PAX West 2025: Mistfall Hunter - An Extraction Game for the Fantasy Fans

Extraction games are an interesting genre. The concept is quite simple: you drop into an in-game lobby filled with other players and hostile NPCs, and it's your job to survive long enough to acquire some loot. Might be lore-specific items, general gear, or better equipment; your goal is to find your way to the level exit and, well, extract.

While not as forgiving as its closest cousin, the battle royale, extraction games present a sort of tension that's really only able to be felt within the confines of their rules. All the loot you have on your person, whether you entered the arena with it or not, will be lost upon death. Even worse, it will most likely be added to the inventory of the person who killed you. As such, extraction games constantly have you on the edge of a knife; one mistake could cost you loot that you spent hours grinding. One of the problems with these games is that the vast majority of them tend to be shooters. From Hunt: Showdown 1896 to Escape from Tarkov, most extraction games are based around firearms, combat, and upgrades.

That's why, when I saw the gritty fantasy of Bellring Games' upcoming extraction action game Mistfall Hunter, I was extremely intrigued. As such, I approached the massive booth at PAX West 2025, was greeted enthusiastically by one of the game designers, led to a small room inside the booth, and proceeded to get my butt kicked all over the map. It was amazing.

Mistfall Hunter starts with an extensive character creator, à la Elden Ring. In fact, it would appear that Fromsoft's magnum opus of fantasy inspired many things in the game. The way the world looks, the design of the characters, the weapons and enemies; it's all reminiscent of the Elden Ring. You even start by talking to a beautiful woman, not unlike the maiden, a fact that the designer next to me reflected upon when he said, "Who doesn't like getting instructions from a beautiful woman?" She breaks down what you're doing and why you're doing it. There's a hub where you can prepare for expeditions and upgrade your gear, as well as talk to a whole gaggle of interesting NPCs to gain snippets of lore and information. From there, you embark on a ship that takes you to the area where you will be fighting for your life – and your loot.

The map itself is massive and multifaceted. Huge stone structures are intersected with tunnels and cave systems, creating a veritable labyrinth in which to explore and plunder. I was surprised by the verticality of the maps, as there are multiple levels to traverse and tons of pathways to choose from. This lends well to playing to your class's strengths. There are five classes to choose from: Mercenary, Sorcerer, Blackarrow, Shadowstrix, and Seer. Each class has two distinct combat stances and loadouts to choose from on the fly, creating a very unique set of potential combat encounters.

I was a Mercenary, a melee-heavy close-quarters class. I was making my way through the maze when an arrow thudded next to my head, causing me to glance up and see another player (in this case, a bot) readying another arrow to launch down from above. I dodged out of the way, but was met with an interesting conundrum: do I try to find my way up to the player, risking getting lost, or let their grievances pass and not seek retaliation? I quickly spotted a mechanism attached to an elevator, and decided my best bet would be to risk this bot having crap aim and riding the elevator up. I chose correctly and vanquished my foe once I closed the distance. Even still, it isn't like I steamrolled the bot. It had plenty of tricks up its sleeve to chip away at my health, even in close quarters.

After the dev watched me beat the bot, he told me they worked very hard to try to make every class at least viable in all situations, so you can't just tear through a Sorcerer as a melee class, and you can't just pick off melee classes as an archer. After my encounter, I rounded the corner and saw a boss room, waltzed in without a care in the world, and promptly got decimated by a uniquely designed Wendigo-looking enemy that killed me with style.

Given its inspirations, I was worried Mistfall Hunter would just be a Souls-like that was somehow even more punishing, but I was surprised at how fluid and light the combat felt. I imagine this was implemented over the heavier, more methodical movement and combat of a typical Souls-like game to help bridge the gap between the PvP and the PvE necessary in an extraction game. The developer told me that Hunt was a massive inspiration, and it really does feel like the best parts of Elden Ring mixed in with the best parts of Hunt. At one point, I had a single encounter with multiple bot enemies, and it gets really chaotic really quickly.

The level design is fantastic too, as the arena you're sent to is truly sprawling. Opening up the map shows an enticing network of interweaving pathways, meticulously designed to get you pushing just a little further to get more loot. There's a feeling in extraction games that's hard to explain but absolutely must be nailed to feel appropriately tense: paranoia. You have to feel like there's someone just around the corner, someone who caught a glimpse of you running by each open hallway and is on the hunt to take you down and gobble up your hard-earned goods. Mistfall Hunter's level design really works well for this, as the maze-like structure forces you to pay attention to your surroundings, and you never really know where your next threat will come from. The massive scale works well to build the tension and keep the pressure on.

The combat is challenging and fun, the exploration is interesting, the lore is fleshed out and engaging, and the extraction concept is brutal. If you like extraction games and fantasy settings, I can't imagine a better mash-up than Mistfall Hunter. You can currently request access to a playtest on their Steam page, with a hopeful release sometime at the end of this year.