Hope Deferred

Great first impression. I’ve no idea what’s going on or what I’m supposed to do and I’m having a blast doing it.

Wish you the best, dev.

10/10. Got done with getting all 5 endings. This is another example of video games as art! If I were to give this a proper review it'd be spoiled. I felt incredibly grateful to play something like this at a really low point in my life. And thank you dev for being so vulnerable in sharing this <3

I have searched high and low for another good kings field like and I've played so many ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ones in pursuit of a game that can stand up with something like Lunacid. For me, this is one of them. While I think there's a ton of whiplash from the heavy and depressing material to the recreation on undead burg, I still loved my time with. I think that many will say that there's a lot of trauma dumping, but I personally didn't mind it, and found it incredibly interesting. I think my only real gripe with this game is that I have no idea how to find some of these endings, as a lot of the secrets are really well hidden.

incredibly strange game with Insane atmosphere, feels like kings field (being made on the kings field engine will do that) but with a ♥♥♥♥ ton more disturbing imagery and obtuse/obscure puzzles heavy on exploration and Looking With Your Eyes for a solution jank as hell and may not run properly (the engine is from 2000) but there are community patches and engine fixes that can help, depending on your setup

I've never been into King's Field, but I know how it looks and plays like. While Hope Deferred is most certanly inspired by it, I was absolutely sucked in. The game is hard, and it doesn't take you by the hand, yet the posibility to save at any moment is the sole reason I managed to beat it, through trial and error. Well, I mean I reached and ending. Not the good one. But considering the amount of doors still locked (and the map the dev drawn showing the levels), I'm not even sure I saw half of the game. The atmosphere is incredible and it definitely manages that cryptic yet mystical feel I dig so much. Unfortunately for me, I'm not really built for this kind of game. If I managed to find a Moonlight Sword, open three shortcuts in the hub at the center of the four main levels, and get to the "God" of the game, it was mostly by chance. Half the time, I had no real clue what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go. But I guess that's part of the experience. I only wish some guy made a playthrough on Youtube to showcase every nook and cranny or even just the endings, but this dark gem is way to obscure for this unfortunately. Maybe some day I would start it over, if I manage to remember to avoid to unecessarily kill every NPC I meet. If the dev could setup cloud saves it would be awesome too. But as of now, I can only recommend other to try that insane experience. Juste a side note: If you play through Proton (no matter which build), there is a bug that makes some bridges and planks not crossable, unless you slide along one of the edges. And some bridges/planks are very hard to pass because of this.

I went to the ER for chest pain the day after playing this game for the first time. The previous night, crimson images haunted the insides of my eyelids: maddening paths of brick, pig faces, bloated nudes, eyeless men, locked doors. Hope Deferred is an unforgettable, singular experience. I beat it in two sessions, compelled onward despite heavy backtracking and infuriating platforming. The first level, and perhaps the best (partially due to it being the first), is like a PKD'ian vision of an abandoned castle on Mars. Another level is soaked in pathos and poison. The spaces are purgatorial. Everything works against you, including the controls, a conspiracy against the player: the formal elements of the game breathe in unison, against you. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite stick the landing. I appreciate the intensity of the final level, and parts of it are as glued to mind as anything else, but it becomes overinterpreted, heavy-handed, veering close to self-indulgence. The mystery (and immersion) crack. And I know this is in some ways an anti-video game: If you play it like a normal game, you'll die or wander eternally. It's intended to upset the player's expectations and punish conventional playstyles. But: trust the game. Trust the aesthetic. The first part of the game not only describes the trauma, but makes the player feel as if they're experiencing it. Exposition and a very "gamey" key hunt dull the expressionism of the rest of the game. Regardless, a masterful KingsFieldlike with contempt (ie. love) for the player. It embeds you, grows malignantly around you, curses you: a pure delight.