Grim Trials PS5 Review - Heavy Metal Roguelite Mayhem in the Afterlife

Grim Trials, developed by Indonesian studio Glory Jam and published by Soft Source, is a heavy metal-infused action roguelite that launches on PS5 on August 20, 2026. It casts players as a newly deceased trainee Grim Reaper fighting through the underworld in procedurally influenced hex-grid arenas, blending fast combat, crafting, and persistent progression in a coming-of-age story set in the afterlife.

The story follows Avelin, a young woman who meets an untimely end and finds herself recruited into Death’s ranks as a Reaper apprentice. Her goal is to hunt impure souls, confront her own demons, and complete a series of trials centered around defeating seven bosses that embody the deadly sins, so she can become a full-fledged Reaper and reunite with her still-living love. The setting revolves around The Academy, a training hub in the afterlife wherein Avelin interacts with mentors skilled in arcane crafts and fellow Reaper trainees. These supporting characters offer quests, relationship-building opportunities that unlock advice and support, and help uncover secrets about her life before death, giving the narrative a reflective, personal edge amid the demonic battles.

Core features include dual-wield combat with customizable scythes (melee) and crossbows (ranged), powerful Blessings drawn from various Gods of Death that modify abilities through multiple tiers of upgrades each, and a robust crafting system. Players gather materials from fallen foes and traps in the arenas, then work with mentors to forge weapons, armor, and consumables (with recrafting options for further refinement). An expansive skill tree allows build customization at the start of runs, while experience and materials persist across deaths. 

The gameplay loop, itself, is classic in the roguelite sense. You launch into inter-connected hex-grid arenas filled with randomly generated creature clearing situations, looting opportunities, and eventually a final boss battle that kicks into gear complete with a banging theme song. All as you fight in real-time top-down action that rewards precise dual-weapon combos, dodging, and strategic Blessing choices, return to The Academy upon defeat to upgrade gear, progress relationships/quests, and refine builds before diving back in. Runs involve chaotic combat with room revisits possible in some layouts. Progression feels like a slow burn grind heavy ordeal at first though, at least until you gain access to better weapons, gear, and skill tree upgrades. The latter of which requires earned soulstone currency from repeated runs.

The Presentation ...

Presentation-wise Grim Trials is a stylized, hand-drawn 2D aesthetic with cartoonish yet atmospheric character and enemy designs, vibrant (if sometimes busy) arena visuals, and satisfying impact effects, light, and explosions during combat. Environments vary by biome and carry a dark-fantasy Academy vibe that fits the death theme well. The shining accomplishment of the developer studio, in my opinion, is the soundtrack, performed by Indonesian heavy metal band Sigmun, which delivers energetic riffs and aggressive tracks that amp up the action and give the game a distinctive, headbanging personality. 

The Verdict ...

Grim Trials may, honestly, be too much of a grind early on. Getting past the initial boss fight will require better equipment and weapons which will require multiple runs for resources. That and skill tree progression will definitely be needed to get past the initial difficulty hurdle. What should be fast and fluid combat also suffers from poor control design that artificially adds difficulty via targeting and execution. The aiming should not be a separate mechanic, but should simply adhere to whichever way the character is facing. Due to the control setup it's additionally very easy to get confused while playing when it comes down to picking the dash button over the melee or ranged attack buttons. Arenas are also often times cluttered with impassable objects that are destructible, but hinder the flow of combat, unnecessarily. Then there's the matter of poor hit detection at times which can result in a missed hit on an enemy, and leave you open to taking damage. This seems to be due to latency issues in the game as there is some screen stuttering on occasion. 

These complaints aside, I think Grim Trials holds promise with some substantial improvements. Things like remapped controls, and adjustment to frame rate issues could solve the biggest issues with the game. As it stands though it's honestly a little rough around the edges.