Ah yes, that parallel reality in which European arthouse director Ingmar Bergman makes a Silent Hill game. Actually, Mundaun feels very much that.
When your protagonist, Curdin, arrives at the eerie, titular town on the mountain, to investigate the death of his grandfather, the strange, Swiss townsfolk indicate an evil force pulling the strings.
As expected, the game’s signature hand-drawn design does wonders for its rural, textural environment, doused with an olde sepia tone to transport the player to a time and a place that only once was. As a result, the jagged animations of the doodled character models give them a superbly uncanny quality reminiscent of old PS2 games (always a plus).
But Mundaun’s strengths go far beyond aesthetics, vital as they may be. The horror-adventure gameplay is exploration-heavy as you solve puzzles and unlock doors to new areas in town, not mention making yourself coffees, collecting hay in a truck and even sledding. The bizarre puzzles - including locating an area through the shadow of the church or hitting slabs of meat in a certain order - are delightful, albeit dismissed by some people as ‘obtuse’ - they’ve probably never played a Siren game in their life! Moreover, the combat is appropriately clunky as you fend off some creepy monstrous foes with a pitchfork and a rifle, and it often makes more sense to run away.
These enemy encounters are undoubtably the most traditionally ‘scary’ moments. Elsewhere, the game focuses on building a sense of dread and unease as you delve further into the sinister goings on, much more akin to the subdued, quiet horror of films like Hour of the Wolf or The Wicker Man than, say, The Lighthouse.
Whilst there are pacing issues, notably due to the nature of uncovering the mystery without any immediate sense of a deadline, the world design and exploration gameplay are enough to rope the player in with every play session, making for an experience that is never truly boring.
The “obtuse” puzzles and gameplay might divide some, but there’s still so much to love in the game’s rich atmosphere and storytelling over a beautiful soundtrack. Simultaneously old-school and refreshing, Mundaun sets a bar that all indie horror titles should strive for.

It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love this game (like cmon now, one of my favorite shows is Twin Peaks). Getting the chance to play the remake before the month ended, and starting the new game later this week, it reaffirms how good this game actually is. Though I realized how simple the story actually is, with or without Control adding the much needed context to iron out some of the details.

The gameplay is still rough, and Alan is more of a hack writer than I remembered but it’s still a delight game I couldn’t put down. I cant wait to play the second game!

As its original press advertised, so much more than a Resident Evil clone.
Whilst Resident Evil was a milestone in survival horror, Silent Hill opened a whole new rusty window of opportunities for scary games.
Perhaps there's a little nostalgia for the nuanced PS1 graphics but the look of the game is incredibly distinct, setting the standard for its many sequels. Unlike in Silent Hill 2's many sad, empty spaces, the original game always feels moments away from danger and never feels safe.
The snowy town of thick fog and the pitch black voids with rustic grate flooring, alongside Akira Yamaoka's iconic sound design are key to one of the most oppressive atmospheres in any game ever.
Whilst the monsters are interesting in design, it does feel like they improve in the next few sequels, but I'd choose fighting fleshy pterodactyls over zombies any day.
Silent Hill is one of the most iconic horror franchises in popular gaming culture, although sadly due more to the likes of Pyramid Head and major aspects of the sequels. For this reason, it should be reiterated that the original holds up and is still one of the best games not only in its franchise but of all time.

Before writing a full review, I'd rather wait until I do NG+ and finish the game on Final Fantasy mode, along with trying side content like Arcade mode, but regardless of how I will feel about anything after being completely finished, this is one of my favorite action RPGs just for how novel of an experience this was. Despite the recycling of mechanics from other games like Devil May Cry, Kingdom Hearts, or Final Fantasy XIV, it still manages to evoke the same feelings I had playing Devil May Cry 4 for the first time on the PS3, that childlike wonder I had from staring out at a wide, unexplored ocean of gameplay mechanics. If you consider yourself a fan of action games, I implore you to give this one a shot.