In Rising Hell, the lore plays a significant role in shaping up the stages, starting from the deepest part of hell where you can see the mess of tortured souls and savage demons, to the upper part where there are more contemporary structures. Here, we have the Game & Art Director of Rising Hell, Kriswin Yuniar, breaking down the design choices of the game universe's environment.

The premise of the Universe

Players progress as they go up the platforms, attempting to literally get out of hell. That is the basic explanation of this vertical rogue-lite platformer. The game itself was heavily inspired by Downwell, which is also a vertical platformer.

(Read about the inspiration for Rising Hell in the first devlog)

Why go up? This will take us to the game’s version of hell as described by Kriswin. According to him, the universe of Rising Hell mainly refers to the Abrahamic religion’s concept of heaven and hell, hence the appearance of Lucifer, Belial, Beelzebub, and many other demons in it. From there, the concept is modified with other mythologies/beliefs so as to make the lore distinguishable from the existing ones.

In Rising Hell’s version, hell was created from Lucifer’s body, who was defeated alongside his army and shackled with the roots of the Zaqqum tree by the army of heaven. 

The concept of hell that was born from within a tree was influenced by Norse mythology’s Yggdrasil (the World Tree), meanwhile, the name “Zaqqum” was adapted from the cursed tree in the Islamic belief.

When you play Rising Hell, you will start from the bottom and then go all the way up. Each time you are progressing to the next level, you will see different environments as well. Let us tell you the uniqueness of each level.

1st Realm: Pit of Torment

Pit of Torment is the place where you begin your journey. This is the place where sinners and rebellious demons are punished. Their souls are fragmented into red and green crystals, which then consumed by other demons in order for them to survive. This is why the monsters in this domain are more savage, and the place itself is designed to look ‘merciless’. Pit of Torment is ruled by Dagon, the False Judge.

2nd Realm: Beelzebub’s Lair

The second realm adapts a more gruesome design. This is because the ruler of the place is no other than Beelzebub himself. In Beelzebub’s Lair, the weak are meat, and the strong do eat. Weak demons are bound to perish in the hands of stronger demons. As the place is designed as a colony of insects, the monsters also resemble the entity.

3rd Realm: Citadel of the Faithless

After you went through the first and the second realm, you will arrive at a more established-looking place. Citadel of the Faithless is where demons build a civilization in hell. It is more or less a city for elite demons. If you’ve reached this level, you can also see it from the behavior of the demons. They have clever moves. It was said that there is a portal inside the citadel which connects to the outside world.

Is it true that you can get out of hell through that portal? To answer that question, you’re gonna have to find out yourself, of course! 😈

Rising Hell is already out on Steam Early Access and almost reaches the final stage of development. Support us by adding the game to your wishlist or buying it: bit.ly/risinghellsteam

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Thank you for reading, and see you on the next devlog.