Helix: Descent N Ascent Reviews
Whether players will enjoy Helix: Descent N Ascent will likely be determined by how far the visuals carry them. The game is striking to look at, but the complexity of the environment and the ambiguity of the puzzles hurt this otherwise unique entry in the puzzle/adventure genre.
Helix: Descent N Ascent from developer Badass Mongoose is an addictive, gorgeous puzzle game that features some well-placed Metroidvania elements. It can be confusing and sometimes frustrating, but it’s a hoot to play overall.
Helix: Descent N Ascent is a unique puzzle game that understands exactly what makes a puzzle so fun to complete.
Helix: Descent N Ascent is a confident and creative puzzle adventure. Its mysterious story, beautiful monochrome presentation, and inventive ability system all work together to create something memorable. The game gives you a strange world, a collection of unique powers, and the freedom to figure things out yourself. The ability combinations are smart, the puzzles are satisfying, and the overall presentation makes every moment feel carefully crafted. Helix: Descent N Ascent is one of the more unique puzzle games of the year and a great example of how strong art direction and creative mechanics can come together to create something special.
Atmospheric puzzle adventure with a monochromatic presentation
Looking back, Helix: Descent N Ascent worked best when it trusted me to figure things out for myself. The story is told without long explanations, and most puzzles expect you to experiment instead of waiting for a tutorial. For a large part of the game, that approach works really well. There were also moments where Helix became too vague for its own good, though. Instead of asking myself, “How do I solve this?”, I occasionally started wondering, “Am I even supposed to be doing this?” That can be frustrating, especially because the rest of the game proves that the developers know how to build clever puzzles. By the time the credits rolled, however, I was thinking more about the strange landscapes, the quiet story, and the puzzles that made me feel smart once everything finally clicked. Helix doesn’t always explain enough, but I would rather play a puzzle game that occasionally asks too much than one that gives away every answer before I have the chance to find it myself.
Helix: Descent N Ascent is a striking monochromatic puzzle adventure driven by a brilliant "show, don't tell" philosophy. Its synergistic mechanics and creative homages reward player intuition over traditional tutorials. Despite potential pacing fatigue, the generous post-game content delivers a satisfying experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Helix: Descent N Ascent is Badass Mongoose’s first project, a small Belgian studio founded by Cedric De Muelenaere and Gillian Sampont, and it’s a puzzle-adventure that builds its identity around a black-and-white aesthetic inspired by 1980s indie comics, 1990s manga, and the 1970s Franco-Belgian tradition. The game entrusts its narrative almost entirely to imagery: environments, dialogue-free cutscenes, and carved panels that recount, in fragments, a vanished civilization’s myth. The heart of the experience, though, remains the gameplay: five abilities – Block, Drone, Hook, Cage, and Hourglass – that combine first in pairs and then, in the second half of the game, in triplets, generating a puzzle system that keeps offering new solutions for the entire adventure. A consultable map system guides progression clearly, flagging where to return once you’ve learned new combinations, and some passages open through Donkey Kong-style arcade minigames. Jim Guthrie’s soundtrack accompanies every area with the same power to create a suspended territory already evident in the demo, never slipping into repetition. After seventeen hours of play, the overall experience confirms and deepens everything promised since the 2024 announcement: a quiet adventure, intelligently constructed, able to hold up over the long haul without losing its own voice.
Helix: Descent N Ascent is a game that doesn't reinvent the puzzle genre, but its wordless, monochrome approach to discovery is rare enough to be worth your time regardless.
Where silence and puzzles speak louder than words. I enjoyed my time with Helix: Descent N Ascent. Its atmosphere, puzzles, and visual style made each session engaging, and playing for a few hours at a time helped me keep track of my surroundings and progress. I played in both handheld mode and docked and never had any issues, with the experience feeling smooth and consistent throughout. It’s a style of game that won’t be for everyone, but if you enjoy slow, thoughtful exploration and puzzle solving, Helix offers a memorable journey that is easy to sink into.
Helix: Descent N Ascent is an impressive debut filled with inventive puzzles, striking monochrome visuals, an atmospheric soundtrack, and a mysterious world that rewards careful interpretation. Occasional bugs, repetitive elements, awkward ability switching, and puzzles demanding excessive precision can frustrate, but the overall journey remains deeply satisfying for dedicated puzzle fans.
Review in Czech | Read full review
"Helix: Descent N Ascent" initially captivates with its unusual visual style, but then also impresses with fresh ideas in the puzzle genre.
Review in German | Read full review
A striking monochromatic puzzle adventure that grabs you, but shows some signs of issues which lead to frustrations the further you get into it
One of my favourite elements in Helix: Descent N Ascent is the arcade machines. You find them dotted around the world, and completing their levels rewards you with access to new areas within your environment. Every level has the same premise: make your way to the other character on the opposite point of the screen. Each machine offers its own twist, based on the abilities you have been learning within that section. It mirrors the base game in a compact, stylised form. I like how this not only changes up the style of gameplay, but offers inadvertent insight into the character you’re seeking. In the world you’re in, the other character crops up on occasion, withholding the way forward. Catching up to them only causes them to push you away. In the arcade games, they make a consistent appearance, and reaching them spooks them into high-tailing it outta there.
Helix: Descent N Ascent is a visually stunning and cleverly designed puzzle game that encourages you to think outside the box through the combinations of your main abilities. Even if you don't always know exactly where or how to proceed next you can always find a way at least through trial & error and aside from a few minor bugs before release I had an incredibly good time with the game.
Review in German | Read full review
Helix: Descent N Ascent is an elegant and striking puzzle game set in a world of black n white sketches of passageways and ruins with a postgame that’s brought down by bugs. The hand-drawn art and animation are immediately captivating, and the soundscape is equal parts disquieting and sensorially satisfying. The toolset builds ingeniously. In those intervening moments between the bottleneck and the breakthrough, no matter how long it takes, I am purely mindful and at peace: studying, probing, imagining, experimenting. I know the answer is in front of me, waiting there, ready for the spark.
Helix: Descent N Ascent is a game that many people will undoubtedly pass over because they have never heard of it, but this game certainly deserves attention. The unique graphics exude a certain quality that I haven't seen very often, and the game's puzzles and gameplay also score remarkably well with me. You will be finished in just under ten hours, and the limitations lie mainly in the thinking required for some of the slightly more difficult puzzles. The game offers some challenge here and there, but never becomes too difficult, and the constantly expanding environments you play in, which open up via unlockable abilities, certainly have their charm. This puzzle game is therefore a must-have for every enthusiast.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Helix: Descent N Ascent is a highly evocative puzzle game that manages to stir emotions in the player, but above all, draws them toward solving the mystery in search of answers.
Review in Italian | Read full review