13Z: The Zodiac Trials Mixes Chinese Mythology With a Hades-Inspired Roguelite
13Z mixes third-person combat with Hades-inspired progression and Chinese mythology for something that feels promising, if in need of a little balancing still.
13Z: The Zodiac Trials blends Hades-inspired roguelite gameplay with Chinese mythology, and we went hands-on with the Steam demo.
Mixed Realms is a developer I'm all too familiar with from over the years. When it's not releasing VR games like Hellsweeper or Sairento, the studio's also no stranger to flatscreen gaming following earlier efforts like Gordian Quest. When I heard its latest venture takes inspiration from Hades, which is easily my 2020 Game of the Year, 13Z: The Zodiac Trials soon grabbed my attention.
During a roughly 30-minute session at Gamescom 2025, I sat down with the Singaporean studio while playing its recently launched demo. Two-player co-op and multiple challengers will be available in the full game, though my experience was single-player only. In this, I played as the master swordswoman called Lyra, whose skills pack quite a punch and the demo features the entire first act.
Your goal across this hack-and-slash action adventure is to become the 13th Zodiac, completing various trials across different zones as you prove your worth to the existing Zodiac Guardians. My limited appointment time means I've yet to take in much of the story or learn a lot about these competing animal spirits, though I'm always up for a good underdog story.
Much like Hades, 13Z: The Zodiac Trials sees you making your way across procedurally generated arenas before choosing your next path based on which temporary upgrade you'd like for this run. This is maybe a more minor detail, but one thing I particularly like is how there's no fade to black between each stage. Everything ties together in one continuous run, offering a nice sense of continuity as you advance.
There's an enjoyable flow to combat so far that feels like Hades from a 3rd person perspective, backed up by a gorgeous Chinese-themed visual aesthetic that's both colourfully pleasing and shows clear reverence for the mythology. Good enemy variety so far encourages defensive play, and seeing everything slow down after a well-timed dodge gives you a moment to breathe.
Special abilities, including crowd control options, work well, resetting after a cooldown period. Similar to Boons in Hades, completing areas often lets you select a “Mountain Seal,” which have different power levels, for some useful upgrades across each playthrough. For example, 'Obliteration' can increase your chances of critical hits against stunned enemies by 50%, whereas others have trade-offs like 'Forceful Infusion' increasing your damage but decreasing attack speed.
I'll preface this next part by saying I'm unsure if there are any difficulty settings, but getting attacked currently feels a little frustrating. Suddenly losing 50hp in a single hit when I've only got 100hp initially - something you can temporarily increase or permanently upgrade elsewhere - immediately had my guard up. It's a little too punishing for a single hit in the very first area.
I'm also not sold on the platforming challenges. Each area tells you if there's a secret to uncover before you start to encourage exploration, though actually jumping from platform to platform feels a little floaty and not terribly precise. I can still clear what I find without too many mishaps, though tightening this up could go a long way. One Zodiac also tested me to try to find the real him across a series of duplicates, which became guesswork as I couldn't find any clues.
I've not yet seen too much of the progression systems in 13Z: The Zodiac Trials yet, so it's a little early for me to comment there. Thematically, though, I like the idea that each Zodiac is bestowing their blessings upon you as you gradually build up your bond with them. For now, this is an encouraging start to this action-adventure roguelite, and I'll be keeping an eye out as it gets closer to launch.
13Z: The Zodiac Trials is coming to Steam at an unknown date, and the free demo is now live.
Jason Coles
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