Fear and Hunger has some interesting and engaging gameplay. You regularly have to manage your party's hunger and sanity, there are multiple unique status effects, such as infected wounds, broken bones, parasitic infection, and even severe anal bleeding, but most notably, there is a fascinating dismemberment system.

Not only can you lose your limbs permanently, which will change the way the game is played, you can remove enemy's limbs, and most of combat is centered around the mechanic. You could easily hit the torso over and over again until the health of an enemy is whittled down, but it's often much more safe and practical to cut off an enemy's arms so they can't hit you, or their legs or genitals so they lose their balance. The boss fights incorporate this, having different parts of the enemy's body respond to attacks or perform different functions.

After hearing about such a seemingly in depth and interesting gameplay system, it may surprise you to learn that most people do not play Fear and Hunger for its gameplay. People play it for the lore. The story. The art direction. The atmosphere. The music. The characters.

Fear and Hunger really is unlike anything I've ever experienced. Obviously, this game is right up my alley since it's Lovecraftian dark fantasy horror, but man... I REALLY haven't been able to stop thinking about this game. The art, enemy design, world building, and lore are just perfect. It's all so memorable, so unique, so compelling, so idiosyncratic, and it's all exacerbated by the fact that the game is already perfect for me conceptually.

Maybe later down the line, when I'm not completely steeped in wonder and awe at the dark, horrific, violent, fascinating world of this game, I can write more about its themes and its writing, etc. etc., but for now, I'm content to let it live within me.

It's a difficult game, brutal to the point of near impossibility, but the difficulty is NOTHING compared to what this game is offering you in every single department and aspect.