Your car has broken down in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by age-old trees, you walk down the road in search of help,… with no idea of what lurks in these old forests.
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These Trees Are Spectral Fingers relies heavily on it's oppressive atmosphere, but otherwise lacks any meaningful threat. Published by Puppet Combo but developed by kavvkka, this appears to be the only video game that they've worked on. Although the story is relatively convoluted, I do think the mystery surrounding the local area is interesting. I think the title of the game is also an absolute banger, but unfortunately this game is exceedingly disappointing.
If you've read my previous reviews covering Puppet Combo games, you’ll notice that there seems to be a running theme with a lot of them. That being the contrast between a fantastic atmosphere supplemented by well-crafted visual and auditory design choices, with a sheer lack of threat or urgency present in the experience.
Throughout the majority of the game you are navigating dimly lit streets hearing the crinkle of leaves around you as if something lurks beyond your vision. You manouvre through industrial tunnels, a maze-like logging complex, and a snowfallen forest. Here the atmosphere is at it’s strongest, but it is subsided by the fact that there is no threat. What’s intriguing is the mystery surrounding why this area is abandoned, and the notes do a very good job of enticing your curiosity.
The most impressive moment of the game comes following this atmospheric build-up, approaching some kind of unnatural plant-like structure, mimicking the outreached desperation of a human hand struggling for something to hold onto. This is visually really effective, as the player approaches, you’ll notice a burrowing hole in the centre of this structure, enticing the player to jump down.
Doing so brings you to the worst segment of the game, finding yourself disjointedly present in a strange interior. You’ll emerge into a cathedral, looked down upon by several lumbermen, I do like this set-piece but at this stage all of the tension the game worked so hard to develop earlier has evaporated. Beyond the cathedral, an extensive narrow hallway lies before you, there are several rooms you can enter but the majority are locked and you’re encouraged to pursue forward. Towards the end of the hallway you’ll see the very same outreached hands from earlier, static in their position. Walking into them will abruptly end the game.
The biggest issue with These Trees Are Spectral Fingers is that it looks good, sounds good, and builds up well, but falls flat on it’s delivery. It’s like biting into an appetising looking slice of pizza to find it undercooked and cold in the middle. There’s just not a lot of substance beyond the design choices, and for an unbeknownst reason this seems to be a common issue in indie-horror titles like this. Unfortunately, the game represents more of an immersive creepy walking simulator than a horror game, which I find myself stating a lot when it comes to Puppet Combo published titles.
I simply think the ending of this game is incredibly weak. Nothing else in the environment ever moves. These outstretched hands don’t pursue you in the hallway, which would at least relieve some of the criticism of it’s abrupt nature. It’s just an odd design choice to have these static hands that won’t even end the game unless the player willingly walks into them, after asking them to navigate an ugly maze, walk through a cathedral, and then down a seemingly neverending hallway. It just isn’t fantastic game design. I feel like some of the concepts here are definitely interesting, but there’s such little explored here, and I believe that this experience could have been better represented through a different medium. I don’t think the genre of video games served the horror experience intended here too well. Especially as there is almost nothing interactable or challenging about this game. Whilst I don’t think horror games need to rely on jumpscares, and horror games can absolutely rely on it’s atmosphere to carry it. I do think that having little consequence or pressure on the player hurts this game. Even if it was for a few short sequences, having some hands desperately claw their way to grab at you in some of the tighter claustrophobic areas of the game would have been a great addition.
If you've read my previous reviews covering Puppet Combo games, you’ll notice that there seems to be a running theme with a lot of them. That being the contrast between a fantastic atmosphere supplemented by well-crafted visual and auditory design choices, with a sheer lack of threat or urgency present in the experience.
Throughout the majority of the game you are navigating dimly lit streets hearing the crinkle of leaves around you as if something lurks beyond your vision. You manouvre through industrial tunnels, a maze-like logging complex, and a snowfallen forest. Here the atmosphere is at it’s strongest, but it is subsided by the fact that there is no threat. What’s intriguing is the mystery surrounding why this area is abandoned, and the notes do a very good job of enticing your curiosity.
The most impressive moment of the game comes following this atmospheric build-up, approaching some kind of unnatural plant-like structure, mimicking the outreached desperation of a human hand struggling for something to hold onto. This is visually really effective, as the player approaches, you’ll notice a burrowing hole in the centre of this structure, enticing the player to jump down.
Doing so brings you to the worst segment of the game, finding yourself disjointedly present in a strange interior. You’ll emerge into a cathedral, looked down upon by several lumbermen, I do like this set-piece but at this stage all of the tension the game worked so hard to develop earlier has evaporated. Beyond the cathedral, an extensive narrow hallway lies before you, there are several rooms you can enter but the majority are locked and you’re encouraged to pursue forward. Towards the end of the hallway you’ll see the very same outreached hands from earlier, static in their position. Walking into them will abruptly end the game.
The biggest issue with These Trees Are Spectral Fingers is that it looks good, sounds good, and builds up well, but falls flat on it’s delivery. It’s like biting into an appetising looking slice of pizza to find it undercooked and cold in the middle. There’s just not a lot of substance beyond the design choices, and for an unbeknownst reason this seems to be a common issue in indie-horror titles like this. Unfortunately, the game represents more of an immersive creepy walking simulator than a horror game, which I find myself stating a lot when it comes to Puppet Combo published titles.
I simply think the ending of this game is incredibly weak. Nothing else in the environment ever moves. These outstretched hands don’t pursue you in the hallway, which would at least relieve some of the criticism of it’s abrupt nature. It’s just an odd design choice to have these static hands that won’t even end the game unless the player willingly walks into them, after asking them to navigate an ugly maze, walk through a cathedral, and then down a seemingly neverending hallway. It just isn’t fantastic game design. I feel like some of the concepts here are definitely interesting, but there’s such little explored here, and I believe that this experience could have been better represented through a different medium. I don’t think the genre of video games served the horror experience intended here too well. Especially as there is almost nothing interactable or challenging about this game. Whilst I don’t think horror games need to rely on jumpscares, and horror games can absolutely rely on it’s atmosphere to carry it. I do think that having little consequence or pressure on the player hurts this game. Even if it was for a few short sequences, having some hands desperately claw their way to grab at you in some of the tighter claustrophobic areas of the game would have been a great addition.