Ascending Inferno Preview

Oppolyon Studios participated in the Steam Next Fest with their Ascending Inferno demo, a title set to release on the 27th of October. In this Foddian-like title, you take control of Dani, a girl who lost her beloved, Vincent, and goes out to play some football. When the ball goes outside of her reach, and she goes out to retrieve it, the worst happens, and she descends down... down into Inferno. Here, she finds her long-lost love in a round-shaped form, and she must kick him out into Paradiso.

The unique twist that Ascending Inferno brings to the Foddian genre is that, instead of parkouring and trying to make the jumps yourself, the platforming is actually rather simple. Instead, Vincent's beloved ball-shaped head works as the obstacle you'll have to face as you head out to use kicks, long kicks, jumps, and even bouncing with your head to make it past the stages of Inferno. The unique ball mechanic opens the door to distinctive movement not previously explored in the genre before, giving you the opportunity to use momentum and kicks to traverse the locations and ascend.

As one of the first Foddian titles I embarked on, Ascending Inferno felt somewhat forgiving for the first level I got to experience. Falling does feel punishing, but not losing your temper is vital to making it back up. Scattered throughout the level are hidden shortcuts you can take if you learn to manoeuvre Vincent's physics, like using momentum to use a double jump headbutt to throw him high above and secure him in a location, skipping what felt like some of the more arduous platforming sections.

That's what I found most charming about the title, too: Oppolyon Studios rewards ingenuity. Finding unique ways to ascend by skipping hard platforming puzzles was sometimes a double-edged sword, as in an attempt to take advantage of the skip, you'd be liable to hit Vincent wrong and send him flying in the opposite direction, leading into another fall. Yet, mastery of this meant that the most difficult sections would just be skipped altogether, and it's that mixture of creativity and skill that hit the sweet spot for me.

I didn't get to play too long — the demo lets you ascend through the first section of Inferno and teases the following location, Lust, but promptly ends after the first few jumps. The 20-minute gameplay time I had left me feeling pleasantly surprised with what I thought would otherwise be a Sisyphean challenge to overcome; once it releases, I'll likely pick it up and try to escape Inferno alongside Dani and Vincent.

Ascending Inferno releases on the 27th of October 2024.