Hellpoint

(tl;dr version)
This game is legit. It gets a lot more right than it gets wrong. This is your sci-fi Souls that you've wanted all along.
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(Longer version)
You know how a lot of Souls-likes try, but ultimately kind of fail at really capturing that "Souls" feel? Usually due to overly janky and/or unsatisfying combat, milquetoast level design, tepid atmosphere... there's always something that's missing, that makes you think "yeah, no, this just doesn't cut it".
Hellpoint... is on point. Despite being crowdfunded project made by an experienced, but small, indie team, and not a high-budget endeavour, it gets a lot more things right than it gets wrong, and is overall on of the better Souls-likes I've played.
But, naturally, being a budget game and all, it does have a fair bit of jank, I can't lie. So let's start with that and get it out of the way:
- Jumping feels clunky at times, and a missed jump usually means certain death, which can be frustrating. I would say that easily 80% or more of my deaths have been through falls. Some of them were my fault, but some of them were, IMO, annoying camera or clunky jumping mechanics. The upside is that the more annoying platforming parts are completely optional.
- It has a number of small bugs that can be annoying, though not game-breaking fortunately.
- The UI, especially to manage inventory, is not great. There is no "storage" option to stash away gear, making equipment clutter a real problem especially in NG+ and onwards.
- Some mechanics are poorly explained. I didn't realize I could upgrade weapons further until someone in their Discord pointed it out to me, for instance... eep. 😅
- Enemy variety could be better.
So, what's GOOD about it? Well, quite a lot:
+ Level design. This is the strongest aspect. I was surprised to see a few reviews panning this aspect. The world itself is fully interconnected like Dark Souls 1 (though some areas are still separated by loading screens). Individual levels vary in quality, but some of them are completely bananas... in a good way. Loaded with verticality, secrets, looping shortcuts and all that good stuff.
Arisen Dominion, for example, is a huge, huge maze-like area, full of verticality and filled with secrets to find. Some of those secrets I found in NG++ despite thinking I had already explored the whole place thoroughly already. And just when you think you explored a huge chunk, it just keeps going until you get completely lost, which can be daunting as you carry all those axions (equivalent of "souls"), and then you end up looping back to a familiar place and go "ahhh, this place again!" with that familiar sense of relief.
+ Fast-travel is limited; "breaches" act as the "bonfires" somewhat, but outside of a few specific ones, you need to use a semi-rare consumable item to make it "warpable", so you sometimes have to really decide if you keep going or backtrack and retreat to a safer area. It's also interesting that resting at the Breach doesn't respawn enemies (nor does it refill your Healing; more on this later), so sometimes you can just retreat there to refill your health. (Yes, turns out you don't need to copy bonfires and Estus to make a Souls-like, who knew? /s)
+ Atmosphere. The game is set in a hellish, derelict space station set in the far future, with the dark occult sci-fi mood reminiscing of Event Horizon and Dead Space. There's a lot of really cool futuristic space vistas and impressive brutalist and alien architecture, with lots of suffocatingly dark and creepy areas making you rely on your Omnicube Light tool to navigate.
+ Combat is pretty tight. Controls are responsive, the dodge is generous (similar to Bloodborne, it's a side-step when locked on), there's a decent variety of weapons and builds, some weapons have really cool and satisfying abilities. I played a Reflex (dex) / Cognition build, which focuses on faster weapons and a firearm as ranged support, and it worked well for me. In NG+ I experimented with "Foresight" abilities (basically magic), and found them fun and quite powerful.
+ Build variety and depth. There's lots of options and possible combinations in there. I barely scratched the surface, honestly.
+ Secrets. Soooo many secrets. Exploration is very rewarding in this regard. But hell, if you enjoy the obtuse Dark Souls secrets, you'll be spoiled by Hellpoint there. Some doors only open when mysterious conditions are met (and good luck figuring all of them out on your own xD). I even missed the "true" final boss because of one secret I missed and had to try again in NG+.
+ Cool unique mechanics. For example, the Accretion Storms and "Black Hole Hour". The game has an internal "clock" in the top left corner, showing the station's current position in the orbit of a.... black hole. :D Depending on its current position, sometimes, special events happen, spawning enemies in places where there wouldn't be (such as during Accretion Storms), or unlocking chambers that are otherwise locked. Another cool mechanic is how you refill your Mana bar and your Healing items by attacking enemies (how much gets refilled depends on your Leech stat). I wasn't sure about this Healing mechanic at first, but it grew on me as I played more. You can find weapons that have extremely good Leech properties, so for example you can have a loadout that focuses on guns or magic and melee attacks are mostly support for refilling your mana.
Honestly, if you crave a sci-fi Souls, I think this is the best you're going to get at the moment. The Surge didn't do it for me, but this one ticked the boxes.

It feels like an awkward trope to bring up Dark Souls in a review for a souls-like game, but I can't help doing so.  Part of me wonders if the developers of games like this are honored or if they instead become mildly nauseated when seeing another review comparing their game to their source of inspiration instead of reviewing it for what it is, floating by itself in a vacuum.
Mostly without deviation, the behavioral pattern for a Soulsborne player holds true.
A process of frustration, then hesitant neutrality, then blooming interest, and then subsequent borderline obsession that carries a player from their first Souls game until their last.  The Moon Presence allowing, the hunt begins for the next game to strike that chord that makes them feel as if they are alone within an expansive yet interconnected alien world rife with cyclical death and rebirth.
You are here because you find yourself in a market that is oversaturated with the popular Dark Souls formula.  You are wondering if Hellpoint strikes that same chord.  It does.  To some extent.
When I remember this game, I remember the atmosphere and the artwork.  The environments.  A comparison framework is only so helpful here - Hellpoint has hints of inspiration from Dead Space, H.R. Giger, and the environmental feel of perhaps Doom 2016 and Quake in places.  But it's weird . 
The feel of Hellpoint is uniquely its own, hence my comment about comparisons.  You realize this once you open up your first breach that resembles an ethereal black hole.
It is a dreary and mechanized sort of world full of ambience.  The kind that you don't find in very many places in such varied and unconventional combinations.  I found myself downright intrigued and curious at most of the locations and art, and that does not happen often for me.
This would not be a positive review if not for the stroke of genius that is the Hellpoint environment and design.
Co-op play within Hellpoint is another high point.  I can't tell you how big my smile was when I realized that Hellpoint had done away with the archaic and overused souls-like feature whereby a) it takes special effort to get a player into your game through finite consumables and/or b) the player inside of your game is sent away when the player beats an area boss, never to return to that area.
Imagine that.  A team who finally discards one of the worst parts of souls gameplay to reward co-op enthusiasts with a more uninterrupted and hassle-free experience.  If nothing else, I give the developers credit for being progressive. My friends and I were able to share the experience of seamlessly traveling between areas, fighting bosses together, discovering Hellpoint's unique black hole event system, and getting the best loot while not having to waste much mental bandwidth from simply trying to meetup in the first place.  Absolutely brilliant.
On the other hand, the enemies are the weakest link in the formula.  Most of them have monotonous and uninspired movesets and as you progress further in the game, you discover that they are rehashed bosses.  Recycled assets with the same movesets.  Objects on your screen that become annoying obstacles overshadowing the fascinating and enjoyable exploration of the world.
The disappointment I had with this cannot be overstated, as I'm someone who believes that the enemies and the combat within games clearly inspired by the Souls series should be paramount.
The bosses were somewhat of a different story - most of them were memorable to me, because, with the exception of the Archon Knights, they were distinct and typically entertaining.  I can't help but feel they could have been better too, though. Faster, more deadly, with louder music on a grander scale. A nearly insurmountable challenge.
This game would have been damn near perfect for me if the boss fights, enemies, and combat were fine tuned and revised enough to match the best that this genre has to offer. For whatever reason, these types of games generally fall short of being monumental masterpieces, but I'd like to think that this is what reviews are for. The development team can reassess their strategy and level up their real life stats to produce something even more groundbreaking. Not every team can produce a Hollow Knight at first, and that's ok.
On the subject of player stats, the Hellpoint system took an interesting perspective by including two stats that I have not seen before in an RPG: cognition and foresight. Although the names are unique, they are simply black-box measurements that are associated with the damage scaling of certain weapon types and thresholds to utilize them.
Weapons which are, unfortunately, not very interesting - especially the strength based weapons. You will not find a large abundance of weapons in this game, which is not necessarily a bad thing assuming that each of the weapons is entertaining, unique, and intuitive. Instead you will likely find that you have a limited selection of weapons that do not meet the previous criteria. This is subjective of course, but I'm sure that you realize reviews are the opinions of the reviewer.
I've sermonized quite heavily about the shortcoming of Hellpoint, but it was important to warn you before you decide to purchase the game.
If you're going to play Hellpoint, now is the time to do so. Unlike a lot of other souls-like games which have entire wiki pages and walkthroughs devoted to them across the internet due to their age and popularity, the information surrounding the game is a bit sparse. Incomplete wiki pages and a handful of guides inspire in the player a sense of working with arcane knowledge in a world of intrigue and loneliness, which is exactly the aesthetic that this game presents.
You will stumble across many strange and unexplained mechanics and locations in Hellpoint, and the best things to do is absorb the experience for what it is - alone, or with a good friend.
For a short time I was quite enthralled with Hellpoint, but after my first playthrough and subsequent bout of achievement hunting, I do not have any desire to play again and I will be moving on to something else.

I dismissed that game at release as another poorly made DS clone despite initial interest. I decided to check upon it 6 month later and was very suprised to see 'very positive' review score (over 80 % positive). Decided to give it a try and bought cheaper on Epic Store. Look at me now buying Supporter edition on Steam so that I can recommend this game to every DS fan outthere.
To describe in two senteces:
Remember playing DS and thinking all those essential questions: "what the hell is going?", "where the heck should I go next?", "how the fcuk do I get that shiny?". This game gets it!
Exploring the world is the strongest aspect of the game. Just stay away from guides and wikies! Explore on your own and you'll be rewarded. Revisiting an area for the fifth time and still finding secrets that you missed even after thorough (as you thought) exploration is a thing. Combat is a bit wacky sometimes but actually is very fun and can be very hectic and fast-paced, depending on your choice of tools (don't judge by initial weapons, they are trash). Armor has very straight-point resistance values so its easy to judge its usefullness for current situation. Weapons have active and passive skills that are revealed after you use them for long enough. You can easily translate damage upgrade from one weapon to another. This solves constant DS problem - found a new weapon, but it has no damage, let it lay there in inventory until the best of times. Trying out new toys and finding out their skills is big part of the gameplay and immensely satisfying. You can adjust the difficulty, if you feel that the game is too easy, adding even one level makes boss fights far more tense. Online co-op is super easy to get into and a lot of fun. There is PvP for those who interested (though probably imbalanced as hell :)).
In conclutions, this game is a hidden (even if a ocasionally rough) gem. Playing it blindly was the closest thing to playing DS for the first time. I whole-heartedly recommend it to any DS fan.

Is From Software going to be taking notes from this any time soon? Probably not, if only because Hellpoint has been copying their homework for the entire course. that being said, Hellpoint does in fact get a passing grade... I'm going to stop with this metaphor before I lose it. Long story short, it's a dark souls clone in a good way.
Pros:
-Atmosphere: Very few Soulslikes have managed to capture that feeling of entering an entire culture that's foreign, ancient, and hostile to you. This one does. Seeing people so openly worship space abominations and the bizarre society that sprang up around such a screwed up moral system is honestly kinda fascinating. It looks like a Geiger painting to us, it's just reality for them.
-Graphics do their part pretty well, and the art direction is good enough to make up for the flaws. I have to say my favorite parts were when they decided to play very very fast and loose with what could possibly, justifiably be on a space station.
-Combat feels nice, though balance is a little all over the place, which is especially noticable in co-op where one of you will potentially be a Death God and the other will be struggling to keep up depending on how you built.
-Monster designs are very, very cool. The designs of the cosmic gods are especially good because they didn't take the easy (*cough* plagiarize Lovecraft *cough*) route so these horrific deities have their own identities instead of just being Cthulhu but space.
-Level design is satisfyingly soulsian with shortcuts, interconnected levels, and tons of secrets. I've never actually seen a soulslike successfully capture the feeling of DS1 and DS2 so well. In souls tradition, there's even an barely labeled door with half the game behind it!
-Co-Op! This was honestly the selling point for me. No hiding summon signs and no password rings. No need for two consoles even, thanks to split screen. Never thought I would get to couch co op a souls game.
Cons:
-Difficulty swings wildly. A bosses two bodyguards can obliterate you and your friend with no issues over and over, only for the boss to crumple like you gave him a Sour Patch Kid and 5 Gum at the same time.
-The game is a little on the short side. My hour count includes two playthroughs. That being said, it's a soulslike so replaying is kind of intended.
-Some mechanics, while very very cool, are so barely used they come off as annoying gimmicks. Space radiation frying you like an egg is fun and all except it's used maybe twice. Makes it hard to know what to invest in.
-The atmosphere is great, but the plot can be very very overly obtuse and arcane, even for a souls game.

Actually pretty fun Soulslike in space, with a interesting lore and world. Impressive for an 11 person Dev team.
Yeah it lacks polish in some areas like animations, some Bossfights, and the general world diversity ( its a Space Station, so you don´t have THAT much different looking zones. Though the Devs did a good job with the areas.)
Mechanics are pretty similar : something that acts like a Bonfire, currency you loose on death (but can recover), interconnected world, Bossfights, lore snippets etc..
Combat too feels very Soulslike with different melee weapons, firearms, and a kind of magic. The general feel and impact of the individual hits could be improved , and also Hit detection was a bit off but got patched. All in all combat is ok though.
One bigger difference is that "Bonfires" do not refill your healing method ! You actually need to defeat enemies to do that ( a small circle fills up, when its full you get a heal back. Also you can recover your lost "Souls", but every time you die a ghost of you spawns and tries to kill you. The ghost has the exact weapons, armor etc. you had when you died, and follows and finds you everywhere.
I surely hope Cradle Games sells enough copies of this game to warrant a sequel, I bet it would be awesome what they could do with a better budget and a few more team members

Currently playing this with my bro and more than pleasantly surprised so far. We are both big Souls fans and picked it up because of the co-op expecting a really subpar experience. While this is unsurprisingly not FromSoft levels, it still goes way above our expectations.
First of all, co-op works just fine for us. We are both on low end internet plans but always connected on first try and experience no lag whatsoever. The game is entirely co-op-able unlike Souls games which is a feature we always dreamed of. The fact local splitscreen co-op is also possible is also a great touch.
Early game environments make you expect bland spaceship corridors for the rest of the game but without spoiling anything we already went "wooow" several times exploring Irid Novo. Genuinely excited for what's coming up next at the moment.
Combat is basically DS 1:1. It doesn't reach FromSoft's excellence but comes pretty close. There's actually a jump button here which introduces some platforming, which can be sometimes frustrating but brings an interesting new aspect to the formula.
I'm honestly surprised the game isn't more well known. There are issues notably in platforming controls and enemy AIs, but from the care taken in lore, level design and the amount of intricate details, you can tell there's a true vision behind it and that it's a lot more than a simple DS in Space knockoff.
I'd say definitely pick it up if you're a deprived Souls fan, especially if you have a friend to play with.

Genre - Sci-Fi Budget Dark Souls Like
I am late to the party, but that isn't always a bad thing. I have finished the final boss on difficulty 1 with much co-op play, and here are my thoughts.
Hella fun, the game has some of the dark souls elements but with a reliable co-op and fair breach (bonfire) spacing it doesn't become frustrating. You can increase/decrease difficulty at a whim allowing for a more sandbox play style.
The bosses are varied enough and offer a decent challenge, but have clear weaknesses. There are also multiple ways to defeat them (Sekiro!). The mobs are quite varied and offer variable difficulty. Some are like mini bosses, whilst some are cannon fodder.
The travelling around can be confusing at first due to there being no map, but with co-op you can always get a 2nd pair of eyes. Your skill allocations are locked so you might need to create multiple character builds though as I can't see a re-spec option yet.
Weapons, Armour and accessory drops seem fairly unique and will encourage you to collect them all. There are also at least 2 different ways to heal (flasks), which allows you to customise your build more. Ranged is key and also varied from staffs and guns to laser cubes.
I think this game has become a gem in the rough over the time and deserves a look (especially on sale).