Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The best reason to pick up Trials of St. Lucia is that it strips the experience down to the part that either grabbed you or didn’t: fighting under pressure. These are wave-based Trials, built around concrete demands rather than a leisurely march forward. One challenge might ask for a required number of kills before the clock runs down; another asks you to survive without taking a hit; another turns target priority into the whole problem by requiring every enemy but one to die. That directness makes the opening hour easy to read. You fail, recognize why, and want another run.

St. Lucia is more than a token second character. Her speed-and-agility focus gives returning players a fresh way to approach the same broad combat challenge, especially when fast movement and avoiding damage matter. If Dante’s style is already familiar, Lucia is the immediate draw: she gives these Trials a different rhythm rather than simply asking you to replay combat rooms with a new name attached.

The 25 solo challenges are the dependable core, and the 15 co-op challenges are a good excuse to bring along someone who enjoys coordination under a clear objective. Co-op can make survival and kill-order rules more interesting, but it can also expose how little room there is for sloppy play when a condition demands a perfect run. The frustration is intentional and fairly honest: these are designed as tests, not as a relaxed extra campaign.

The challenge editor adds the longest tail. Being able to set up waves and alter enemy stats means you can make a quick personal warm-up, a punishing endurance run, or a problem tailored for a co-op partner. Sharing those creations is a meaningful bonus if you like making combat scenarios, although it will not matter much if you only want authored content and have no desire to tinker.

Graphics

St. Lucia gives the add-on a second playable character beside Dante, but this is a combat-focused expansion whose visual emphasis stays on the Trials themselves: enemies, waves, and the immediate business of staying alive long enough to meet the objective.

Story

There is a small but clear narrative frame: St. Lucia is a Christian martyr and Dante’s guardian angel. That establishes why she is here and gives her a connection to the main game’s lead, but the add-on’s attention is firmly on the Trials rather than on story development.

That matters for expectations. You are not buying this because you need the next major piece of Dante’s journey; you are buying it because you want more reasons to fight and a new character through whom to do it. The premise works as a doorway into the content, then gets out of the way.

For a combat expansion, that is the right priority. Still, anyone hoping St. Lucia’s role will lead to a rich narrative detour may find the package slight. Her presence is most valuable in play, where her speed changes how you tackle the challenges.

Overall Experience

Trials of St. Lucia knows exactly which audience it wants: the person who finished Dante’s Inferno and thought, “Give me harder, cleaner combat problems.” The conditions are varied enough to prevent the wave structure from becoming pure repetition, and Lucia’s quicker style makes returning feel less automatic.

The authored count is healthy for a challenge add-on—40 Trials split between solo and co-op—and the editor gives dedicated players somewhere to go after they have cleared them. Its rewards are practical rather than dramatic: better runs, tougher rules, and the satisfaction of solving a fight that initially seemed unfair.

Skip it if you mainly valued the original game for its story progression. Give it a chance if combat encounters were the part you wanted to replay, particularly if you have a co-op partner or enjoy building your own gauntlets. It is a focused expansion, and that focus is its strength.

Retro Replay Score

7/10