Saint of Chains

Very good horror game that doesn't always rely on jumpscares and keeps the tension high. I've played a lot of indie horror games in my life but this one definitely stands out.

[h1]Another Great Tribute To The Classic Horror[/h1] One of the surprising discoveries I dug up during Steam February Nextfest 2026. Saint Of Chains is a wonderful first-person psychological horror. The game takes hefty inspiration from classic horror titles, especially from the Silent Hill series and Cry Of Fear. Even the gameplay structures, the low-poly models, and the monster designs just exude the vibe of retro horror games. It may be a short experience, but it's definitely one worth your time! [h2]Things I Like About Saint Of Chains:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Excellent Atmosphere:[/b] Once again games like this one show us that you don't need high-fidelity graphics or realistic gore effects to create effective horror material. Saint Of Chains excels at building up the tension and subtly places some set pieces to make the atmosphere more nerve-wracking. The environment is often dark. The game likes to put creepy graffiti and unsettling pictures on the walls and corners to make you feel like you're always being watched. The constant low humming is a wonderful way to decorate the already oppressive ambience. The randomly played sound effects make it even better. Imagine when you walk through a hallway and suddenly hear weird noises coming from nowhere, as if something were following you, or when you are reading some notes and suddenly a child's giggle rings beside your ears. Scenarios like these happen quite often in Saint Of Chains, and they get me every single time. [*][b]Level Design:[/b] The level structures are also heavily inspired by source materials. The clean shift between "the real world" and "the Otherworld," the protagonist descending down several pitch-black holes in rusty rooms, the normal apartment getting creepier as you explore, visiting several locations that gradually uncover the terrible truth of our protagonist, etc., all are wonderfully put together to make the experience cohesive. Not only that, the developers add their own visions of horror plots into the mix as well. My favorite one is definitely the library part, in which you must stay absolutely quiet (that includes your mic) and sneak past an all-hearing monster. Make a sudden move, and the monster will charge toward your location immediately. [*][b]The Monsters:[/b] One thing I always find fascinating in these kinds of psychological horror games is the design of the monsters. There are two reasons. Firstly, the rough shapes and low-poly models never diminish the fear factor. The weird twitching, accompanied by inhuman screeches as they charge at you, never fails to make me jump. Their models also get creepier as you inspect closer. Secondly, the symbolism behind each monster is always intriguing. They often represent different aspects of the protagonist's struggle and guilt. In the case of Saint Of Chains, the monsters heavily revolve around corrupted journalism, overwork, and negligence. It is interesting to see how the developers twist and bend these concepts into creepy manifestations. [/list] [*][b]Other Compliments:[/b] [olist] [*]Crouch Jump is a prominent feature in this game. It's been a while since I first experienced this weird little mechanic. [*]Responsive updates according to community feedback. I remember the Nextfest demo played out very differently than what we have right now (you couldn't even block back then). [*]A gallery that details each creature's origin and symbolism. [/olist] [/list] [h2]Things I Dislike About Saint Of Chains:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Weapons:[/b] Even with the update that makes melee combat more comfortable to use, I still think the weapons need more touch-up. Combat-wise, each melee weapon doesn't have any unique trait or various attack patterns to make them feel different from each other. The pipe takes as many hits to down a monster as the sledgehammer does. There is also a missed opportunity to introduce a proper multi-purpose mechanic (something like a wrench that can operate valves or other small mechanisms) that could potentially make inventory management a crucial part of the experience. Right now the game just gives you the tool you need to progress, and you can immediately toss it away once it serves its purpose. As for the guns, I think the ADS feature is redundant since you are already accurate enough firing from the hips. Using the same block mechanic as melee does would be lovely. [*][b]Overabundant Resource:[/b] I admit this may be on me because I cheese a lot of enemies with crouch jumps. For those who don't know, as long as a surface has a tiny pixel on it, you can always crouch-jump up to it and remain at a height in which the monsters can't reach you but you can reach them. However, I still think the game gives you too many resources to the point that you can pretty much survive most encounters without any repercussions. Almost every safe point comes with a medical box that can fully heal you, and the game hands you ammo on quite a regular basis. [*][b]Other Complaints:[/b] [olist] [*]There are no difficulty options. [*]Saving games creating a new save slot each time instead of overriding the existing one is rather weird to me. [*]I would like to have a chapter select option. [*]Adding maps is a step in the right direction, but the maps really needs some dynamic updates(something like scribbles for locked doors or debris) to make them more useful. [/olist] [/list] [b]中文小簡評[/b] 2026二月新品節發現的佳作之一，《鎖鏈聖徒》是款傑出的第一人稱心理恐怖遊戲，各方面都可以看的出來深受早期恐怖遊戲的啟發，尤其是《沉默之丘》系列和《恐懼之泣》這兩款作品的影響最深，從遊戲機制、粗糙建模、怪物設計等都散發著濃厚復古恐怖的風味。雖然遊戲流程偏短，但這款帶來的恐懼氛圍極佳，絕對值得你一玩！ [b]喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]這類型的獨立遊戲一再地向大眾證明：恐怖不需要靠高清的畫面或逼真的血腥特效，只要等到營造氛圍，再粗糙的建模都能成功勾勒出恐怖感。《鎖鏈聖徒》就擅長運用人容易胡思亂想的特性去製造緊張的感覺，透過昏暗的場景、詭異的塗鴉、令人不寒而慄的畫作與若有似無的低聲呢喃去烘托恐怖氛圍。 [*]隨機播放的詭異音效更是錦上添花。試想當你走過長廊，突然聽到許多此起彼落的怪異聲響在身邊迴繞，彷彿有什麼東西一直在你身邊徘徊一樣；亦或是當你在讀文件時，耳邊突然傳來小孩子的嘻笑聲，轉過頭卻什麼也沒看到，恐懼之心油然而生。 [*]關卡設計也深受上述提到的兩款遊戲影響：表裏世界無縫接軌的交替、主角不斷從血肉鏽蝕的房間往下跳、探索越多，建築的外貌也變得越來越詭異等。製作團隊不僅巧妙地將這些靈感串聯起來，也在這些橋段間加入了許多自己的想法，讓故事節奏更加緊湊。 [*]怪物的設計也是這類心理恐怖遊戲的亮點之一，不斷抽搐的身影搭配驚悚的尖叫聲朝你衝過來著實嚇人，稜角分明的建模乍看之下難以理解，但近身仔細一看往往令人頭皮發麻，製作團隊巧妙的將惡魔藏在細節裡。 [*]每個怪物的設計理念也非常吸引人，怪異扭曲的外表往往是主角無力掙扎與不可饒恕的罪惡感具象，而本作主要圍繞著腐敗新聞、過勞及忽視家庭，將這些概念扭曲變形，最終呈現出的樣貌往往令人不寒而慄，卻又帶著一絲悲傷，實在令人著迷。 [*]「蹲跳」的特色發揮得淋漓盡致。 [*]製作團隊勤勞更新，願意聆聽社群反饋的心值得嘉許(記得新品節試玩版怪不會因為你的攻擊而失衡，你也無法防禦)。 [/list] [b]不喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]戰鬥雖然得力於後續新增的防禦而有所改善，但武器方面的設計還是差強人意。近戰武器彼此間沒有獨特的攻擊動畫或特色作區別，水管敲怪的功效跟大槌敲的沒兩樣。武器作為次要工具的特色也沒有好好發揮，遊戲常常設一個障礙物擋你路，然後立刻將解答交到你手上，通過坎後就可以把工具丟了，算是錯失了一個將道具管理變得更重要的機會。 [*]槍枝個人覺得「瞄鏡」的功能可以完全捨去，腰射的準度就非常夠用，許多戰鬥的場景也不太適合讓你開鏡慢慢走，滿希望右鍵的功能可以改成架招。 [*]這點可能是我太濫用跳蹲去外鄉怪(跳蹲可以讓你上到一些平常無法到達的小坎，待在一個怪碰不到你但你能輕鬆打到它們的高度)，但我還是覺得遊戲提供的資源過剩，每個存檔點也都有醫療箱可用，遊戲還會定期提供彈藥，幾乎到了能讓你直接和怪硬碰硬也能全身而退的地步。 [*]遊戲沒有難度區分，沒有章節可選，存檔是直接新增一個節點而非覆蓋單一存取欄位有點怪。 [*]有地圖可看是好事，但地圖不會根據你探索程度而隨時更新非常可惜。 [/list] [quote=author]If you like what I write, please consider a follow to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]my curator[/url] page, thanks! 如果你喜歡我寫的東西，可以追蹤[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]我的鑑賞家[/url]喔！[/quote]