World of Horror was recommended to me by a fellow gaming friend. The way they described it was a love letter to HP Lovecraft and Junji Ito fans. Naturally, I found the premise intriguing. This article will be a brief overview of this up and coming horror which is currently in early access. Panstasz is behind this unique and captivating title and the developers set out to create a turn based, rogue-like horror game that will be a fresh perspective to horror.
Choosing Your Desired Aesthetic
At the start of the game, the player is given choices regarding color palettes. The player picks the one they would like to choose for display. Due to my handle being lilac mage, it made sense to pick the color palette pictured above. Most players will opt for the original black and white 1 bit palette with the aim to create a nostalgia feel of the point and click adventures from the past.
Other options included dark grey, green, and yellow. No matter what the player picks, the graphics are astounding for pixels and really does add to the horror element that World Of Horror is trying to create.
Sleepy Seaside Town
The story takes place in a sleepy Japanese seaside town which has been victim to strange occurrences such as disappearances and evil monsters sightings. The player can select several different mysteries to choose from and most derive from Japanese folklore. For example, pictured below this is the mysterious Kuchisake-onna. Kuchisake-onna is a Japanese folklore tale about a malevolent spirit who covers her face with a mask or scarf and carries scissors. Under her mask or scarf she has a crooked smile that has been slit wide and she has long black hair with deathly pale skin. She will appear to her victims and ask them if she is beautiful. If the victims answer yes she will reveal her mouth and slit their face in a similar way and if they answer no she will outright kill them with her scissors.
Each mystery comes with a choose your own adventure style of dealing with it. The player can choose which way to go in the mysteries they are dealing with, and they must decide what’s the best course of action. This allows for replayability because if there was a choice the player had made they didn’t like it then they could go back and try again. For example, when choosing to go down a certain corridor, the player might realize they are in danger. As a result of this, they are embroiled in a combat match that they can’t win! The chance to replay it means better chance at victory.
Grab The Nearest Weapon and Fight
Furthermore, bringing us to the combat in the game. World of Horror brings a slightly different style of combat to the horror genre. World of Horror boasts a turn based action sequence and well thought out chain of combat to the game. The enemies stats are presented and as viewed above so are the players. The player must then look at offensive, defensive, support, and spiritual menus and add their moves to the action sequence queue. Some moves include equipping weapons, using spells, and hunkering down to withstand attacks. Combat can be difficult and in the case of the bloated teacher, as pictured below, it can sometimes result in the end of the adventure.
Difficulty
World of Horror had a difficulty that players haven’t seen since other point and click, text-based adventures such as monkey island. This difficulty is presenting in the combat levels as well as in trying to solve puzzles and decipher where is best to go next in this choose your own adventure. The horror genre has been missing a game like this and there is certainly a gap in the market for it.
Thank You
As always, thanks for reading and check out World Of Horror now. Despite being in early access, World of Horror can be purchased on steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/913740/WORLD_OF_HORROR/. Check out the trailer below to make a final decision on whether this narrative based horror adventure is for you. Additionally, look out for a future article when the game is fully releasing as VIBE will be reviewing.
25, Indie Game connoisseur. Also a hamster mum, fiancée & working in the addiction field. Gaming and writing are my escape and comfort for when the world gets too much!
