Sanguine

EARLY REVIEW for EARLY ACCESS At the moment, Sanguine shows a lot of promise - it's clear that the developer's skills are improving as the game continues. The following are initial impressions - I'd like to update this review on further inspection and updates to the game. Fixed camera is mostly well designed, with almost no blindspots. My quibbles come down to personal taste, as there's a enormous amounts of panning camera and lerp shot transitions - not a fan. But! Generally, very well executed. Graphics are a mixed bag, with low-resolution textures applied to hard-shaded surfaces with linear filtering - it's a bit slap-dash, though there's some nice details (like character eyes animate with 2D blinks). Character and item modelling is good (really liked seeing equipment appear on the player body), but environments are very basic at the beginning (gets more elaborate as the game continues). However, there are a lot of good cutscene work, with incidental animations throughout the map and - most excitingly - PAIN animations to notify the player of their character's health status. Most of the animations are of a good standard. (Actually - just a quick note to recognise the addition of FMV in the game! Really adds some flair to the lore briefings - I'd like to see it more integrated with the full game. Heck, if Realms of the Haunting and Resident Evil were happy to swap between generated characters and environments, why not apply that to indie fixed multicam?) Music is strong, with a GREAT title track - but can be a bit repetitive in-game. Quality of sound effects vary, and the acting is a little dull. An interesting aspect is that the scene microphone is attached to the main character rather than the camera, so it's a little confusing when your character turns and the enemy barks and moans pan from left to right... while your view point remains still. Weapon sounds are fine, but not very meaty. Input is fine, though I'd like to have more options than just tank control (I played with gamepad). At present, combat is mostly a chore - fighting humanoids usually comes down to stabbing the enemy about four times and stun-locking them until they die. Enemies are really only a threat when they approach as a group, in which case they will stun-lock YOU into an early and frustrating grave. There's very little feedback on hits and little movement control in combat - no dodge, no 180 turn. The game restarts immediately when you die, reloading your last save - a straightforward and sensible decision. My biggest gripe with the game lies in the level design - there's a huge amount of slogging around overly large maps for very little reason. I'd prefer to see more compressed, recursive design - I had to resort to some podcasts to keep me engaged as I wandered the main road of the game over and over again. At the moment Sanguine is a very respectable indie fixed multicam effort, but with the potential to become bloody (ho ho!) good with some revisions during early access. I'll be keeping an eye on this...! And remember -if you enjoy fixed camera games, check out the [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/fixedcamera]Fixed Camera Appreciation Society![/url]

Updating this review having completed the current available content - Lots of good stuff here for lovers of classic style survival horror. Many systems like the UI and map work better than a lot of games in their finished state, so that's always a treat to not have to fight with the basics, especially for an Early Access game. We've got a map that actually shows where the player is, and well above average voice acting. I only played with fixed camera style, although I will probably check out the alternative camera style at some point. The story seems interesting so far, I will admit I was bit confused at where it ended though, I guess I thought the campaign on offer would have an ending but I guess that is going to be added in an update down the road. Keep in mind, this is very much early access - the second playable character is not yet playable, the one playable character at the moment does not reach the conclusion of their story in the current state, there are a fair amount of elements/areas blocked off that will be expanded later, so at the moment I would suggest tempering your expectations - this is 100% worth supporting early as there is an excellent survival horror foundation here (and not a short one either - you won't be done with the Early Access content in a couple of hours), but it might be a while before it's really a full fledged experience - personally, I will be waiting for quite a few more updates before diving back in, at which point I will update this review to match the finished product. The gameplay is solid overall with the tried and true backtracking through familiar areas, solving puzzles and gradually opening up new interconnected regions all while managing limited resources and dodging/fighting off threats. Combat needs some work though, which is my biggest and probably only real grievance with the game... Enemies are pretty easy one on one and overly dangerous in unintended ways when in groups of 2 or more - It is way too hard to get out of a scenario where enemies take turns grabbing you until you die. You just end up getting ping ponged between them scrambling to get away until you eventually die because there is no breathing room, very annoying. I refuse to believe that is how the developer intended it - obviously enemies are supposed to be worse in groups, that's to be expected in a survival horror game, but feeling like your only option is to put the controller down and wait to die isn't exactly what fans of the genre are hoping for when the pressure ramps up. Although I was a bit miffed with the lack of conclusion when the game suddenly ended, I will say that due to combat issues, I was pretty well completely out of health and had it not ended where it did I would have had to reload a much older save file. As far as bugs go, I have reported a bunch of small things in the discussions, nothing really too problematic but things that could use polishing. That said, towards the end of the game I got was unable to reach an area that is supposed to be accessed by pushing a box and climbing up onto it, but once the box snapped into place I was just...unable to get up there. Luckily this area seems to be completely optional as I was still able to reach the "end" of the game but, I am fairly certain I was blocked by some sort of bug from getting there. Don't get me wrong, complaints aside I think there's something really authentic and fun here and I am genuinely excited to come back and play it again when it has grown into the game it clearly has the potential to be. With some love and care (something the developer clearly has for this project), Sanguine may very well end up being a truly memorable genre classic. For more 3rd person survival horror games, check out my ever growing curator page - https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45050657-3rd-Person-Survival-Horror/

A great throwback to classic survival horror, would easily recommend!

Good start to what will be a great RE clone one day, the developers clearly understand how to do the job right. Checks all the boxes for a modern survival horror game, and does most things well. Story, voice acting, and music were all excellent. Hit detection seemed a little off and did not work in your favor, but things will improve with time.

Has a very Resident evil meets carnival massacre vibe to it ! The tape tracks I collected in the game had excellent songs on them that I've heard so far. Inventory crisis always. ^^

Highly recommend if you like or appreciate classic resident evil! The game keeps all of the nostalgia that made the classic games special while adding it's own unique twist to the formula to keep it fresh! I can't wait for the full release.

Sinceramete al inicio no apostaba mucho, pero he de decir que me ha sorprendido. El control es bastante comodo en el modo de camara sobre el hombro y controles modernos. En el modo clasico, admito que acabe algo frustrada y decidí cambiar al otro, y entonces es cuando pude disfrutar completamente. Como acceso anticipado, se pueden esperar bugs, que el developer ha ido corrigiendo poco a poco y aceptando los feedbacks que se les ha dicho, cosa que es algo que se agradece. El juego tiene actores de doblaje, algo que me ha sorprendido, y textos en español en la gran mayoria de escenarios, a excepción de los más avanzados que a veces no estaban traducidos. Sinceramente no le veo ninguna negativa en el modo de camara sobre el hombro, pero quizás las camaras fijas del modo clasico son algo frustrantes. El control tambien en tema de apuntar, disparar, y moverse era más tosco en el modo clasico que el moderno, pero es posible que sea cosa mia. En definitiva, yo recomiendo a los amantes del survival horror que lo prueben.

This is awesome and has the makings of a truly great Indie Survival Horror game. I love the atmosphere and the character and enemy designs! The tank controls are smooth and feel pretty responsive and I love the way the camera pans to show certain important items and areas! But there are a few things I think would help make it better that could use some improvements while in Early Access -1 Allow us to actually leave the areas where Kris says "I need to take care of these things first..." It kinda goes against the nature of Survival Horror when we are forced into combat sections where we could otherwise leave. The Gas Station being my biggest gripe as it just feels like a waste of ammo having to kill the 4 enemies that emerge, especially since there's quite literally nothing physically stopping the character from unlocking the locked door back to the street, I think it would be a lot better if we could just use the door and deal with the enemies at our own discretion -2 The inclusion of a quickturn would greatly improve movement and over all QoL but the developer already said they're working on it so when it gets implemented and is working, it'll improve the over all experience. *Edit* The dev has added a functioning quickturn! -3 Lastly I think the game needs more feedback for when you actually connect your melee attacks with enemies, the biggest offenders are the enemies close to or crawling on the ground. The knife animation doesn't quite reach and the only way to tell an enemy has been hit is a light blood spray. I think adding a very short animation or even a flinch to the enemies when they're hit would improve combat feedback and show the player their swings are actively connecting. Other than these 3 small gripes, I've loved my first hour in the game and am excited to see the full release! I think it could easily have the makings of something special and I'm looking forward to it!

good classic survival horror game

EARLY ACCESS REVIEW So far I am loving the game! I think the combat is fun and engaging, yet still challenging at times. Voice Acting and Soundtrack are pretty great (love the credits theme!). Importantly (for me at least), is that this game seems to have a future with lots of replay-ability. Currently the game already has a Classic fixed camera game mode, as well as an OTS game mode for players with a more FPS heavy background. Also, the game hints at playing other characters... So im looking forward to more updates to the story and more ways to enjoy the game via different character perspectives!