History YMMV / Hexen

[[PrecisionFStrike Damn.]]

* PortingDisaster: The UsefulNotes/PlayStation version. Naturally, you get the port of the same quality as ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendo, but with floor/ceiling textures present and made for a console where such quality won't work anymore. Obvious screws include: one-sided enemy/character sprites, choppy framerate along with low resolution, several interior replacements and programming oversights, and, for a dessert, the soundtrack has been butchered in order to fit all those CD-DA tracks into the remaining part of the disc when they could've easily used XA tracks. To make the port even more frustrating, one save eats the ''entire'' memory card, compared to ''[[VideoGame/DukeNukem Total Meltdown]]'' which used, in the worst cases, seven blocks of it! Although, in its defense, it has pretty good [=FMVs=] for a game like this and more comfortable controls than the [[InterfaceScrew N64 version]] did. The loading times (from the CD, that means) are not large either.

* OlderThanTheyThink: ''Hexen II'' wasn't the first time varying FantasyCounterpartCulture levels are used in a first person shooter. ''Dissolution of Eternity'', the second expansion to ''VideoGame/QuakeI'', also has AncientEgypt, AncientGrome, and {{Mayincatec}} levels, while the base game already includes generic Medieval castle levels.

* ScrappyMechanic: Monsters respawn in ''Hexen'' every four minutes regardless of difficulty, and it's usually an ettin, making backtracking a chore.

* TierInducedScrappy:
** Outside of the Wraithverge and the Firestorm, the Cleric's weapon set is considered to be lackluster compared to those of the other characters. The Mace of Contrition is a stand-out ScrappyWeapon, taking several seconds just to kill a basic Ettin. You'd expect a [[SlapOnTheWristNuke bludgeon-mace]] to be much more efficient than that, yet it's worse than the Fighter's Gauntlets, and only slightly longer in range.
** Although the Bloodscourge is still devastating as a close-range weapon when you aim it at the ground, it is a very inconsistent {{BFG}} when you aim it like a traditional weapon as its three homing fireballs are not nearly as able to finely home-in on monsters as the Wraithverge's four enemy-seeking ghosts. While the Fighter's BFG is very basic and has no homing capability, at least ''it'' still packs a punch and can hit where you aim it and has the most raw power against bosses as an extra perk. The Bloodscourge does have a good rate of fire at least.
** The Necromancer in the sequel doesn't have it as bad as the Cleric, but his ability to raise undead [[WhatCouldHaveBeen not being able to be implemented in time]] really makes him fall behind the other characters.

*** Fallen angels, which only appear in the final hub (and first hub of the expansion), mainly because they can fold their wings to shield themselves and not only become invulnerable, but reflect all of the player's ranged attacks back at them. Fortunately, they can't attack while in this pose, but they tend to do it at random, even when they're not being attacked, meaning it's easy to accidentally damage yourself this way. Using rapid fire weapons on them is a bad idea for just this reason. They're a good target for the [[BalefulPolymorph Seal of the Ovinomancer]], especially if fought alongside other dangerous enemies like Archer Lords and Bronze Golems.

* CriticalResearchFailure: In the opening cutscene of ''Hexen II'', an image of the Chaos Serpent that D'Sparil rode on in ''Heretic'' is incorrectly used to represent D'Sparil himself, and the latter is even referred to as being a "serpent" despite the fact that he and his brothers are called the Serpent ''Riders''.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: What dealings has the Cleric had with the Serpent Riders to end up with one of their staffs as their second weapon (the Serpent Staff). Did they turn against them at some point, or was the weapon acquired and turned against the Serpent Riders and they never had any allegiance to them?

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: The secret level sacred grove requires you to kill ettins quickly. If the number of ettins exceed 20, infinite groups of chaos serpants will spawn and overwhelm the player. While death normally resets the level to the beginning or last save, it's a terminal state for co-op play (where all players have to loaf around the small arena without attacking or fleeing the map) that requires restarting the game.

* ThatOnePuzzle: The Griffin Chapel has a puzzle switch that you have to go through one hell of a nasty room in order to activate four other switches (if you don't do this first, the [[DescendingCeiling ceiling falls down and kills you)]]. The room has four [[AdvancingWallOfDoom moving walls that deal massive damage if you touch them.]] Even worse, the walls sometimes [[UnwinnableByMistake get stuck, forcing you to use no clip]] or glitch through into the "safe" areas and kill you unless you cheat or use a [[WarpWhistle chaos device]].

* UnwinnableByInsanity: The secret level sacred grove requires you to kill ettins quickly. If the number of ettins exceed 20, infinite groups of chaos serpants will spawn and overwhelm the player. While death normally resets the level to the beginning or last save, it's a terminal state for co-op play (where all players have to loaf around the small arena without attacking or fleeing the map) that requires restarting the game.

** Centaurs/Slaughtaurs. They're everywhere and they have shields which make them invincible for a short time after ''every hit that makes them flinch''. They really aren't that dangerous, but certain classes' weapons (read: the Cleric's) make them take forever to kill (though he has other unblockable methods, like the poison of his Flechettes and the Wraithverge later on); the Mage has the same prohlem, but fortunately his green mana weapon, Arc of Death, also bypasses their shields. They also reflect non-{{hitscan}} projectiles when they block, so when you're fighting a horde of them, be careful with your [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapon]] that you don't accidentally take the projectile back in the face afterwards. Slaughtaurs are also indistinguishable from Centaurs until they start shooting projectiles out of their shields at you.

* FanficFuel: Two of the Cleric's weapon set appears to have a backstory. The Serpent [Rider's] Staff they use as their second weapon isn't explained, leaving one wondering how they came to acquire it. The Wraithverge also summons shrieking wraiths to attack the enemies of the Cleric, which can leave one wondering who those angry spirits are that desire to attack your targets.

** Centaurs/Slaughtaurs. They're everywhere and they have shields which make them invincible for a short time after ''every hit that makes them flinch''. They really aren't that dangerous, but certain classes' weapons (read: the Cleric's) make them take forever to kill (though he has other unblockable methods, like the poison of his Flechettes and the Wraithverge later on); the Mage has the same prohlem, but fortunately his green mana weapon, Arc of Death, also bypasses their shields. They also reflect non-HitScan projectiles when they block, so when you're fighting a horde of them, be careful with your [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapon]] that you don't accidentally take the projectile back in the face afterwards. Slaughtaurs are also indistinguishable from Centaurs until they start shooting projectiles out of their shields at you.