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PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Joshua Wolens

This 'overwhelmingly positive' Steam Next Fest autobattler demo feels like someone bolted a Path of Exile-style map onto Halls of Torment, and I fear for my future productivity

A spellcaster and muscular barbarian face down against an army of skeletons.

The autobattler's been getting chimeric since Vampire Survivors released and plunged global productivity down the toilet. VS was a chaotic slot machine: you didn't so much craft a build as you did keep pulling the lever and hope you could assemble something vaguely effective from what it spits out, which kept me occupied for weeks.

Then games like Halls of Torment bolted on a bit more ARPG stuff—things got slightly more measured, predictable, and I lost even more time. And now I fear I will lose many otherwise-productive days to Conquest Dark, the demo for which you can currently try out during Steam Next Fest, and which I was a bit surprised not to have heard of, given that the Steam reviews seem incredibly positive.

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