I really feel like I've been on an adventure with this. I was recommended it by a friend of a friend at a pub because I said I liked Berserk, so I bought it on a whim because it was a fiver. And, uh, well. It was a bold recommendation from that dude, I have to say. I don't think I expected to play a game with so much... well... uncensored monster penis, for one. Just a game full of cocks; literally from the moment it starts, it just really wants you to know that it has ZERO ISSUE with showing you some big ol' hunks of troll meat.
But beyond the wild amounts of pixelated dick, this is genius. Granted, it's definitely not for everyone. It's basically trigger warning city, to the point where parts of it could be rightfully criticized for veering way too overtly into out-and-out shock value. But as someone who has an absolute obsession with what I've coined "Sad Fantasy" (basically fantasy where they replace the elves, dwarves and magical waterfalls with depression, body horror and a world inevitably doomed to collapse into ethereal darkness), this is seriously some of the best I've played in years.
It's punishing, for sure. It's a game where enemies can one-shot your whole party if you fail a coin toss, you can't save for 90% of a run and pretty much every enemy can cut your legs off in a single move, leaving you without legs for the rest of the game. But it also turns information into currency in a way that makes exploring this world reward curiosity meaningfully. I listened to a podcast about it the other day, where one of the hosts said: "It isn't hard, you just need to know what to do," and he was laughed at. But he's completely right. At the start, you're wandering blindly through the dark, just trying to make shit work. My first run ended within around three minutes when I tried to sleep in a bed and this massive fuck off crow man with washboard abs and a mace arm walked into the room and bit my head clean off.
But every run builds your knowledge of the dungeon, its secrets, and the best way to conquer it. By the end, the game is about using everything you know to work around the monsters, traps, and god-like powers at play like you're in Groundhog Day. It works because you learn to endure the obtuseness and counteract it. But on top of having a very satisfying gameplay loop, as a work of horror fiction, it's just outstanding. This is a world that almost begs you not to explore it, from the corrupted gods turned into disfigured creatures that stalk you from the darkness to the eerie subtitles that revel in fucking with you while you're navigating a tense situation. It just feels cursed; like this endless nightmare where you're stalked by body-horror-heavy demons that even Cronenberg would look at and be like: "it's a bit much, to be honest."
If you aren't squeamish, this is such a unique experience that needs to be played. It's essentially Berserk's world and tone, Final Fantasy's combat system, and Undertale's focus on meshing morally probing storytelling with gameplay, but crammed into a twisted abomination of a game. It's tough to get into at first, but when things start to click, you won't stop thinking about it. The craziest thing is that it was made by one dude. I don't know who Miro Haverinen is, but three things are certain. He came out of nowhere and went sicko mode on this shit, he REALLY, REALLY likes the Griffith and Casca plotline from Berserk, and he's very nonchalant about letting children smoke opium.
But beyond the wild amounts of pixelated dick, this is genius. Granted, it's definitely not for everyone. It's basically trigger warning city, to the point where parts of it could be rightfully criticized for veering way too overtly into out-and-out shock value. But as someone who has an absolute obsession with what I've coined "Sad Fantasy" (basically fantasy where they replace the elves, dwarves and magical waterfalls with depression, body horror and a world inevitably doomed to collapse into ethereal darkness), this is seriously some of the best I've played in years.
It's punishing, for sure. It's a game where enemies can one-shot your whole party if you fail a coin toss, you can't save for 90% of a run and pretty much every enemy can cut your legs off in a single move, leaving you without legs for the rest of the game. But it also turns information into currency in a way that makes exploring this world reward curiosity meaningfully. I listened to a podcast about it the other day, where one of the hosts said: "It isn't hard, you just need to know what to do," and he was laughed at. But he's completely right. At the start, you're wandering blindly through the dark, just trying to make shit work. My first run ended within around three minutes when I tried to sleep in a bed and this massive fuck off crow man with washboard abs and a mace arm walked into the room and bit my head clean off.
But every run builds your knowledge of the dungeon, its secrets, and the best way to conquer it. By the end, the game is about using everything you know to work around the monsters, traps, and god-like powers at play like you're in Groundhog Day. It works because you learn to endure the obtuseness and counteract it. But on top of having a very satisfying gameplay loop, as a work of horror fiction, it's just outstanding. This is a world that almost begs you not to explore it, from the corrupted gods turned into disfigured creatures that stalk you from the darkness to the eerie subtitles that revel in fucking with you while you're navigating a tense situation. It just feels cursed; like this endless nightmare where you're stalked by body-horror-heavy demons that even Cronenberg would look at and be like: "it's a bit much, to be honest."
If you aren't squeamish, this is such a unique experience that needs to be played. It's essentially Berserk's world and tone, Final Fantasy's combat system, and Undertale's focus on meshing morally probing storytelling with gameplay, but crammed into a twisted abomination of a game. It's tough to get into at first, but when things start to click, you won't stop thinking about it. The craziest thing is that it was made by one dude. I don't know who Miro Haverinen is, but three things are certain. He came out of nowhere and went sicko mode on this shit, he REALLY, REALLY likes the Griffith and Casca plotline from Berserk, and he's very nonchalant about letting children smoke opium.