Hell is Us Showcases Brutal, Old-School Dungeon Design in New Gameplay Trailer

With less than two months to go before its release, Hell is Us from Rogue Factor has unveiled a new gameplay trailer focused on its dungeon mechanics and classic video game design philosophy. In the latest showcase, narrated by Creative and Art Director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, the studio doubles down on its core design promise Hell is Us will not guide players with maps, quest markers, or any modern hand-holding mechanics. Instead, players are left to navigate, explore, and overcome each challenge organically, much like the dungeon crawlers of decades past.

Jacques-Belletête proudly explains, "Hell is Us is not your typical action-adventure game. There's no map, no quest markers, and no hand-holding. Just organic exploration asking you to trust your senses." According to him, the game's dungeons are not simply set pieces or filler environments. Instead, they are "tight, crafted, deliberate" levels that have been built as true video game challenges, each corner and encounter designed with a specific purpose in mind. This deliberate structure echoes the spirit of older, more demanding titles — the kind that required players to remember room layouts, notice environmental clues, and solve puzzles without prompting.

In the trailer, we get a peek at one such dungeon where manipulating water levels is a key mechanic, emphasizing that not all dungeons in the game will follow the same template. In a follow-up interview on the PlayStation Blog, Jacques-Belletête elaborates further: "Some of the dungeons have a lot more puzzles than others, some are more about combat, and some have a lot of environmental changes. They’re all different and tied to lore, which you sometimes need to understand in order to solve a puzzle."

This lore integration plays a critical role in the narrative of Hell is Us, where themes such as “history always repeats itself” are woven directly into the dungeon puzzles and the emotional weight of each location. Each dungeon is not just a gameplay space, but a piece of the game’s larger philosophical and narrative architecture.

One particularly cryptic moment comes at the 1:45 mark in the trailer, where Jacques-Belletête directs players’ attention to a rocky hill in the middle of a dungeon. He invites players to “see what's there” and “imagine how many things it represents,” reinforcing how observation and interpretation are at the heart of the gameplay experience.

The game’s marketing has been clear: Hell is Us is built to challenge players who crave meaningful discovery and immersion without modern conveniences. But such a promise does come with risk. FromSoftware, the champion of punishing but fair gameplay, has had to tweak some of its more demanding content in response to player feedback. Should Hell is Us receive similar pushback, Rogue Factor might be faced with the dilemma of compromising its foundational design philosophy to meet market expectations.

That said, Hell is Us stands apart for its commitment to “design with intent,” where difficulty is not just about punishing gameplay, but about rewarding attentiveness and perseverance. If it delivers on this vision, it may carve out a distinct niche among modern action-adventure games.

Hell is Us launches on September 4, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Whether Rogue Factor's “no hand-holding” mantra holds strong post-launch will depend on how players respond to its unforgiving design philosophy in the weeks that follow.

Will Rogue Factor’s commitment to old-school challenge make or break Hell is Us? Share your thoughts in the comments.