Tormented Souls

I haven't finished it yet, but I have to admit that the game has a really cool old-school style of gameplay, with fixed camera on top of that. Survival isn't easy because there's very little ammo, and you can only save the progress if you have a tape and get to the right place - which may not appeal to many people or may be irritating when you have to repeat a long fragment after death, but I guess it's part of this genre - survival, and I personally am very happy that this element hasn't been simplified. The puzzles in the first half of the game seem okay, nothing too difficult, but I still have a huge part of the game ahead of me, so something may change in this regard, but I haven't seen many people particularly criticize this aspect, so I believe it will be solid until the end. Another quite good thing (but not entirely) is the graphics, this is really detailed, looks very good and is dark, which gives a great atmosphere, but... unfortunately, the optimization is average. Here I will speak from the perspective of the steam deck user, because that's what I ran the game on - well, some locations are very smooth, but larger or specific areas can be quite laggy and from constant 30fps the game can drop to even 15fps (at 7W) but honestly in this game it is playable on the steam deck, still there is still some unevenness here. Nevertheless it is worth noting that the controls or compatibility with the steam deck are great, so if someone does not fix power limit on the steam deck, they will probably have a very smooth experience, not to mention stationary computers. Generally, I recommend this title, definitely a very good game for fans of the genre.

Buy it. Gameplay wise, this game is incredible. I nails the ideal survival horror combat of being hazardous and clumsy without being frusterating and still allowing for oppurtunities to dodge or run if you need. The enemies, while a present threat were never too many, making each encounter meaningful. The puzzles were excellent too and a good variety. I only had to use a guide twice, once when I was shamefully age checked, (you'll know which one) and another where, along with the previous puzzle, the game didn't seem very recptive to me and I needed to do the solution a couple times. It's not triple A so I can excuse what amounted to minimal jank in an otherwise smooth and functional game. It looks great, along with honest to god animation. It feels like a while since I've seen something graphically modern with a proper character art style that isn't horribly performance captured. The main setting is gorgeous while seeming cluttered in a way that suits it, that or they threw too many assets in, I don't know how this games production was. Regardless, the game can be scary and beautiful if not both and when it really counts the design nails the aestetics of the big two while maintaining it's own look. Sound wise the music is incredible. If music from the classics is what your ears hunger for, then they will eat well here. However the voice acting for the main woman, while she isn't bad at all and sounds suitably Canadian, there seems to be a lack of direction for her. It isn't stilted or cheesy, It just sounds like there could be improvement. However we can chalk that up to classic style voice acting perhaps. The only other critisisms are a stalker enemy that didn't seem properly presented as one, causing me to waste way too much ammo before realizing, and in early game the save situation seems very trecherous which might lead to frustration if you aren't careful. TL;DR If you are looking for Survival horror this is a full course meal that you'll remember

I say it's "Simple" but I mean more in terms of it's story, design, and flow. The story being "simple" is not good but not terrible. As the game progresses it introduces you to various mechanics, and permutations of them. "Need to go through a dark hallway? Better get a light source!" is quickly followed up with: "You can't hold your lightsource and your weapon at the same time, better figure out how to deal with the enemies!" And there is a generally simple logical progression to figure out. This does not, mean that the puzzles of the game itself are simple, or that you won't have trouble at times, but rather that the game rewards exploration and simply working through the game's logic. The atmosphere, level design, and the like works really well. While this is a horror game with highly disturbing themes and the occassional "jump scare" it plays out like a puzzle adventure game that holds a degree of tension. One that softly but openly guides one to figure out the answers on their own. Not hand-holding, but subtle clues that lead one to the answer to a given problem ("I need to get through that door to find something to help with this other problem," etc.). The puzzles aren't the most difficult, but they can cause one to stop and consider them, and figuring them out feels like a proper accomplishment at times. The combat, also rather simplistic, is not without it's challenges in certain instances, but can be trivalized at certain points. Another aspect that makes it "simple" is the inventory management. Unlike some other titles (such as the Resident Evil games that this is inspired by) you don't have to worry about inventory space. I don't know how, but Caroline is perfectly capable of hiding multiple books, a crowbar, a modified taser, and dozens of morphine injections in her skirt-jacket combo. Yet this kind of "simplicity" is more about "accessibility" than making the game "easy." It's the kind of "simple" that works for puzzle/adventure games.

A classical horror game where you need to solve puzzles and find your way in a mansion by unclocking doors and shortcut. The story is simple but perfect for the immersion. To learn more, diaries are scattered throught the mansion. Ennemies are creepy as hell and you need a lot of ammos to kills them. Therefore, be carefull to aim carefully or save them by dodging and running. One of the main difficulty is it's save system. You have to collect old film tape and then find a device to use them on and save. One save per tape, so if you don't have any tape, you can't save. This system add a lot of tension. I liked it. The sound design and music are really oppressing and set the atmosphere really perfect. Someblack spot : at the begining you don't know where to go and there is a lot of ennemies, it can be difficult to find a tape to save and i died a few time, starting from the begining. Frustrating. Some riddles, espacially at the end are complicated and you need to do some backtrack making the progression painfull when you just want to see the end of the story. If you liked the firsts resident evil games, you will like this one.

I really wanted to like this game but of the 40 minutes i played the game froze and crashed twice. So if your on an AMD Ryzen 7 with vega graphics it's possible you may run in to the same issue.