Lovecraft's Untold Stories

There's a core to this game that is enjoyable and fun, in its lane -- an action-shooter flavored with Lovecraft. But the experience is completely by 1) the infrequent saving (once every half hour to an hour, approximately), (2) glitches where you get stuck in a spot on the map and have to quit and lose your last 45 minutes of progress if you don't have a teleportation bug with you, and (3) the constant traps everywhere. The last one really spoils game flow, because you have to move an inch, stop for 2 seconds, move an inch, stop for 2 seconds, everywhere, or you'll run into traps that often inflict bleeding that drains half your health bar and run you out of your consumables constantly. And you *will* hit traps anyway, and it is just tedious, frustrating and makes the game flow halting and slow. SUGGESTIONS TO THE DEVELOPERS: Roguelike games can be fun, but it's time for the stupid Roguelike fundamentalism fad to end; respect people's time and allow them to free save if they want. Remove or GREATLY reduce tedious, un-fun things like the traps. And, of course, fix your game so people don't get stuck behind chests and unable to get back out.

I really want to like this game. And really, there are many great things here. But honestly, what is this difficulty? Even once you figured all the mechanics out, it is really just unfair at times. Ive never done this before, but this game, i had to give it up. The punishment for small mistakes is just too hard. Not sure what the target audience her is. You have to be a button mashing hardcore gamer to beat this one. But the scenario is some kind of cosmic horror. Its a damn shame this game is so unfair.

I will add that this game would have worked much better as a dark-souls like game and not a roguelike. The roguelike elements distract from the atmosphere a lot, which is a shame as the art is pretty good. Gameplay wise, yes, it's a huge problem that it's possible to miss entire areas that give story critical items without realizing that there's anything to miss or being able to go back. Your weapons are toys that are unsatisfying and fiddly to use and barely scratch the enemies when they can hit. It's also annoying that interacting with the story items causes sanity damage that bends your screen and general has no good effects, since it discourages people from reading the writing or interacting with things, which has been a problem in Lovecraft related RPGs since the first edition of "Call of Cthulhu" pen and paper, still, a game should have some system around that. I keep thinking that if the gold and information worked like XP bars that unlocked more items over time and all the items worked off of cool-downs (like the estus flasks in dark souls) then the game would be less frustrating to play. The annoyance factor is the main thing in my opinion. If it were a smoother gameplay experience it would be much better.

Got this for free. really wanted to love it. usually anything with a Lovecraft tag gets a like from me. This.... This is a travesty. Controls are rubbish an require pinpoint accuracy. There is no form of tutorial and without an extensive internet search I would not have been able to progress beyond the first small area. Once I had learned the "secret" to jumping over trees things didn't get much better. No guidance at all is provided and ignorance will kill you quickly causing you to start from the beginning. This is a no go for me.

Yes, the pixel art is appealing and the Lovecraftian setting is something you don't often see. And there's nothing *fundamentally* wrong with the gameplay. I had no major issues with responsiveness or control. My complaints come down to many ill-advised design choices, which include: - The way most characters are designed around gimmicks, rather than strengths and weaknesses. The ghoul, for example, has an ability that stuns enemies around him for quite a while. But fail to use it properly and the character gets mauled in seconds. The thief similarly has a stealth ability that lets you attack with complete impunity while it lasts, but is almost defenseless outside of stealth (and dodging actually uses up the energy you need to enter the stealth mode). Maybe these ideas looked cool on paper but the implementation is really unsatisfying to play. - Events which can have purely negative outcomes if you pick the wrong choice. Leaving it up to either trial & error or having a guide on hand. - A storage system that saves items between playthroughs. This can completely break the game, allowing you to faceroll your way through with tons of stored medkits and other aids. In a roguelike, each playthrough should be self-contained except for unlockables. - Too many status effects. Many/most enemies will make you bleed, poison, daze, freeze, burn and/or stun you. Floor traps (which are absolutely everywhere) will do the same. Constantly having to use consumables and losing control of your character is not my idea of a fun action game. In summary, a decent effort with good intentions, but the gameplay is too flawed and the writing doesn't carry it either in my opinion. Maybe hardcore Lovecraft fans will find something in it, but if you're in the market for a polished roguelike, look elsewhere. I struggle to even justify 3 stars, but I feel 2.5 is fair for the good presentation and technical implementation.