shouldn't be this confusing, especially since i have to think for a while to decipher the new game button when you just start the game. To be honest, i had no idea with some of the features in the game at the start; i didn't understand how to cast a spell, i didn't know that "class promotion" exists until i read the guide (and to be honest, i still don't know what each class promotion does until now). I just decided to go along and stop caring about the mechanics that i can't figure out.



Actually, the game has a "tutorial" in it. After you pressed the new game button, you'll be presented with some icons; one with a boat and one with lots of question mark on it. The question mark icon is for the "tutorial" (which actually just an image that doesn't make sense until you played the game). Sadly, i never know that this thing exists until i write this guide.

The battle system in this game is quite different from other games. Think of it like Zelda, except that it's turn based. You have to wait until your "attack gauge" to fill up before attacking, and surprisingly, your enemies also have this same "attack gauge", except that you have to guess when they are able to attack because you have to "dodge" their attacks; which in this case mostly means "run so far away from your enemy so that they can't catch you until they finish their attack". Sometimes, this can be quite annoying and repetitive (especially if you want to try to finish the area without taking damage), so i'm very glad to find that the dungeons don't really have a lot of areas full of enemies. In fact, the dungeons are mostly focused on puzzle and problem solving, which i find it to be enjoyable.

Speaking of dungeons, the game has around 7 dungeons in total. Each dungeon has their own theme and mechanics; some can be finished quite fast while some might take some time to finish. At the end of the dungeon, you will have to fight a boss to "finish" the area and retrieve a special item.

I like the boss design in this game. It's not that hard, but not that difficult either. Each bosses have their own mechanics too so it's quite refreshing to figure out what do they do and whether my attacking method is right (in the case of the slime boss in one of the dungeon).

At some point of the game, you'll get a companion that can help you to deal damage without having to get close to the enemy. I didn't know that at first so i find it to be annoying (the damage isn't that great either when you just got it), but it becomes a blessing after i understand how it works. However, i find it weird that the enemy that you attacked will automatically attack you after you use this attack, regardless whether it dies from the attack or not.

You can use spells in the game; you can allocate your skill points in the save point and learn new spells to use. I usually use the buff skills to fight the bosses although i also use this invisible spell to fight super strong bosses; the spell won't allow you to cast any spell after you use it and your enemy can't attack until your companion run out of MP. I ended up abusing this spell whenever i'm having a hard time to defeat some bosses (and finished the fights easily).

The thing that i like the most from this game is that you basically can tackle any area in any order you want. If you find an area to be hard, you just have to go to other places to either level up or find new gear. There are some point where i was stuck though since i felt that the enemies that i have to fight were too strong and didn't know that the "class promotion" exists.

Lastly, the game also has a mini game where you have to catch a chicken. Although it can be annoying sometimes, i have fun in catching them.



Pros:
- ~7 dungeons.
- Varied boss mechanics.
- Freedom to explore the area.
- Class promotions.
- Mini games.

Cons:
- No (or useless) in game tutorial.
- No words.

Conclusion
This is actually an enjoyable game if you know what to do. You might stress yourself for the first few hours since you have no idea what to do though, which shouldn't happen in the first place if the game uses words to explain things.

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Bug:
- In the ice temple, in the place where you pull a switch and given 15s to go through the area, the ghost's disappearing time will be shorten the more you redo it.
- Not sure if it's a bug, but i'll place it here just in case anyway. When you try to level up the light element after your second promotion, you'll get more "exp" that you had before (and you won't get any fancy skill either until the "light element" gone).
- Again, i'm not sure if it's intentional or not, but when you fight with your doppelganger, your companion's special attack hits you instead.