Pagan Hope

About

Pagan Hope blends dungeon crawling with rogue-like randomness in a dark fantasy setting. You play a novice warlock hunting down shattered relics to shut a portal spewing demons. Combat leans into fast-paced brawling with magic and melee, while exploration mixes fixed pathways with procedurally generated sections. Choices in gear and spellcasting shape how you tackle hordes of enemies across five corrupted realms. The game stands out for its layered worldbuilding and hybrid structure, maps feel cohesive but retain rogue-like unpredictability. Players navigate a story steeped in ancient curses and twisted magic, balancing resource management with aggressive play. With a Metacritic score of 68 and a dedicated niche following, it appeals to those who enjoy tactical hack-and-slash with a dash of exploration.

Storyline

Once upon a time, on the great ages of Evoc, there was a great sorcerer named Andalor, born in Ursanab, a small village from Hondol. He learned magic from the High Priests of Thulia until he surpasses all of them; then, seeking for greater powers, he moves to Naraka where he learns, from the elders, about the stone tablet of Dwarfs.. He was in a so big desire for power that he became greedy and bloodthirsty - he started to kill anyone who stood in the path of his new desire: to find the magical stone tablet. It was said that the Dwarf Tablet contains an ancient conjuring spell that can summon unimaginable dark powers. The power of the spell was so immense that the ancient dwarf sorcerers hid the tablet deep into a mountain` cave. Andalor roamed in the caves, deep into the mountains, all around Hondol until he found it. But the thirst of the power darkened his mind and blinded his sight as he understood the meaning of the tablet wrong. The spell was not meant to provide the caster with great powers, but was a summon spell to invoke a powerful force from the underworld of Ja`han. Andalor cast the spell when a big portal appeared near him. The earth started to quake and dark-blue clouds gathered around the portal, when an immense demon came through. Being blinded by desires, Andalor didn`t realize what he did, so he tried to subjugate the demon to steal his energy, but the demon pounced upon him raping apart his soul and making his body his own... while in the dark tongue of Ja`han he summoned all the creatures to come through the portal and invade this realm; then, he took the Dwarf Tablet and broke it into three pieces which cast them away so they cannot be found. The demon, who now possesses Andalor, is named Erebus and he is the ruler of the 5 realms of Ja`han. From the deepest and darker corners of Ja`han unusual creatures stepped to the realm of humans, destroying everything in their path and making the humans` souls their source of power. The demon knew, as well as the high priest of Thulia that only the Dwarf Table spell can close the portal. The single thing that the sorcerers can do now is to slow down the portal powers. The great sorcerers of Hondol formed a council where they discussed the matter and they decided that while they focus on diminishing the portal powers, a still novice warlock but with great potential, should be sent to find and retrieve the broken parts of the tablet and to kill all the creatures and demons that invaded the human realm. The mission is: seek and obliterate!