Although the graphic user interface in Ysbryd Game‘s latest product is fairly easy to figure out, I struggled with parts of the game. When fighting against the many monsters found in World of Horror to get me into the mood for Halloween, the ability to plan out my moves needs to be streamlined. Just how it’s organised in this early release demo is really wonky, and it’s like flipping through an old edition of Call of Cthulhu RPG just to consult various tables.
Even though the interface reveals what each icon represents with a word, I still struggled with wondering what actions can succeed each other. This system also calculates just how many points each move does, and it can’t go over 200. Therefore, planning what your best method of attack is important! Also, the option to run away is tucked elsewhere! It should be a primary action, rather than delegated into a submenu. Just like this pen and paper game, this electronic counterpart it depends more on solving the mystery and reciting the ritual to dispel the terror than fighting everything head on.
In a few of my early playthroughs. As for regularly dying, according to other reviews, this is normal, and I’m glad this is part of the experience.
It’s just like game night, where we’re given pre-generated characters–some of which succeed and others succumb to death! World of Horror may well operate on the same mechanic, which is terrific, and there’s a difficulty level metre to give newcomers a fighting chance! Also, each character is unique in his or her own way. For example, Kouji Tagawa has better stamina, whereas Mizuki has a better dexterity score.
In terms of game design, the 1 bit look is a wonderful callback to those games of yore. Although the mix of chiptunes (music) in this game is hardly frightening, I have to wonder if composing such a score is possible. It can be done if the musician understands how to make use of the Devil’s Tritone.
But to realise a proper hypertext experience, there are a few issues I see. One of which is the inability to backtrack and other concerns recognizing when the animation is also your progress metre. The school adventure required revisiting “the hallway” and I didn’t realise it until my second go through this scenario.
Aesthetically, the graphics recalls more of Junji Ito‘s visual design and as for why H.P. Lovecraft, that’s because the mythos he created is beloved world-wide! The Old Ones are forces that must be dealt with, and as an unsuspecting teen (or young adult) in these scenarios, there’s only one choice–to sally forth and keep on trying. Sadly, perhaps due to licensing fees, the proper spellings for these eldritch horrors could not be used. For example, instead of Cthulhu, the alternate spelling Ktu-Rufu is used. It’s easy to tell when the graphic used sports an octopus type of head.
Because this game has been out for a while, alpha testers created a World of Horror Wikipedia to help reveal some secrets. Instead of looking there for help, I’ll be venturing back into this fictional world for more hurt. That’s because some aspects of what’s revealed prior that version to this early release has been changed. Maybe, there are better weapons to be found. Although this page tells you how to win against those early scenarios, thankfully it hasn’t been updated for the press preview since I see a few brand-new mysteries to figure out.
4 Scares out of 5
World of Horror Video Game Trailer
