The atmosphere of the game is (very fairly) praised for being rich and unsettling, but it's really the audio that really sold me on Hob's Barrow. The voice acting is really strong throughout, and the soundtrack feels dense and at times ominous and truly fits the tone the game is going for.
The third act of the game doesn't quite match the first two, but that's likely a result of the well-written script and dialogue taking a backseat to puzzles which are fine - it feels like a different experience than the rest of the game which isn't necessarily bad, just a big jarring. Still, that change can't detract from the overall package and marks another great entry into Wadjet Eye's publishing library.
The third act of the game doesn't quite match the first two, but that's likely a result of the well-written script and dialogue taking a backseat to puzzles which are fine - it feels like a different experience than the rest of the game which isn't necessarily bad, just a big jarring. Still, that change can't detract from the overall package and marks another great entry into Wadjet Eye's publishing library.
Hob's Barrow é mais uma preciosidade encontrada no meio de tantos lançamentos e eu estou genuinamente feliz por ter dado uma chance.
O jogo tem seus problemas em relação a disposição de enredo, mas isso é rapidamente engolido pela ambientação, caracterização dos personagens, dublagem e estilo de arte, o que torna o jogo uma experiência que merece ser apreciada.
Espero que esse seja só o início de um futuro promissor para os amantes de jogos point and click com terror
O jogo tem seus problemas em relação a disposição de enredo, mas isso é rapidamente engolido pela ambientação, caracterização dos personagens, dublagem e estilo de arte, o que torna o jogo uma experiência que merece ser apreciada.
Espero que esse seja só o início de um futuro promissor para os amantes de jogos point and click com terror
This review contains spoilers
Strong (though somewhat easy) point and click adventure game. Strong weird tales vibes - somewhat marred by a lacklustre ending
if you're looking for a folk horror adventure to play through this season, you probably couldn't do much better. just really well constructed in all the genre nuts & bolts as you'd expect from wadjet eye: fun puzzles (not too easy, not too obscure), solid voice acting, solid art style (with some very memorable animated perspective shots!), near perfect pacing. setting is just extensive and moody enough to capture that spooky, dreary deep-rural town atmosphere (always overcast, frequently rainy). don't think i'd rank it above unavowed or the blackwell epiphany but its not far behind.
This review contains spoilers
Oh great, now I have to be haunted by this game for the rest of my life. To be cursed by a disquieting tale of folklore, superstition, archaeology and cats that falls somewhere between Lovecraft and The Wicker Man without truly being quite like either.
I often struggle with what I specifically want to talk about when reviewing a game, but here it’s only more so. I’m a southern person whose family come from a small bit of Wales, and who spent over half a decade living in the north, and those differing perspectives and tones and communities all inform how I’m perceiving Thomasina, how I’m perceiving this village, and the northern sorts within. The alienation, the closeness, wariness of others, distance from anyone but the village you live in, there’s stuff to connect to that makes you understand the less sinister characters more, but does nothing to lessen the unease when dealing with peculiarities, eccentrics and absentees, none more than the local lord, who upon your meeting (well, re-meeting, his identity is unknown earlier on) shows you his DEFINITELY NOT SUSPICIOUS ancient church he’s having rebuilt to bring back the worship of something… old. Forgotten. Dangerous.
You have regular nightmares, visions of the barrow you’ve come to excavate, communicating with a sort of goblin creature (the mythology is brilliantly explained, but I’ll keep it simple here), trying to convince you that your ultimate goal is to free him. Thomasina talks to the player via a letter to her Mother, some time after the game’s story has finished. We know that whatever he’s promising isn’t going to be what we really want. But the deception, the corruption of him, infested with the increasingly powerful, sanity-breaking, unseen Abraxas, is still a gut punch, as you see that no matter the intent, this evil is beyond anything anyone could have prepared for. And Thomasina’s fate is a capstone on that.
There’s a lot about Thomasina’s Father. He’s the root of the story, after all, bedridden, incommunicative and non-functioning as he is. We all have Daddy issues, but the way this played out was unanticipated. To not truly know your parent, to then learn they were something the opposite of what you expected, and had done something terrible along the way… it’s effective.
The whole game is effective. The hens are gone. The church is risen. Abraxas walks.
I often struggle with what I specifically want to talk about when reviewing a game, but here it’s only more so. I’m a southern person whose family come from a small bit of Wales, and who spent over half a decade living in the north, and those differing perspectives and tones and communities all inform how I’m perceiving Thomasina, how I’m perceiving this village, and the northern sorts within. The alienation, the closeness, wariness of others, distance from anyone but the village you live in, there’s stuff to connect to that makes you understand the less sinister characters more, but does nothing to lessen the unease when dealing with peculiarities, eccentrics and absentees, none more than the local lord, who upon your meeting (well, re-meeting, his identity is unknown earlier on) shows you his DEFINITELY NOT SUSPICIOUS ancient church he’s having rebuilt to bring back the worship of something… old. Forgotten. Dangerous.
You have regular nightmares, visions of the barrow you’ve come to excavate, communicating with a sort of goblin creature (the mythology is brilliantly explained, but I’ll keep it simple here), trying to convince you that your ultimate goal is to free him. Thomasina talks to the player via a letter to her Mother, some time after the game’s story has finished. We know that whatever he’s promising isn’t going to be what we really want. But the deception, the corruption of him, infested with the increasingly powerful, sanity-breaking, unseen Abraxas, is still a gut punch, as you see that no matter the intent, this evil is beyond anything anyone could have prepared for. And Thomasina’s fate is a capstone on that.
There’s a lot about Thomasina’s Father. He’s the root of the story, after all, bedridden, incommunicative and non-functioning as he is. We all have Daddy issues, but the way this played out was unanticipated. To not truly know your parent, to then learn they were something the opposite of what you expected, and had done something terrible along the way… it’s effective.
The whole game is effective. The hens are gone. The church is risen. Abraxas walks.
Formerly known as Incantamentum before being picked up for production by industry leaders Wadjet Eye, Hob's Barrow is a fine folk horror tale in which an archaeological expedition goes awfully awry for Victorian protagonist Thomasina Bateman as she explores a rural England village that quite clearly doesn't want her there.
The game will remind you of Shadow of the Comet, as well as its main inspiration, the original Wicker Man, at every turn. It builds an effective sense of unease and paranoia, without giving in to cheap caricature. It succeeds in placing the player in a position of not knowing who to trust, if anyone at all.
The presentation is beautiful, both in regard to pixel art and music, with elegant writing, the best voice acting that Wadjet money can buy and logical puzzles throughout (if a bit easy sometimes, especially towards the end, when they are a tad too spelled out by Thomasina's diary), along with a quality interface including a fast travel feature which is as useful as it is uncommon in such games, all gel into a quality product throughout.
The one real gripe is the linearity of it all: this is a game that absolutely aches for a moral decision near the end; instead all the player can do is witness the unfolding of the events without any say in the matter. It's not a huge issue, but you will be wishing for some agency at the climax.
Another solid entry in the ever more rejuvenated point & click adventure genre: easy to recommend.
The game will remind you of Shadow of the Comet, as well as its main inspiration, the original Wicker Man, at every turn. It builds an effective sense of unease and paranoia, without giving in to cheap caricature. It succeeds in placing the player in a position of not knowing who to trust, if anyone at all.
The presentation is beautiful, both in regard to pixel art and music, with elegant writing, the best voice acting that Wadjet money can buy and logical puzzles throughout (if a bit easy sometimes, especially towards the end, when they are a tad too spelled out by Thomasina's diary), along with a quality interface including a fast travel feature which is as useful as it is uncommon in such games, all gel into a quality product throughout.
The one real gripe is the linearity of it all: this is a game that absolutely aches for a moral decision near the end; instead all the player can do is witness the unfolding of the events without any say in the matter. It's not a huge issue, but you will be wishing for some agency at the climax.
Another solid entry in the ever more rejuvenated point & click adventure genre: easy to recommend.
It's clear from the very start that Thomasina Bateman's curiosity is leading nowhere good. Her mission to dig out a long-sealed barrow, whose last excavation years ago caused multiple deaths and more broken lives, is so obviously a terrible idea. Of course, few things are as frightful or as compelling as an obviously bad idea followed through.
The dread of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is thick, tangible, it seeps through the greys and browns of every corner in Bewley. The small Yorkshire settlement exists underneath a perpetually overcast sky, with residents as drab to match. It's an unpleasant and hardly inviting place, but also richly realised. Like Thomasina, you can't help but be intrigued by the locals, and the game does an admirable job to play with expectations of who is actually to be trusted, and who are what they claim to be.
It speaks both to the excellent writing and acting that Thomasina remains likeable despite repeatedly handwaving away red flags at every turn. She is not unlike James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 in that regard. As a player, we're not taking the role of Thomasina so much as we are her drive, her need to go into the darkest depths even though nothing good can come of it.
And nothing does. Hob's Barrow takes its time to get to the horror but the oppressive atmosphere never relents. At key moments, the game will break from the usual point-and-click perspective to play out especially gruesome or revolting scenes with animations that have a sickening fluidity. These moments cut through the sombre unpleasantness and reminds you that something truly wrong is about to happen, and you're about to be the one to make it real.
As with many horror stories that focus on atmosphere and bad vibes, Hob's Barrow can feel narratively slight. The story is peppered with red herrings and dead ends, which make the resolution feel somewhat underwhelming. The end of Thomasina's story is nonetheless as gruesome as it was inevitable. She just couldn't leave well enough alone, but then again, neither could I.
The dread of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is thick, tangible, it seeps through the greys and browns of every corner in Bewley. The small Yorkshire settlement exists underneath a perpetually overcast sky, with residents as drab to match. It's an unpleasant and hardly inviting place, but also richly realised. Like Thomasina, you can't help but be intrigued by the locals, and the game does an admirable job to play with expectations of who is actually to be trusted, and who are what they claim to be.
It speaks both to the excellent writing and acting that Thomasina remains likeable despite repeatedly handwaving away red flags at every turn. She is not unlike James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 in that regard. As a player, we're not taking the role of Thomasina so much as we are her drive, her need to go into the darkest depths even though nothing good can come of it.
And nothing does. Hob's Barrow takes its time to get to the horror but the oppressive atmosphere never relents. At key moments, the game will break from the usual point-and-click perspective to play out especially gruesome or revolting scenes with animations that have a sickening fluidity. These moments cut through the sombre unpleasantness and reminds you that something truly wrong is about to happen, and you're about to be the one to make it real.
As with many horror stories that focus on atmosphere and bad vibes, Hob's Barrow can feel narratively slight. The story is peppered with red herrings and dead ends, which make the resolution feel somewhat underwhelming. The end of Thomasina's story is nonetheless as gruesome as it was inevitable. She just couldn't leave well enough alone, but then again, neither could I.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow follows the footsteps of Thomasina Bateman, an archeologist from London who specializes in barrows, which, she'll explain, are a type of tumuli. After receiving a letter from a Mr. Leonard Shoulder telling of a most unusual barrow in the outskirts of the city of Bewlay, she takes the train there to investigate and, hopefully, excavate the place and uncover its secrets. The inhabitants are quick to tell her to turn back, warning that nothing good will come out of this excavation, warnings that Thomasina, ever the rationalist, ignores and presses on.
Before jumping into the game, I read a single review on it: that by Christian Donlan on Eurogamer. Aside from a strong sentiment that the game is best enjoyed as blind as possible, they mentioned how it would linger on their minds for hours after the credits roll. Having now played it myself, I agree on both counts: first, Hob's Barrow is something of a narrative puzzle, best experienced without being aware of how it's constructed, so if you're a fan of psychological horror and/or point-n'-clicks, consider just jumping in blind.
In fact, if you are a fan of horror games, the second point should come at no surprise: this is a story that's built to eat away at its spectator with the many gaps in its events and the insecurities it instills. In that sense, the game has definitely escaped its intended bubble, as many of the complaints leveraged at it from players boil down to "game vague and ending bad", which are baffling takes. This is a work that presents very specific themes, under a particular type of framing, and that is also going for a very well-known style of horror, and a lot of the players coming out dissatisfied are doing so due to refusing to engage with any of those things in more than a surface level.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow deserves to be given more credit than that: it's a beautifully created game. Every scene is meticulously crafted, every narrative decision is deliberate and purposeful. The town of Bewlay is surrounded by an unnerving atmosphere reinforced by both its eerie sound design and its visuals, the latter shifting between a bread-and-butter pixel art style and twisting, uncanny rotoscoped animations. It also enjoys fantastic voice acting, of a quality and extent that is hard to find, if not unheard of, in an indie game in this price range.
One could say it's much easier to find fault in the mechanical aspects of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow than in its artistic choices, but even then, it's no trivial task. The typical point-'n-click puzzles fit neatly into the setting and escalate alongside the narrative, never getting in the way, and being almost entirely free of the famed Moon Logic that often plagues its genre. The UI is also modern, with interactions and items working in a streamlined fashion, a to-do list helpfully explaining the next goal -- great for hopping in and out -- and a map function that makes exploring Bewlay much faster.
Thomasina's adventure is just, overall, a fantastic experience, a hidden gem I hope to see get more recognition.
Before jumping into the game, I read a single review on it: that by Christian Donlan on Eurogamer. Aside from a strong sentiment that the game is best enjoyed as blind as possible, they mentioned how it would linger on their minds for hours after the credits roll. Having now played it myself, I agree on both counts: first, Hob's Barrow is something of a narrative puzzle, best experienced without being aware of how it's constructed, so if you're a fan of psychological horror and/or point-n'-clicks, consider just jumping in blind.
In fact, if you are a fan of horror games, the second point should come at no surprise: this is a story that's built to eat away at its spectator with the many gaps in its events and the insecurities it instills. In that sense, the game has definitely escaped its intended bubble, as many of the complaints leveraged at it from players boil down to "game vague and ending bad", which are baffling takes. This is a work that presents very specific themes, under a particular type of framing, and that is also going for a very well-known style of horror, and a lot of the players coming out dissatisfied are doing so due to refusing to engage with any of those things in more than a surface level.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow deserves to be given more credit than that: it's a beautifully created game. Every scene is meticulously crafted, every narrative decision is deliberate and purposeful. The town of Bewlay is surrounded by an unnerving atmosphere reinforced by both its eerie sound design and its visuals, the latter shifting between a bread-and-butter pixel art style and twisting, uncanny rotoscoped animations. It also enjoys fantastic voice acting, of a quality and extent that is hard to find, if not unheard of, in an indie game in this price range.
One could say it's much easier to find fault in the mechanical aspects of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow than in its artistic choices, but even then, it's no trivial task. The typical point-'n-click puzzles fit neatly into the setting and escalate alongside the narrative, never getting in the way, and being almost entirely free of the famed Moon Logic that often plagues its genre. The UI is also modern, with interactions and items working in a streamlined fashion, a to-do list helpfully explaining the next goal -- great for hopping in and out -- and a map function that makes exploring Bewlay much faster.
Thomasina's adventure is just, overall, a fantastic experience, a hidden gem I hope to see get more recognition.
This game is currently in the Humble Choice for April 2024, and this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before May 7th, 2024, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.
A mystery in a cozy British town.
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow has players arriving at a little town in England with a ton of marshes and barrows. The player is trying to find the person who summoned them there and instead meets a lot of colorful characters at the local pub. If you’ve played any of the Blackwell games, this is by the same company, Wadjet Eye Games. The voice acting is extremely well done and elevates the game quite a bit.
However the game does try to push the envelope with its graphics at times and honestly, I think it fails to nail what it is attempting. It feels almost like it’s not going far enough but also goes too far. The story is a bit slow so far, and while the characters are good, and there’s been a couple of simple puzzles, one of them is an item you might miss if you didn’t think to pick it up, and the other was more of a “what can I do” rather than solving an obvious puzzle.
Pick this up if you like the Blackwell games. I assume it’s going to be paranormal and spooky at some point, but also the writing so far has been really good though I’ve yet to get started on the main mystery.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/8q4m_yRP5xw
A mystery in a cozy British town.
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow has players arriving at a little town in England with a ton of marshes and barrows. The player is trying to find the person who summoned them there and instead meets a lot of colorful characters at the local pub. If you’ve played any of the Blackwell games, this is by the same company, Wadjet Eye Games. The voice acting is extremely well done and elevates the game quite a bit.
However the game does try to push the envelope with its graphics at times and honestly, I think it fails to nail what it is attempting. It feels almost like it’s not going far enough but also goes too far. The story is a bit slow so far, and while the characters are good, and there’s been a couple of simple puzzles, one of them is an item you might miss if you didn’t think to pick it up, and the other was more of a “what can I do” rather than solving an obvious puzzle.
Pick this up if you like the Blackwell games. I assume it’s going to be paranormal and spooky at some point, but also the writing so far has been really good though I’ve yet to get started on the main mystery.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/8q4m_yRP5xw
One of those classic narrative gaming conundrums where you're feeling good about everything happening 80% of the way through, right before the final 20% comes along and disappoints you. This ending feels rushed, to say the least, but hey: we enjoyed our time with Thomasina and the residents of Bewley. We just wish there was something more compelling waiting for us at the end of the road.
Never trust a cat.
adult videogame
great game
wonderful voice acting, perfectly off-putting close-up art, dreadful music, perfect length
i guess i'm also kind of a sucker for victorian horror, too
great game!!!
wonderful voice acting, perfectly off-putting close-up art, dreadful music, perfect length
i guess i'm also kind of a sucker for victorian horror, too
great game!!!
BANGER fucking game. godDAMN that ending. The characters were so lovely, the voice-acting and dialogue was SO good, the story was stellar, I enjoyed that SO much, FANTASTIC creeping dread and eldritch horror undertones.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow define como pocos lo que entendemos hoy como folk horror, una introducción al terror rural. En forma de aventura gráfica tradicional, implementa elementos como los entornos naturales, recónditos y pocos explorados, sumados a un terror asociado a lo antiguo e inexplicable en un mundo controlado por el orden y las jerarquías que nos sirven de brújula.
Esta obra elabora un lenguaje poderoso para hablar de algo tan antiguo como evidente: el mal aciago, elemental, poderoso, convertido en símil de la naturaleza humana. Una obra donde la arqueóloga Thomasina Bateman recibe una intrigante carta que la cita en el pequeño pueblo de Bewlay, escondido en la remota campiña. Al llegar, las personas que allí habitan no parecen tomarse muy bien nuestra presencia, pues estamos ante una comunidad rural totalmente hermética.
Al final, a través de un precioso pixel art compuesto de tonos decadentes, una puesta en escena al servicio del relato, varios acertijos como motor de la historia y un trabajo de voces simplemente espectacular (íntegramente en la lengua de Shakespeare), The Excavation of Hob's Barrow logra transmitir una atmósfera asfixiante y llena de psicodelia donde los contrastes de los protagonistas con la comunidad generan una sensación de misterio y terror.
Análisis completo: https://www.ningunaparte.com/analisis-the-excavation-of-hobs-barrow/
Esta obra elabora un lenguaje poderoso para hablar de algo tan antiguo como evidente: el mal aciago, elemental, poderoso, convertido en símil de la naturaleza humana. Una obra donde la arqueóloga Thomasina Bateman recibe una intrigante carta que la cita en el pequeño pueblo de Bewlay, escondido en la remota campiña. Al llegar, las personas que allí habitan no parecen tomarse muy bien nuestra presencia, pues estamos ante una comunidad rural totalmente hermética.
Al final, a través de un precioso pixel art compuesto de tonos decadentes, una puesta en escena al servicio del relato, varios acertijos como motor de la historia y un trabajo de voces simplemente espectacular (íntegramente en la lengua de Shakespeare), The Excavation of Hob's Barrow logra transmitir una atmósfera asfixiante y llena de psicodelia donde los contrastes de los protagonistas con la comunidad generan una sensación de misterio y terror.
Análisis completo: https://www.ningunaparte.com/analisis-the-excavation-of-hobs-barrow/
This review contains spoilers
Thomasina, ma'am, please call me.
Oh I guess- right, that ending, yeah, you're a little busy. Damn, sorry for your loss ma'am, kind of seems like it interrupted a masterfully crafted retro-point and click adventure you were on, kinda seems like it sort ruined the whole vibe a little bit. Kind of seems like its the sort of thing that might even be used as a warning in many reviews, something that blocks people from being too interested in your experience.
But, still, phone number's on the table, if you're free.
Oh I guess- right, that ending, yeah, you're a little busy. Damn, sorry for your loss ma'am, kind of seems like it interrupted a masterfully crafted retro-point and click adventure you were on, kinda seems like it sort ruined the whole vibe a little bit. Kind of seems like its the sort of thing that might even be used as a warning in many reviews, something that blocks people from being too interested in your experience.
But, still, phone number's on the table, if you're free.
i want to live in one of those 'american werewolf' towns where people have nothing better to do than go to the pub and pretend there isn't an ancient manticore three doors down from where you live
A point and click adventure with moody pixel art, fully and well voiced cast and story that grips you from beginning to end.
I really enjoyed this folklore story with Lovecraftian vibes in it. It's based in this small English town of Bewley that has something off in it and slowly you learn more about the people who live there and the history of the town.
On the gameplay side this feels just perfect size for an point and click game. It's not too big of an area so you feel lost but it still requires some thinking what to do next.
I really enjoyed this folklore story with Lovecraftian vibes in it. It's based in this small English town of Bewley that has something off in it and slowly you learn more about the people who live there and the history of the town.
On the gameplay side this feels just perfect size for an point and click game. It's not too big of an area so you feel lost but it still requires some thinking what to do next.
This review contains spoilers
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow definitely oozes quality from the jump. The art and music are great and really lend to the folk horror vibe the game has going on as you explore an isolated British village out in the moors. The game manages to capture the desolate expanse of the moors so well with relatively little scope. The writing is also quite good for the most part; the protagonist, Thomasina, is well fleshed out and a good chunk of the supporting cast have some nice depth to them too. The voice-acting is also top notch, as expected of adventures games published (as well as developed by) WadjetEye. The puzzles are also pretty solid, there’s one puzzle that I felt was a bit too obtuse in finding the item you needed, but it wasn’t too bad. The puzzles are mainly interacting with the characters and inventory puzzles. The endgame goes more into logic puzzle territory but I thought those were fine. The game does has some nice quality of life stuff too like fast travel and a hotspot button.
What prevents the game for achieving true greatness and what soured the experience for me though is its complete wet fart of an ending. It’s a horror story, I’m not expecting happy endings here where the protagonist gets away unscathed, but Hob’s Barrow’s ending is a forced, contrived downer. This is mainly due to how out of character Thomasina acts to go along with it to make happen and it’s even more egregious because how the game strongly establishes how sensible and practical a person she is and especially after a person she trusts outright tells her she’s being set up. The ending doesn’t feel like a failure borne out of Thomasina’s flaws or being something out of her control, instead it genuinely feels like the kind of the bad ending you get if you, the player, messed up along the way for not paying attention and were punished for it instead of a natural progression of the narrative and the actions of the characters. Also it feels like it just was shoehorning in all the Lovecraftian horror story ending clichés it could without any respect to the narrative that came before it.
Regardless of its full pratfall right before the finish line, Hob’s Barrow is still quite good and worth playing, especially for the Halloween season. Do kind of hope it gets a remaster/patch down the road to fix the ending like Kathy Rain did though.
What prevents the game for achieving true greatness and what soured the experience for me though is its complete wet fart of an ending. It’s a horror story, I’m not expecting happy endings here where the protagonist gets away unscathed, but Hob’s Barrow’s ending is a forced, contrived downer. This is mainly due to how out of character Thomasina acts to go along with it to make happen and it’s even more egregious because how the game strongly establishes how sensible and practical a person she is and especially after a person she trusts outright tells her she’s being set up. The ending doesn’t feel like a failure borne out of Thomasina’s flaws or being something out of her control, instead it genuinely feels like the kind of the bad ending you get if you, the player, messed up along the way for not paying attention and were punished for it instead of a natural progression of the narrative and the actions of the characters. Also it feels like it just was shoehorning in all the Lovecraftian horror story ending clichés it could without any respect to the narrative that came before it.
Regardless of its full pratfall right before the finish line, Hob’s Barrow is still quite good and worth playing, especially for the Halloween season. Do kind of hope it gets a remaster/patch down the road to fix the ending like Kathy Rain did though.
Was pretty good but the final parts of the game were tedious and overall payoff wasn’t amazing
Certainly one of the better "Wadjet Eye style" adventures. The atmosphere is great, the main character actually kinda likeable... But still, it misses some charm of the older inhouse projects like Unavowed. Good game, not blown away :)
The problem with Hob's Barrow is that it doesn't know when to get to the point. It builds suspense successfully, but then fails to build to anything meaningful until the closing hour or so of the game.
Inevitably, this means the ending is disappointing, because it tries to cram too much "stuff happening" into too small a space.
Combined with far too few puzzles spread out over too long a running time, this means Hob's Barrow is a pleasant enough diversion while it lasts, but it can't sustain itself and won't stick long in the memory afterwards.
Inevitably, this means the ending is disappointing, because it tries to cram too much "stuff happening" into too small a space.
Combined with far too few puzzles spread out over too long a running time, this means Hob's Barrow is a pleasant enough diversion while it lasts, but it can't sustain itself and won't stick long in the memory afterwards.
How a game like this can keep me TUNED IN for it's entirety, making me shiver and question and be surprised, in ONE sitting? Again, Wadjet Eye bringing us fans of the genre the best of the best.
Cosy adventure with charming voice acting. Lots of familiar elements if you have any kind of interest in folk horror. Puzzle-wise I never had to think long about what to do next. Narratively they made the strange decision to introduce a massive element of dramatic irony in the third act which, while the choices the MC makes do fit with her character development, makes that last part quite frustrating for the player.
Hob's Barrow es una aventura gráfica clásica que bebe del folk horror más cercano a Machen que a Lovecraft y que inevitamente recuerda a cosas como Shadow of the Comet y The Wicker Man, aunque mantiene con elegancia su propia personalidad. La escritura y los personajes son sólidos y la ambientación y el doblaje son estupendos, teniendo en cuenta los medios. Los puzles no son demasiado complicados ni brillantes, pero en general el juego pasa con nota. Recomendable.
Mucho mas oscuro de lo que esperaba. Buen adventure game aunque bastante facil.
This review contains spoilers
quickly became one of my fav bad endings ever lol....she kinda had it coming tho ignoring literally almost everybody telling her not to dig that place. still, thats what her whole life had been building up to so cant really blame her either. hoping for a sequel where her brother adam covers up/destroys the barrow for good and takes revenge for her sister.
One of the best point-and-clicks out there. Really scratched that itch from my preteen years, where I played the shit out of games like Monster Basement 2 or Exmortis. This one's vibe is very much its own, but the feeling of gruesome unravelling is very much present, and done in such a beautifully attentive way... When you glimpse the horror, it's already much too late. Great ending as well, I just can't praise it enough.
Thank you for actually having solid puzzles I could figure out. Even towards the end the puzzles are logical.
A very cool, sinister atmosphere throughout.
A very cool, sinister atmosphere throughout.
Ok per chi alle prime armi con un punta e clicca, se pur anche a scopi iniziativi ci sono titoli di gran lunga più interessanti. Secondo me, in vari punti il racconto e i personaggi si perdono pe strada. Il commentario da parte degli sviluppatori attivabile in-game è pressoché inutile, non offre un gran numero di informazioni circa le loro scelte artistiche, di design e via dicendo. C'è anche qualcosa che non mi convince della pixel art di tanto in tanto, così come dei background e dell'effetto parallasse. In generale non saprei inquadrare bene il motivo, ma ricordo distintamente tutti i momenti poco convincenti. Belli i primi piani, fin troppo poco sfruttati