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Mistfall Hunter Review

Last updated: August 12, 2026 — Metacritic Metascore published (71 from 4 critic reviews) and user score refreshed to 6.5 across 39 ratings.

Mistfall Hunter, the dark fantasy extraction ARPG from developer Bellring Games and publisher Skystone Games, launched on July 29, 2026 (6:00 PM PT) / July 30, 2026 (01:00 UTC) on PC,

PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. One week after launch the picture is stable enough to call: Steam’s overall rating sits at Mixed, the first scored reviews have landed (**Game8 76/100,GamingTrend 70/100,

DualShockers 7.5/10**), and critics and players largely agree — an excellent combat core and promising PvP weighed down by performance, server, and content concerns.

All figures below are dated as of August 5, 2026.

Quick verdict: Steam rates the game Mixed (67% positive among English reviews), the Metacritic Metascore is 71/100 from four critic reviews, and Metacritic users give it 6.5/10. The consensus: excellent combat and PvP, held back by performance, server coverage, and launch content — worth trying if you like Soulslike extraction games.

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The developer’s own store page is explicit about the monetization stance reviewers keep citing:

With zero pay-to-win mechanics and no paid stat boosts, victory is earned in blood—decided solely by your mastery of the hunt. Official Steam store description (app 3282300)

Mistfall Hunter gameplay screenshot
The extraction ARPG in actionOfficial screenshot

Steam User ReviewsPermalink to this section

Steam’s overall rating for Mistfall Hunter spent launch week moving between Mixed and Mostly Positive as review volume grew. The exact split shifted quickly:

SnapshotRatingPositive %ReviewsSource / date
Launch dayMixed~57% reported—InvenGlobal, Jul 30
Jul 31 (morning)Mixed61%1,095Steam store page
Jul 31 (later)Mixed68%1,783Steam store page
Jul 31 (UTC)—70%2,264Raijin.gg tracker
Jul 31 (late)Mostly Positive71%2,658Steam store page
Aug 5 (English only)Mixed67%3,459Steam store page
Aug 5 (all languages)Mixed~65%7,618Steam store page
Aug 5 (UTC)—65%7,520Raijin.gg tracker

InvenGlobal reported on July 30 that the game reached 3rd in global Steam sales on launch day but held a “Mixed” rating shortly after release, pointing to bugs and technical issues.

The rating climbed through launch week — Steam showed 61% positive of 1,095 reviews on the morning of July 31 and 71% positive of 2,658 reviews (“Mostly Positive”) by late that day — then settled back down as review volume tripled.

By August 5, 2026, Steam’s storefront listed 7,618 total reviews (4,916 positive / 2,702 negative, ~65%) as “Mixed”, with English reviews at 67% positive across 3,459 reviews.

The tracker Raijin.gg recorded 65% positive across 7,520 reviews as of August 5, 2026 (UTC), with an all-time concurrent peak of 44,201 players and an estimated 481K Steam copies sold ($7.2M gross).

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Language breakdown on Steam (August 5): English Mixed (3,459 reviews), Russian Mixed (978), Simplified Chinese Mixed (876), German Mostly Positive (331), Portuguese - Brazil Very Positive (273), French Mostly Positive (215). 150 curators have now reviewed the product (up from 113 at launch).

The standalone Upgrade to Deluxe Edition DLC carried a lower score of roughly 44% positive (Mixed) as of July 31.

Critical score aggregatorsPermalink to this section

  • Metacritic (August 12, 2026): the Metascore is now published at 71/100 from four critic reviews — Gameliner 80  (Aug 7, PC), Game8 76 (Aug 3, PC), HardZone 68 (Aug 7, PC), and IGN Adria 60 (Aug 5, PC). The user score sits at 6.5/10 (“Mixed or Average”) across 39 ratings: 64% positive, 5% mixed, 31% negative. The game is listed for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X.
  • OpenCritic: no editorial aggregate published yet as of August 5; the site surfaced a TheGamer piece covering the June open beta’s player numbers.

Media Reviews & First ImpressionsPermalink to this section

The first scored reviews landed in the first week of August:

OutletScorePlatformDateVerdict in brief
Game876/100PCAug 3“Compelling middle ground”: addictive progression, tense PvPvE; held back by technical issues and uneven class balance
GamingTrend70/100PS5Aug 4“Fun, flawed fantasy fete”: meaningful class variety; only two maps, no cross-progression, toxic chat
DualShockers7.5/10PCAug 4Fantastic, engaging combat; “annoying and confusing UI,” limited maps, missing QoL
GameSpotNo score (feature)—Aug 4“Made Me A Believer In Extraction Games”; noted 40,000+ concurrent players on Steam
  • Game8 (August 3, 2026, full review, 76/100) — upgraded its launch-week first impressions into a full review: the Soulslike-meets-extraction blend “shouldn’t work on paper, but Bellring Games has found a compelling middle ground that delivers addictive progression and tense PvPvE encounters.” Technical issues and uneven class balance “leave room for improvement,” but the game “lays a strong foundation for a live-service adventure.”
  • GamingTrend (August 4, 2026, 70/100, “Fun, flawed fantasy fete”) — praised meaningful class variety, fun in-mission tasks, exhilarating PvP, and microtransactions that “offer no competitive advantages.” Criticized only two maps at launch (and only one with a solo queue), console visuals (“noticeably worse” — lower resolution, muddier textures), no cross-platform progression, a “wildly toxic” general chat with no way to mute people or topics, and the lack of a public roadmap.
  • DualShockers (August 4, 2026, 7.5/10, “A Potentially Great Game that Gets in its Own Way”) — called combat “fantastic and engaging,” praised class design, and reported strong performance on its PC hardware, but hammered the “thick and honestly stupid” UI, missing QoL basics (no quick sell, multiselect, or take-all), convoluted currencies, and limited maps. “If you’re looking for an extraction title that doesn’t involve the usual mechanics, then Mistfall Hunter is for you.”
  • GameSpot (August 4, 2026, feature, no score) — “Mistfall Hunter Has Made Me A Believer In Extraction Games,” noting the game’s concurrent player count surpassed 40,000 on Steam after its July 29 launch.
  • PC Gamer (June 16, 2026, demo preview) — titled the piece around the pitch “more modern God of War than Nightreign,” the writer found Mistfall Hunter plays like a slower-paced version of 2018’s God of War rather than a strict FromSoftware clone, with no lock-on and a focus on positioning. It praised the meta-progression (skill trees, unlockable class-based abilities) and the perfect-block/parry system, calling the game “promising” and noting it had already drawn about 16,000 concurrent players on SteamDB during Next Fest.
  • Game8 (July 30, 2026, first impressions, “Seeing the Vision Through the Mist”) — the earlier launch-week impression was positive but cautious about performance (stuttering, frames dropping into the low 30s/20s before Mist Boss encounters), the absence of dedicated Oceania servers, inconsistent ping, unclear matchmaking, and a grind-heavy loop. The reviewer described the Withered Knight as very strong in early PvP.
  • GamesRadar — listed Mistfall Hunter among the top demos of the entire Steam Next Fest (per an early-impressions roundup).
  • MMORPG.com — titled its preview “the casual extraction game I did not know I needed,” emphasizing that early feedback found the game less punishing than Tarkov-style titles (per the same roundup).
  • TheGamer / OpenCritic (June 15, 2026) — reported the open beta crossed 10,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, with console players on top of that.
  • IGN (as of August 10, 2026) — still has not published a scored critic review; the game page shows NR (not rated) with no editorial score. IGN’s coverage instead runs through its Mistfall Hunter wiki, which posted detailed August 6, 2026 Patch Notes (Dried Flower Knots now dropping, Einherjar Mist Lord challenges, and dozens of class balance adjustments). So the “Mistfall Hunter IGN review” search turns up IGN’s wiki guide rather than a scored review.

What Players Commonly PraisePermalink to this section

Themes that recur across Steam reviews and early coverage:

  • Fluid, souls-like melee combat with ARPG mechanics. A Pure Xbox roundup quoted a Steam review calling it an extraction game that “earned its place with its fluid, souls-like combat, and ARPG mechanics.”
  • PvP potential and class depth — Steam’s top-rated reviews during launch week described the PvP as “incredibly fun” with “so much potential.”
  • A more forgiving extraction economy than Tarkov or Dark and Darker, per multiple early previews.
  • Social features — global chat, community events, and free cosmetic rewards, highlighted by Game8.
  • A combat core reviewers rally around — DualShockers titled its combat section “Fantastic and Engaging Combat” and scored the game 7.5/10; Game8’s full review called the blend “addictive.”
  • No pay-to-win — GamingTrend noted microtransactions “offer no competitive advantages,” matching the developer’s own “zero pay-to-win mechanics” pitch.
  • Crossplay works — GamingTrend confirmed cross-platform play between PC, PS5, and Xbox (while noting progression does not carry over between platforms).

What Players Commonly CriticizePermalink to this section

The dominant complaint themes, all attributed to their sources:

  • Performance and stability — stuttering, frame drops, and loading hitches. Reddit’s r/MistfallHunter thread “Super fun game, but performance is terrible” reported stuttering when loading into areas and random FPS drops. Game8 measured frame drops to the low 30s/20s before boss encounters. A Steam user described heavy stuttering when moving into new areas that settled after a few seconds (likely shader compilation). Softonic’s launch report collected stuttering, FPS drops, and desync complaints that extended to high-end PCs, and attributed them to a mix of Unreal Engine 5 shader stutter and launch-day server congestion.
  • Server coverage — no dedicated Oceania server, with Steam reviewers citing it as a reason for Mixed; players also reported latency and unstable ping on cross-region matches.
  • Content repetition — a Steam review quoted by Pure Xbox called the loop “repetitive and pointless” after about five hours, complaining of low item variety (“all the gear is exactly the same”).
  • Solo-player friction — one top Steam review withheld a positive recommendation until solo players get access to all maps and loot, calling current restrictions “artificial queue restrictions.”
  • Launch polish — a Steam discussion thread titled “Mixed reviews?” described the game as “extremely unpolished” with storage/inventory and balance concerns; AllKeyShop reported players on Xbox, PC, and PS5 hitting technical issues at launch.
  • Toxic, unmoderated global chat — GamingTrend described a “wildly toxic chat community” with no way to mute people or topics; a Metacritic user review (Aug 3) said chat can’t be muted and defaults back to global between instances.
  • Cheating and teaming — a Metacritic user review (Aug 2) claimed “hackers are everywhere” and matchmaking pits players against higher-level opponents; GamingTrend reported Bellring has started banning players for cheating/teaming.
  • No cross-platform progression — GamingTrend noted that buying the game on a second platform means restarting camp and inventory progress from scratch, and that the PS5 version is visually inferior to PC.
  • UI and QoL friction — DualShockers called the UI “pretty terrible”: no quick sell, no multiselect, no take-all, convoluted multi-currency systems, and deep tab nesting that is painful on a controller.
  • No public roadmap — GamingTrend flagged the absence of public statements on post-launch support as its “most concerning” issue.

Developer ResponsePermalink to this section

Bellring Games addressed reception directly. In the Official Launch FAQ (July 24, 2026), the team said the game “is still far from perfect” and outlined post-launch optimization work: a smoother asset-loading strategy to prevent frame drops, ongoing frame-rate and memory tuning, and fixes for crash bugs including map vegetation animations and AMD GPU hair rendering.

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After launch, AllKeyShop reported that Bellring Games acknowledged the rocky release and confirmed fixes were in progress and awaiting platform approval.

Softonic separately reported the studio saying more optimization was on the way on top of pre-release work on shader loading, default settings, and tuning for consoles and lower-end PCs, and that the PlayStation 5 Pro version was described as the most polished of the launch builds.

By August 4, GamingTrend reported that Bellring had started banning players for cheating and teaming, though the studio had still not published a public roadmap for post-launch content.

Verdict (Updated August 10, 2026)Permalink to this section

Mistfall Hunter is a good game wrapped in a rough launch package — worth trying if you enjoy Soulslike combat or extraction games, but a wait-and-see pick if you’re sensitive to technical issues, limited content, or toxic chat.

As of August 12, 2026: Steam rates the game Mixed (67% positive across English reviews), the Metacritic Metascore is 71/100 from four critic reviews (Gameliner 80, Game8 76, HardZone 68, IGN Adria 60), and Metacritic users give it 6.5/10 from 39 ratings.

Critics and players converge on the same verdict: an excellent combat core and promising PvP, undermined by performance issues, server coverage, a two-map launch with limited solo options, and community moderation concerns.

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The game hit a 44,201 concurrent-player peak on Steam and still held roughly 19,000+ active players a week after launch (Raijin.gg, Aug 5). Steam’s own review page is the authoritative source for the live rating.

What changed by August 10, 2026Permalink to this section

  • Review volume nearly doubled. By August 10, Steam’s review pool had grown to roughly 10,099 reviews at 63% positive (Raijin.gg, August 10) — up from 7,618 on August 5 — so the rating has settled at Mixed rather than recovering to Mostly Positive. English reviews stayed around 65% positive (~4,621).
  • The roadmap concern is resolved. GamingTrend’s “no public roadmap” worry is now obsolete: Bellring Games published the August 5 Phase I roadmap and followed on August 7–8 with an expanded roadmap after crossing one million Gyldhunters, including a third wave of login rewards (claim before August 12, 12:00 UTC) and a Season 2 teaser. See the roadmap guide.
  • August 6 client update shipped. Dried Flower Knot drops went live and Einherjar Mist Lord challenges opened, alongside dozens of class balance adjustments (patch notes).
  • Population held steady. SteamDB logged about 36,000–37,000 concurrent players in the August 9–10 window with the 44,472 all-time peak still unbroken (player count).

None of this changes the core verdict: excellent combat and PvP potential, wrapped in a rough launch package — the recommendation to try it during the $22.49 discount window (through August 12) still stands.

FAQPermalink to this section

Is Mistfall Hunter good? Yes, according to most early reviewers — with caveats. Scored reviews in the first week averaged about 7.3/10 (Game8 76/100, GamingTrend 70/100, DualShockers 7.5/10), all praising the combat and class design while flagging technical issues, limited content, and toxic chat. IGN had not posted a scored review as of August 10, 2026 (its page lists the game as NR, not rated).

What is the Mistfall Hunter review consensus? Critics and players describe the same game: fluid Soulslike-meets-extraction combat and promising PvP, dragged down by performance problems, server coverage gaps, and repetition.

Steam’s overall rating is Mixed at roughly 65% positive, and the earliest scored reviews (Game8 76, GamingTrend 70, DualShockers 7.5) match that lukewarm-to-positive split.

Is Mistfall Hunter worth it? At $24.99 (with a 10% launch discount to $22.49 until August 12, 2026), most reviewers say yes for fans of the genre — GamingTrend concluded you will “definitely get $25 worth of fun” if you like tense PvP and extraction risk/reward, as long as you can tolerate the rough edges. See our price guide for the full breakdown.

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What are the Mistfall Hunter Steam reviews like? Mixed overall as of August 10: roughly 63% positive across ~10,099 reviews (Raijin.gg), with English reviews around 65% positive (~4,621). Praise centers on combat and PvP; complaints target performance, servers, and content variety. Review volume nearly doubled between August 5 and August 10.

What is the Mistfall Hunter Metacritic score? The Metascore is 71/100 as of August 12, 2026, from four critic reviews (Gameliner 80, Game8 76, HardZone 68, IGN Adria 60). The user score is 6.5/10 (“Mixed or Average”) from 39 ratings: 64% positive, 5% mixed, 31% negative. />

SourcesPermalink to this section

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