Criminally overlooked. This game is a turn-based RPG with a heavy emphasis on survival mechanics in a dark oppressive world. There are some clear inspirations here (one enemy is lifted directly from Demon’s Souls, and an important NPC was no-doubt inspired by Berserk), but the game’s overall aesthetic is wholly unique, visceral, and depraved. The art is equal parts gorgeous and grotesque, and the music, if you can call it music, is oppressive and hair-raising. The whole atmosphere of the game just makes you feel on edge, and stressed about what monstrosity you’ll encounter next.
The dev has a great sense of creating fear and stress through gameplay mechanics as well; attacks from enemies can lead to losing limbs, which makes you unable to hold a two-handed weapon, or a shield. Non-player Party Members will die outright with no way to revive them. Your party can be inflicted with poison, bleeding, tapeworms, and infected wounds, which all require precious resources to treat (and if you can't treat an infected wound, you'll be forced to saw off a limb to stop the infection from killing you outright). You constantly have to scavenge for food to maintain your hunger gauge, and pay attention to your party’s fear gauge, lest they become discouraged and abandon you altogether. All of this is propped up by the coin-toss system, wherein a number of actions in the game require you to pick heads or tails to determine an outcome, such as finding better items while searching chests and bookshelves, or whether you avoid a particularly nasty attack. This system causes you to put more thought into your actions, and play the game a bit more like an adventurer would in real life; being aware of your surroundings and considering the potential risks that your actions carry.
Most importantly, however, the coin toss system is used for saving, which is no doubt going to turn some people away from the game outright. Failing a coin toss while trying to save (done via sleeping in beds) can cause you to be attacked by enemies, or more often than not the game will simply wake you up without saving, and will prevent you from trying again for a bit of time. The game isn't totally heartless, however, and frequently hands out "lucky coins" which can be used to flip a second coin, essentially reducing your chance of failure to 25%, there are also a couple of totally safe save points which won't trigger anything nasty, and there is also a rare, consumable item which lets you save on the spot. What I love about this system is how it forces you to take the rest of the mechanics seriously, something you wouldn’t do if saving was a more available thing. If, for instance, you’ve been a long while without saving, and you lose an arm, or maybe a party member bites the dust, you’ll be much more inclined to press on rather than save-scumming to avoid a bad outcome, which makes your playthrough all the more interesting. Having to deal with a main character losing his arm and becoming less useful, or your favorite party member permanently dying, are memorable experiences that take you by surprise. And when reaching the end of the game, battered, bruised and probably down a man or two, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished the impossible.
I can’t recommend this game enough; it evoked a feeling of helplessness and dread that even the scariest horror games can’t get out of me anymore. It’s tough, often bordering on unfair, but if you’re willing to press on, you’ll be left with an experience unlike any other.
The dev has a great sense of creating fear and stress through gameplay mechanics as well; attacks from enemies can lead to losing limbs, which makes you unable to hold a two-handed weapon, or a shield. Non-player Party Members will die outright with no way to revive them. Your party can be inflicted with poison, bleeding, tapeworms, and infected wounds, which all require precious resources to treat (and if you can't treat an infected wound, you'll be forced to saw off a limb to stop the infection from killing you outright). You constantly have to scavenge for food to maintain your hunger gauge, and pay attention to your party’s fear gauge, lest they become discouraged and abandon you altogether. All of this is propped up by the coin-toss system, wherein a number of actions in the game require you to pick heads or tails to determine an outcome, such as finding better items while searching chests and bookshelves, or whether you avoid a particularly nasty attack. This system causes you to put more thought into your actions, and play the game a bit more like an adventurer would in real life; being aware of your surroundings and considering the potential risks that your actions carry.
Most importantly, however, the coin toss system is used for saving, which is no doubt going to turn some people away from the game outright. Failing a coin toss while trying to save (done via sleeping in beds) can cause you to be attacked by enemies, or more often than not the game will simply wake you up without saving, and will prevent you from trying again for a bit of time. The game isn't totally heartless, however, and frequently hands out "lucky coins" which can be used to flip a second coin, essentially reducing your chance of failure to 25%, there are also a couple of totally safe save points which won't trigger anything nasty, and there is also a rare, consumable item which lets you save on the spot. What I love about this system is how it forces you to take the rest of the mechanics seriously, something you wouldn’t do if saving was a more available thing. If, for instance, you’ve been a long while without saving, and you lose an arm, or maybe a party member bites the dust, you’ll be much more inclined to press on rather than save-scumming to avoid a bad outcome, which makes your playthrough all the more interesting. Having to deal with a main character losing his arm and becoming less useful, or your favorite party member permanently dying, are memorable experiences that take you by surprise. And when reaching the end of the game, battered, bruised and probably down a man or two, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished the impossible.
I can’t recommend this game enough; it evoked a feeling of helplessness and dread that even the scariest horror games can’t get out of me anymore. It’s tough, often bordering on unfair, but if you’re willing to press on, you’ll be left with an experience unlike any other.
Goffers
2 years ago
1. Sparkling objects on the ground are usually, but not always, lucky coins. Hold onto these for when you save in the early game, and worry about using them for other purposes when you've picked up a decent amount
2. Most non-boss encounters are optional, and usually, the reward for killing an enemy is not worth the hassle. Run away if you haven't built up a decent party yet, or you're at risk of dying.
3. The game features a limb-based attack system, wherein you choose which part of the enemy's body to attack. Don't always assume the torso or head are the best places to attack. Most enemy sprites give you a good hint on what to prioritize in battle. If they're holding a weapon, you should probably prioritize cutting off their arm, as bladed attacks always carry the risk of getting your limbs cut off.
4. Search EVERY CONTAINED AND BOOKSHELF. Resources are scarce, and every little bit helps. Bookshelves can also contain skill books that can be read to learn new abilities.
5. Learn dash as soon as possible, whether it be by finding the skill book or by upgrading your character via soul gems. This makes running from battle easier and also doubles your speed in the overworld, which is great because the default speed is SLOOOOWWW
6. When you first start the game, run from every battle you can and just beeline through the first few rooms. Your first priority should be finding a bed so that you don't have to keep repeating the opening of the game.
7. Try to look up as little as possible. My hope is that these tips are enough to get you by for the first hour or so, but from there I really think being as blind as possible adds to the game immensely.
As I said, this game is tough. But I really do think that the first hour is the worst of it. Eventually, you'll get the hang of things and come up with your own little strategies for different situations, and the game gets a lot more manageable from there. This game isn't for everyone, but if I convinced you to try it, then I wish you the best of luck, and I hope that you come to appreciate it as I have.