Chinese developer Diantong Intelligence Tech Shanghai and Russian publisher 101XP announced that Red and the Deadly Sins has entered into Early Access on Steam for $7.99. The side-scrolling action game actually took me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting much from the title but the actual gameplay and level design actually looks quite slick.

The story is somewhat based on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, where players will dive into the abyss and face off against countless enemies in the underworld while attempting to save their souls. You play as a nameless soldier who is driven by faith while wearing a mask that represents his determination, the soldier uses a variety of weapons to dispatch enemies with some pretty cool hack-and-slash combo attacks.

You can check out the gameplay trailer below to get an idea of what Red and the Deadly Sins is like.

I was genuinely shocked at the quality of the gameplay. There’s still some obvious pacing issues, but the general design of the gameplay looks really good. There’s a sort of Armed With Wings Reloaded feel to the combat fused with a little bit of Devil May Cry’s air juggles. It reminds me in some ways of Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight.

According to the developers they wanted a minimalist design so that the visuals didn’t detract from the gameplay experience.

They more-so wanted to bring to life Dante’s literary work through the lens of Chinese philosophy. So that’s what Red and the Deadly Sins attempts to capture.

The indie game is expected to stay in Early Access between seven and eight months. If they have to overhaul the design they’re expecting anywhere between 12 and 14 months. Hopefully they work on the level pacing and ensuring that the game has a solid and consistent flow, because that’s really what’s most important when it comes to making a 2D side-scroller.

You can check out the current iteration of the game right now over on the Steam store for $7.99.