Alright, here goes nothing.
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So listen, three whole decades later, Heretic made its grand entrance on consoles, marching alongside its sequel Hexen, which, believe it or not, hasn’t graced a home console since way back. Last time Hexen was chilling on consoles, you were probably shouting at your siblings over a PlayStation, Saturn, or maybe a Nintendo 64—ah, the good ol’ days. So now, they’re coming over to Switch, thanks to Nightdive Studios, who have this knack for revamping old games. Honestly, there’s a whole load of stuff in this new release, like the original games, Hexen’s expansion, and get this—a shiny new expansion for both. Plus, bonus goodies. It’s packed, seriously.
Okay, let’s rewind a bit. Heretic. Imagine this: take everything that made Doom cool, slap it in a medieval fantasy setting, and boom, you’ve got Heretic. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. In fact, Heretic manages to squeeze more life out of those old engine limits, crafting levels that feel kinda fresh. Although, let’s be real, you can’t ignore the eerie similarities between Heretic’s arsenal and demonic buddies and, well, Doom’s entire lineup.
Now, Hexen. It’s like Heretic’s wild sibling. Think of it as a radical rethink of early first-person shooters. Basically, instead of just blasting through levels, you pick from three totally different character classes. They’ve got unique weapons, skills, and stats to juggle. And the levels? Way less predictable, more about exploring and puzzle-solving. I mean, at times, playing Hexen feels like diving into a Zelda or Metroid game rather than sticking with the Doom vibe.
Beyond the main lineup, there are these expansions—Heretic’s got one, and Hexen’s packing two. The first Hexen expansion dates back to ’96, but its sequel, along with Heretic’s expansion, is brand new. And this new Heretic expansion? Faith Renewed, it’s actually pushing things beyond what the base game pulled off. Personally, I like the new Hexen expansions—especially Vestiges and Grandeur—way more than the old Deathkings of the Dark Citadel. But hey, that’s just me. They don’t quite recapture the magic, though they’re solid.
There was just this one hiccup. These five games, right? They all decided to share one save system, just to mess with my head. And worse—like, ultimate brain freeze—they share a single quicksave slot. So there I am, thinking I’m cleverly saving in Hexen, only to overwrite it in Heretic. Oops. And finding the right save in the sea of game saves? Nightmare. You load the game, bam, saves from all five games in your face. Organized chaos.
Visually, Nightdive plays it pretty straightforward. The game pops up in high def (it’s on Switch, not the imaginary Switch 2, so 1080p max). You can downscale to ‘original’ resolution or tweak in between. Oh, and you can pick between aspect ratios, adjust the HUD, tinker with the crosshair, and flip between remastered or classic soundtracks. A funny thing I noticed—using the full screen HUD (totally for those N64 nostalgia trips), the sky boxes act weird. Look up and somehow, they tile backwards. Didn’t happen in the N64 days, so I’m scratching my head if it’s a long-standing quirk or this re-release’s fun new feature.
Speaking of which, the N64 take was like, the bomb. Until now, it was the best console version, even without fancy cutscenes. Way better than the PlayStation and Saturn attempts. Playing the new and old versions side-by-side, I’m like, “Wow, N64 nailed it.” And though I secretly wish for some texture filtering on this redo because HD can sometimes be harsh on unfiltered textures, sprite-wise, they’re solid. Or maybe I’m just alone here, craving a CRT filter.
So yeah, Heretic + Hexen is an awesome set with one great game and another that’s just, chef’s kiss. The extra content, both retro and fresh, only makes it sweeter. But man, that save system and some visual option limits? Kinda ding the experience a bit. A CRT filter would smooth things over. Still, given that the only other options were dusting off an N64 or settling for subpar fix-ups, this collection is a legit step up. Fingers crossed for the rest of the Heretic/Hexen series eventually making their return too.
