(This was originally written as a Steam review because I want more people to play this- edited it just a teensy bit for Backloggd. Still, on Steam most people are looking at a review for the purpose of making a purchasing decision, and this game has been largely thrashed in Steam reviews for being pretty expensive for a game with this many glitches- that's why there's a whole paragraph on its pricing and value.)

I'm not going to pretend that this game isn't held together by dreams and prayers; it will almost certainly crash on you multiple times throughout each playthrough. The experience of playing Wrought Flesh resembles the experience of someone with lethally high blood pressure that has just downed a few 5 hour energy; a feeling that at any moment you'll feel reality stutter, before everything suddenly ceases to be.

That said, I think there's an insane amount of imagination and fresh ideas here, and I think Wrought Flesh executes them very, very well. It makes me sad that this game has had a kind of lukewarm reception; if it weren't for the innumerable bugs or the fact that most gamers cannot resist comparing any weird indie game made after 2021 to Cruelty Squad (which the game absolutely takes inspiration from, in the same way a ton of survival horror games made in the early 00's took inspiration from Resident Evil and Silent Hill) I think this would have been received way, way better.

Gunplay is simplistic but I do think that the mobility options that you're given and the pretty good enemy variety (especially in the second area) keep combat engaging and intense. KillFuck, a drug that allows you to slow down time, is a surprisingly useful resource, especially if you need to focus on taking down a single enemy or dashing in to grab a body for healing while under gunfire. There's not a ton of build variety that I observed during my first playthrough, but I also largely ignored the elemental damage that can be modified into your secondary weapon; I could easily see myself getting a kick out of seeing how far I could take that on a repeat playthrough.

The environment and worldbuilding feels like it's drawing from a lot of inspirations to make something unique and interesting, and I think the low-poly visuals contribute to the grotesque, alien flavor of the setting. If you're a fan of the kind of bizarre terrain and "feel" of games like Morrowind, but are looking for something way more grotesque, this might really click for you. There are even a few locales that are quite pretty and feel cozy! Towns generally offer a break from the intense hostility that you'll be facing from the rest of the environment. I think it would have been pretty easy for the dev to make the game the constantly offputting, but the little areas where it feels like you can breathe easier are a really nice change of pace.

Pretty much all the Steam reviews for this game mention price and seem pretty hung up on it. I am absolutely of the philosophy that price shouldn't come into play in an analysis of a game, but this is also clearly a huge sticking point for people, especially since games are ultimately still commodities and- In This Economy?! Given how many people cite this as the primary reason for not recommending the game, I think it's at least worth mentioning here. I can understand why someone might find the price a bit steep, especially given the insane number of bugs and glitches, but I do think there's enough game here due to a plethora of side quests. Most of them are fetch quests, but ones that I think are still worth completing. They often take you off the beaten path or require you pay more attention to the world around you, and give you more opportunities to enjoy the combat and find some fun, novel upgrades. Still, if you enjoy indie games and don't mind the frustrations that are going to come with a game made with a shoestring budget, I think this is more worth the pretty small amount of time it takes to complete than a lot of longer, higher production value games I've played recently.

Part of the reason I'm writing this review, even though I know it's probably not going to have this kind of impact, is because I want more people to give games like Wrought Flesh a chance, and I really want to see what the dev makes next. Games like this are often a big risk for one or a few people to make, and I think passion projects like this can be really exciting. I do wish some of the game was more polished, and I do wish that some of these bugs got squashed, but I'd also love to see the developer of Wrought Flesh make more games. Whether that be an expansion for this, or something completely new, there's clearly a vision and a lot of good design sensibilities here.

I was surprised to find myself having alot of fun despite the very spartan opening initially leading me to think this game was gonna be a trial to play. I was then immediately punished for feeling this way and that goodwill was SQUANDERED by the myriad of poor (or outright faulty) design decisions plaguing the latter half of the game. Very rare treat, a game that defies my expectations twice in one weekend.

For example, one infamous quest requires that you equip a poisonous body part and take it to a specific NPC on the other side of a large map. This body part can kill you in about 20 seconds, and there is no inventory, so you can only equip it or physically carry it with your cursor - but saving doesnt track the state of the level, so objects are deleted unless theyre equipped when you load your game. This quest is almost intentionally designed to softlock on you, and its very bad and not good.