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Halls of Torment is a dark fantasy Rogue-lite horde survival game that faithfully re-creates the retro look of the popular 1990s isometric RPGs such as Diablo, Planescape, Baldur's Gate, etc, has a solid progression system and difficulty curve, and implements a few unique things that make it stand out from other games in the genre.
Overall, I recommend it because, despite not adding many new innovative things to the genre, it's a solid game which is simply addictive and fun to play. Although the gameplay is typical for the genre, its unique sub-systems make the journey enjoyable and I always found myself wanting to complete the next quest, get another piece of gear, and become stronger via the meta upgrades and equipment to the point where I became unstoppable.
Note: this review is current as of the 1.0 patch released on 10 October 2024.

S U M M A R Y
- The gameplay is standard among the genre, though it does add a few unique and thematically-appropriate sub-systems (quests and equippable gear) which make progress more tangible;
- The replay value is quite high as there are a huge number of classes to unlock, equipment to collect, and meta upgrades to purchase;
- The bosses and mini-bosses are varied, well-designed, and engaging (although they can have an excessive number of hit points on the "Agony" setting and take eons to kill);
- The graphics look quite nostalgic due to their intentionally low-res and polygonal nature;
- The soundtrack is composed of generic atmospheric dark fantasy songs which gets lost among the sound effects;
- The voice acting is surprisingly good in quality and adds some charm to the game; and
- The story is non-existent and there isn't even anything listed on the store page.

A C H I E V E M E N T S
The game has 500 achievements which provide good milestones to strive for and help keep you engaged in the game. None of them require any extra grinding and they will all be acquired as you play through the game casually which will take anywhere from 60-80 hours depending on your proficiency in, and experience with, the genre. That being said, around one achievement per class and stage of the 190 new ones that were added in the 1.0 release are asinine and simply not fun as they force you to play the classes in a way that is antithetical to their natural playstyle or play the stages in a way that just isn't enjoyable such as not being able to attack or move for x minutes.

R E V I E W
Gameplay
The gameplay is typical for the horde survival genre: you die during a run due to being too weak, return to the hub to purchase gear and meta upgrades, and repeat this process numerous times until you are powerful enough to complete a stage. You eventually unlock an optional "Shrine of Torment" mode for which, when enabled, spawns extra mini-bosses every few minutes and has a variable difficulty level that scales based on your performance during the current run.
There are 11 different classes that offer very distinct playstyles from one another since they each specialize in a certain set of stats, have a unique starting ability, and have access to upgrades which are exclusive to them. There are also 18 abilities to choose from, of which you can have up to six per run, and each one has three upgrades which considerably increases the build diversity and replayability in general.
The bosses are easily one of the highlights of the game because of the way they telegraph their attacks: they mark locations on the ground that will be affected by their attack a second later which gives you ample time to react to and dodge them while also keeping the combat relatively engaging. Unfortunately, one downside is that the bosses tend to have an excessive amount of hit points when playing in the Shrine of Torment mode which unnecessarily extends the length of the boss fights unless you have most of the meta upgrades, have gear which synergizes well with your class, and optimize your build during the run.
The bosses also sometimes drop equippable gear which can come in the form of a torso piece, helmet, necklace, ring, boots, or gloves, and is very similar to Diablo-style games. Furthermore, many pieces of equipment offer special passive abilities that you can't get via the meta upgrades or level-up choices which is a fantastic design choice that expands the gear beyond just increasing various stats. Some examples include the ability to summon minions, create hazards on the battlefield, and unusual stat increases which typically have a specific trigger but also a downside to counteract it to make you consider how good it is for your character and build and the overall risk versus reward of using said piece of gear.
Like most games in the genre, grinding ends up being ubiquitous but is at least handled in a unique way that gives you palpable milestones to pursue: each stage and class has its own set of quests for you to complete which give you a large variety of rewards and a minor experience bonus for each one that you complete. You also acquire gold throughout a stage, for completing a stage, and through the completion of certain quests, which allows you to purchase meta upgrades and equippable gear.
Graphics
The graphics accurately re-create the retro look of the 1990s isometric RPGs that were popular at the time, to the point where the game looks a little low-res and you can make out the polygonal shapes. In fact, some of the finer details seem like they were ripped straight from the Diablo series such as the red orb which represents health and some of the pieces of equipment. The three character portraits in the game look especially polygonal which actually adds a certain level of charm to the game.
Sound
The soundtrack is made up of atmospheric dark fantasy songs that suit the area they are played in but are otherwise forgettable and often get lost among the sonorous sound effects; however, there is only one final boss theme in the entire game for five of the six stages and it becomes extremely repetitive when you are playing on the Shrine of Torment mode and the final bosses have a copious amount of hit points. Additionally, there is voice acting for the three characters that you can interact with which is surprisingly good.
Story
The story is completely non-existent and there isn't anything in-game or even on the Steam store page which is odd because developers usually put at least some sort of backstory in the description on the store page.
Miscellaneous
The developers have been doing an outstanding job with the game so far by releasing frequent updates to the game in order to balance the game and add new classes, quests, gear, abilities, quality of life features, and many other things since its Early Access release. In fact, most of the qualms that I had with Halls of Torment: Prelude have been assuaged as they added most of the missing quality of life features that I listed in my review of it (which you can find here if you're interested). Additionally, the developers added a feature which checks if you have a save file from Halls of Torment: Prelude and carry over its data if you do which is very convenient and generous.
Conclusion
Overall, I highly recommend this game if you're a fan of the horde survival genre as it's one of the best ones on the market: it's well-executed, polished, fun, engaging, and it even manages to deliver a hint of nostalgia. If you're not sure whether the game is for you then you can always try out the free Prelude which I linked above to see if you like the core concept of the game but be aware that it's missing a lot of content compared to the main game.