A game review
by Nidhiyaa Anagananthan
Image Courtesy of World of Horror Press Kit
WORLD OF HORROR is a retro-style RPG from Panstasz and YsBryd Games and a commemoratory to the works of Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft. The game replicated the resolution of a 1-bit Macintosh computer’s aesthetic, even going as far as featuring an actual computer in lieu of a full screen.
It’s 198X, Japan, in a small seaside town with reawakened Old Gods who kickstart a groundbreaking stream of events that may lead to the inevitable end of the world. You fight ghosts, solve mysteries while appreciating the imaginative horrors of a haunted high school and teen murders at the very start. The text-based progression, albeit a little confusing, adds to the mystery of the story. Make the right choices based on REASON and STAMINA.
Combat with mysterious figures becomes heated as the game progresses and the item collection grows. Storylines of five playable characters merge to tell a chaotic story. And in a true horror fashion, you can expect creepy artifices and rotten faces that appear too close to the screen for comfort. If you are too scared to continue, you just have to make the right (wrong) choices to end your suffering.
The resolution of the game might be jarring. Thankfully, we are provided with different color palettes that go easy on the eyes. The options may be a little difficult to navigate, the icons small and uninformative. Hovering over the icon does give information on actions during combat, but the text is still tedious to read. Although, the unexpected encounters and the overall intrigue make up for these.
Try the demo on Steam. The full game is available on Steam, Switch and PS4.
