Hey, so here’s the deal: Heretic, after a wild three-decade ride, finally dropped onto consoles with its buddy Hexen. Can’t remember the last time Hexen graced home consoles? I think it was on the PlayStation, Saturn, and good ol’ Nintendo 64. Now they’re called Heretic + Hexen and are chillin’ on the Switch. This one’s all thanks to Nightdive Studios. Yep, those folks keep revamping old games like it’s a personal mission or something. Imagine unboxing these classics with expansions and bonus stuff. It’s a whole package deal.
Okay, let’s talk Heretic. It’s like a medieval cousin to Doom, with the whole swords and spells vibe. Seriously, not a bad thing! Sure, it’s limited technically like Doom, but I’m telling you, the level layouts? Kinda impressive! Although you might feel like the weapons and enemies are just Doom’s in different clothes.
Now, Hexen — it’s where things go bonkers. You pick from three classes each having its own tricks and tools. The levels? Non-linear and just all about exploration and puzzles. Kind of more Zelda or Metroid, you get me? Just adds a whole new flavor.
Expansions, expansions, expansions! We got one for Heretic and two for Hexen. The ’96 Hexen expansion is back, but both the new ones are also thrown in. Heretic’s new bit is called Faith Renewed. It’s pushing boundaries here. Hexen’s new expansions rank pretty great, even though Deathkings of the Dark Citadel has its own charm.
Here’s a hiccup though: the save system. Imagine juggling five games with only one poor quicksave slot. Yep, been there, overwritten that. Not the best part of the experience, let me tell ya.
Visually, Nightdive didn’t mess around too much. It’s high-def but only as far as a Switch allows. You can tweak the resolution back to something retro if you want. Toggle between aspect ratios, mess with HUDs, even switch the music between remastered and OG. Ran into a weird skybox quirk using the full screen HUD. Tiles visible when looking up — quite the surprise. Wondered if the N64 version had it too, but nah, just this re-release it seems.
Nostalgia trip: the N64 version was actually quite the champ among home console ports of Hexen before. It ran on the original floppy version, skipping fancy scenes but feeling more spot-on than its PlayStation or Saturn pals. Back-to-back comparisons really show it. A bit of a revelation, actually. Made me think a texture filter would work wonders here. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d love CRT vibes or smoother textures.
Bottom line: Heretic + Hexen is a superb bundle. One good game, one spectacular. New and old content just beef things up. Yeah, the saving system is a mess and some visual options are lacking, but considering the alternatives, it’s a step up. Heck, bring on more from the Heretic/Hexen saga, please!
