Introduction

When I first saw Nunholy, I’ll be honest—I absolutely thought it was a “don’t-play-this-when-anyone-else-is-in-the-room” kind of game. The anime-inspired cover art, the character designs, and the general vibe screamed this is going to get you some looks. But then I saw two things that immediately forced me to reconsider: a Very Positive rating on Steam, and that magic genre keyword that gets me every single time—roguelike. Curiosity won out. I watched the trailer, and to my surprise, Nunholy didn’t look like a cheap gimmick at all. Instead, it looked suspiciously like a Hades clone… and honestly? That got my attention in a big way.

After spending real time with it, I can confidently say that Nunholy is far better than its first impression suggests. Yes, it’s anime. Yes, the character designs are undeniably spicy. But beneath that surface-level weirdness is a competent, enjoyable action roguelike that understands why Hades works—and while it doesn’t reach those same heights, it delivers a solid, entertaining experience for a very reasonable price.

Narrative

Story isn’t the main selling point of Nunholy, but it does enough to keep the world interesting without overstaying its welcome. You play as one of three half-vampire nuns—Prya, Marie, or Sain—each serving as a kind of monster-hunting church operative in a setting drenched in blood, gothic imagery, and anime melodrama. The game doesn’t try to overwhelm you with lore dumps, but instead sprinkles in character dialogue, small moments of worldbuilding, and odd interactions that slowly flesh out the setting.

This approach works in the game’s favor. Nunholy understands that in a roguelike, the narrative should complement the loop rather than interrupt it. The dialogue adds flavor between runs, the characters have distinct personalities, and the vampire-church aesthetic gives the world just enough mystery to make repeated runs feel purposeful. It’s not a story you’ll be thinking about years later, but it’s more than enough to justify the cycle of death, upgrades, and retries that define the genre.

Gameplay

At its core, Nunholy is extremely upfront about what it wants to be: a Hades-inspired action roguelike. The similarities are immediately obvious, from the top-down perspective to the room-based progression and branching paths. Each run gives players a choice of routes marked with icons that indicate upcoming rewards—shops, elite encounters, upgrade rooms, or narrative events—allowing for strategic decision-making around risk versus reward.

Combat revolves around three distinct characters, each of whom plays meaningfully differently. Two are melee-focused, while one leans into ranged combat using firearms. Every character has three core attacks: a main weapon, a sub-weapon, and a character-specific skill. As runs progress, players can find alternate weapons with different elements and ranges, including physical, fire, and holy variants. Eventually, upgrades allow access to all weapon types from the start of a run, encouraging elemental specialization and more deliberate build planning.

Progression systems are familiar but functional. Players earn experience points, collect blood stones as currency, and acquire artifacts that grant passive bonuses like increased damage, additional projectiles, or improved survivability. Affinity growth with side characters adds another layer of progression outside combat. However, item upgrades are somewhat limited—each item can only be upgraded once—which caps the depth of customization within a single run. Still, finding synergies between gear, elemental damage, and character abilities remains one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game.

Difficulty-wise, Nunholy is on the easier side. After a short learning curve, the game becomes fairly forgiving, especially once upgrades start stacking. Boss patterns rarely need to be fully mastered, and with enough damage output, face-tanking becomes a viable strategy—particularly with Sain, whose speed and dual-sword kit make her incredibly strong. While this may disappoint players looking for a hardcore challenge, it makes Nunholy approachable and relaxing in a genre that often leans punishing.

Pros

Nunholy succeeds by being honest about its inspirations and executing them competently. The three playable characters feel genuinely distinct, not like reskins of the same moveset, which adds replayability and encourages experimentation. The roguelike structure is familiar but effective, and the branching path system gives players meaningful control over how each run unfolds. Despite its anime-heavy presentation, the game avoids crossing into outright discomfort, delivering stylized character designs without veering into explicit territory.

For its price point—roughly six to seven dollars on Steam—the amount of content and mechanical depth on offer is impressive. The game has personality, a clear identity, and enough progression hooks to keep players engaged across multiple runs. It may not reinvent the genre, but it understands what makes action roguelikes fun and leans into that strength confidently.

Cons

The biggest issue with Nunholy is polish. Combat can feel clunky at times, particularly with ranged characters, and certain mechanics lack the smooth responsiveness found in genre leaders like Hades. Quality-of-life issues pop up frequently, from unclear upgrade interactions to awkward balancing choices. The decision to lock save files to a single character is especially frustrating, as it forces players to replay the game multiple times rather than freely experimenting with different characters within the same progression track.

Difficulty balance is another weak point. Once upgrades are unlocked, early encounters become trivial, and the lack of meaningful challenge removes some tension from later runs. Players seeking a tightly tuned, mechanically demanding roguelike may find Nunholy a bit too forgiving for their tastes.

Overall / Should You Play

Nuns. Vampires. Roguelike combat. On paper, Nunholy sounds like a joke—or at best, a novelty. In practice, it’s a surprisingly solid action roguelike that delivers far more fun than its presentation suggests. It’s not going to win any major awards, and it doesn’t come close to surpassing its inspiration, but that’s perfectly fine. Not every game needs to redefine its genre.

If you enjoy action indies, roguelikes, or anything even remotely Hades-adjacent, Nunholy is absolutely worth checking out—especially at its low price point. It’s messy, a little janky, occasionally clumsy, but undeniably enjoyable. For players willing to embrace some rough edges in exchange for creative builds, fast-paced combat, and chaotic fun, Nunholy might just surprise you like it did me.