so, after nearly 2 years from when i got the game, ive finally beaten it, and now i can leave a proper review to it.
editors note: it came out a litle bit too big. its like a guide/review at this point.
another note [m] is for small/dumb spoilers and [M] is for important spoilers
so, the most important part, THE GAME ITSELF. in the first part of the game, it seems to be only a shooter. Some may even call it a "slenderman knock-off", think its a "run around the dark forest searching for something, while running from a scary man" kinda game, but its way different. although at first it may seem to be like it, later on it becomes way scarier. the game shifts from scaring you with "the scary man" [m] [spoiler] the scary man is called ira [/spoiler] to making you anxious by its atmosphere. the tight corridors, the creepy caves, all accompanied by a well-made soundtrack, all made to make you afraid to even make a step. you feel as if youre petrified, but you know, that you have to move, thats the only thing you have left. but heres where the worst flaw of the game surfaces, which is that after a death, you respawn at the beginning of the part. this is most noticeable in the first part, where after youve beaten the first one [m] [spoiler] which have only <8% of players have one :( [/spoiler] youre shaking, and seeing the note saying [M] [spoiler] its not over yet, im still here [/spoiler] only makes it worse. and when you die, you... just respawn at the beginning of the part. this really ruins the immersion. yet i myself cant come up with a better solution, so we'll have to live with that :/
another flaw with the game, is that its short. which is unerstanable for an indie game, but still is kinda sad.
Now comes the GAMEPLAY!
honestly, besides part 1 and 2, there is not really a lot of things to say about the gameplay, an to be honest it says enough about the gameplay in the later parts, so well focus on the first two.
in the first part your main goal is to find 4 altars with limbs on them and sacrifice them, [M] [spoiler] after which Ira becomes mortal and charges at you and when you kill him[/spoiler] the door will open, which leads you to the second part. the first part begins with us being dropped out in the middle of forest with a sign in front of us. showing 4 points on the map, which we have to come to. (this thing wasnt in the beta too. thanks for the sign a lot, Dev) while roaming around the forest youll notice a couple of things. some structures and some black creatures [m] [spoiler] called voltaires [/spoiler] . there are 3 types of structures. the first one are small box-sized slab, with some black matter above it, that lights up, when you approach it. those are beacons of sorts. because the map isnt randomly generated anymore (once again, thanks, Dev) they are really useful to navigate.
the second type is four pillars standing round 2 meters from each other in a square shape. in between those pillars youll find a body bag with "free or kill" written on it. if you decide to "free" it, by interacting with it, itll fall down, and youll be able to get 2 ammo from it. however, you can actually shoot it down, after which itll fall down and set on fire. the thing is youll be able get a random amount of ammo, from 0 to 4 i think. and ammo here are sparse, so be careful when you take this risk, because it might now pay off.
an the third type is a bunch of pillars standing together very close. in the center youll find a slab with gold on it (around 6). and the gold is really useful, since you can spend 50 gold in the "status" menu to get a +1 to starting ammo. it might not seem like a lot, but itll be very helpfull later on.
the Voltaires' spawn is set in some places, but mostly they spawn randomly. they spawn near the altars with the limbs. when you go near them, they will scream, which makes Ira more aggresive. you can shoot Voltaires, so that they dont scream, but i didnt really find it that usefull.
the second part is way different than the first part. in this one you dont run around the forest, but instead you
[M] [spoiler] enter the shaft system, with its tight corridors, dark lightning, and sharp corners, with all kinds of horrors lurking around those corners [/spoiler]
the last point is THE SOUNDS
this game cant boast with a large variety of music, or, any music at all to be fair. as far as i remember it has only ambience and sounds, but holy hell do they do a good job. sounds always make 50% of the game, in any game, and they made this game great. besides ambience which makes you anxious at all times there are a lot of sounds to identify every single thing there is. from Ira getting getting agresive, to being close to a voltaire. the sounds telegraph everything. an the greatest thing about the sounds in this game, is that the sounds arent cluttered. the sound isnt messy. you always listen to the audio, identify the threat, and pinpoint where it comes from. That makes using audio not only necessary to beat the game, but also makes you makes you constantly anxious and scared, which is absolutely awesome.
My rating: 8/10 awesome game, short and sweet.
