We discovered a number of new independent horror games away from the big productions that are worth checking out.
After a period –short, fortunately- of drought in terms of quantity and quality, for some time now terror is, again, more than well represented in video games. From independent proposals, and that helped to revive the genre, such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent or Outlast, to large productions such as Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 2 Remake, going through rarities such as PT, the fan of “having a bad time” is in command. congratulations. In the coming months we will enjoy games like Little Hope, The Medium or Scorn, having already talked about some of them just a few months ago, but if we dig a little more in the catalog of future releases we will find much more. In fact, we can count up to six very recent games or upcoming releases off the radar but worth paying attention to. These are:
Tormented souls
Those who miss the productions of the 90s and early years of Resident Evil have to keep an eye out for Tormented Souls, announced this week. Also reminiscent of Rule of Rose and Haunting Grounds, its creators do not fool anyone: scenarios with fixed cameras, puzzles based on the environment –interdimensional, such as Silent Hill- and hidden objects, specific encounters with enemies, lack of resources … Even the This argument will remind us of those first great survival horror, putting us in the shoes of Caroline Walker, a young woman in search of her missing sisters, with which we find ourselves facing what is undoubtedly the closest thing to the classics of the genre. It will arrive in 2021, on a date yet to be determined.
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Although it went unnoticed, it should be noted that Remothered: Tormented Fathers has a good 77 in Metacritic in its PC version, with which we already talked about Remothered: Broken Porcelain already has a predecessor to take into account. Drinking from the base of the original installment, this second installment presents us with a protagonist, Jennifer, with more resources to hide – the game is completely focused on stealth-, and well she needs them, since the threats are more numerous and lethal . This results in a game with a higher rhythm, but this should not be misleading, since we are still talking about a horror video game. The Italians at Stormind Games have already done it more than decently with Tormented Fathers, and with this new iteration they want to establish themselves among the most promising studios in the genre. We will find out very soon, as it arrives this coming October.
Maid of sker
Another title that appeared just a few days ago is Maid of Sker, overlooked in the lists of most important horror games, but not by those who have played it, and it boasts of having “mostly positive” ratings according to the players from Steam. Set in the 19th century, its protagonist Elisabeth will have to escape from the dilapidated hotel in which she is trapped, and will do so through an adventure focused on stealth and exploration, something to which a more than remarkable level design helps to a great extent, with interconnected areas of the stage, multiple shortcuts to discover and secret areas. His lore, based on Welsh folklore, completes a setting and a story that are other strengths in addition to novel playable mechanics such as holding your breath to avoid being discovered, although obviously, it is not advisable to do it for a very long time. As we said, it is already available on various platforms such as, in addition to PC, PS4 and Xbox One, with a future adaptation to Nintendo Switch already planned.
Death of rose
Death of Rose is another game that we could have just missed if it weren’t for who’s behind it. We are talking about the Polish Artur Laczkowski, a Polish developer former member of the Bloober Team, creators of Layers of Fear, Blair Witch and The Observer, and also head of P.T. Emulation, the PC adaptation of the famous demo of the sadly disappeared Silent Hills. The story of this game makes us accompany Scott and Beth, two researchers of the paranormal who dare to scrutinize the mysteries that an abandoned institute houses, with the peculiarity that Beth will stay outside it while we communicate with a walkie talkie. This aspect, clearly influenced by Firewatch, goes beyond mere banal conversations, and is that Beth’s clues will be key to moving forward in the plot. Unfortunately, it has no specific release date, as an ambiguous “Coming soon” appears on its Steam page.
Lunacy: Saint Rhodes
Lunacy: Saint Rhodes proposes us to discover the mystery around the murder of the protagonist’s family, a family that, as we will discover throughout this first-person horror adventure, houses more secrets than he could imagine from the outset. Thus, we will visit the gloomy town of Saint Rhodes under this argumentative and playable premise that a priori is not especially original, but that has a rather novel characteristic such as what the Author has been pleased to call. This is nothing but an AI that studies our way of playing and our habits with the title to develop, from there, a feeling of constant threat, and in this way, it will handle the different dangers in the form of enemies so that, in addition, each departure is different. This aspect, plus the power of our decisions, will give Lunay: Saint Rhodes a certain replayability that most titles in the genre lack. It will arrive translated into our language, on a date yet to be specified in 2020.
Unholy
It is striking that Duality Games -polish studio too-, creators of this Unholy, only had an auction simulator with a certain sense of humor on their CV, but that’s the way it is, and that’s how radical is the turn they have taken in its trajectory. In fact, this title also in the first person offers us a very adult plot since it not only invites us to visit Last City, the last city standing on a dying planet, but it is based on a class system in which we will have not that we fit in, but we do know how to handle the different members of each lineage for our benefit. Moreover, humans occupy the last place in this system, and Saidah, its protagonist, will have to interact with all kinds of creatures in order to find his missing son. It will also have a system of sanity, and stealth will be as important as, as we have already mentioned, the capacity for persuasion. An original proposal that is expected in 2021.
Someday You´ll Return
Terror is forged in the center of Europe, and if so far we have seen different titles from Poland, we have to talk about CBE Software, a small studio formed by two Czech developers who already surprised with their debut JULIA, and that in this On occasion they take us to the Chřiby area, in their country of origin, with the presence of different elements of the mythology of the Czech Republic. Using these myths to deform them at will and thus create a horror setting, we find ourselves before the umpteenth story in search of a missing relative, but Someday You´ll Return has something that other games on this list lack: freedom to exploration, secrets to discover, a considerable duration … always bearing in mind that we are talking about an independent production. Puzzles, a Smartphone with GPS and in which to find clues to be able to continue –it will not be strange to get lost in its settings-, a more than remarkable visual section… It would be impossible not to recommend this title if it were not because it is completely in English, and that is the only barrier to enjoy it, now on PC, soon on consoles.
