Here’s one thing for the bizarre crowd nonetheless lurking round on a Friday night time – Fear & Hunger is a horror dungeon crawler by Miro Haverinen. It initially launched in December (and remains to be rising) however flew beneath my radar till this week. It’s a very evil dungeon the place you received’t degree up and are hunted by monsters that may usually kill you in a single hit. Limbs might be misplaced without end and save factors aren’t secure. It’s tough across the edges, but it surely’s uncommon that an RPG can go away me genuinely unsettled and harm, however hungry for extra. Grab the demo here or see the trailer and ideas beneath.
Warning the place it’s due, Fear & Hunger leaves each sort of violence on the desk, the sexual type included. Thankfully (at the least from what I’ve seen) it’s largely implied or very tersely described, but when that’s a deal-breaker, truthful sufficient. There are even some monsters with genitalia that may be focused. Still, it’s removed from the main focus of the game. Mostly, you’ll simply be wallowing in loss of life, decay and writhing in ache. Health and psychological state are measured as percentages and there’s no XP to realize. The turn-based fights are to be survived, not loved. At least I’ve not seen any jump-scares.
RPGs are so usually energy fantasies. You degree, you get loot, you slay greater and greater monsters. Of the 4 beginning characters you’ll be able to select from, the knight is finest outfitted to cope with the horrors beneath, however even she will die all of a sudden. While telegraphed to mean you can counter or escape earlier than they land, many greater enemy assaults ask you to decide on heads or tails – flip a coin and uncover whether or not you simply misplaced a celebration member or a limb. Limbs might be restored, in a manner – darkish rituals can mean you can sacrifice one other social gathering member to develop into a Marriage Of Flesh, or worse.
The monsters are deeply grotesque, however there’s at all times the choice to attempt to speak to them – typically, it even works, and you may find yourself with some very sudden social gathering members. Fear & Hunger makes use of randomisation sparingly, however properly. There’s some deliberately obscure story threads to comply with however the maps you’ll discover can differ fairly a bit, together with the loot you discover. Death, at the least, doesn’t really feel too irritating – it’s doable to ‘win’ the game in beneath an hour, though it’ll take much more time, effort and blood to actually dig deeper into the game, and uncover all its lore.
While it’s straightforward to degree criticism on the game – semi-frequent typos within the script, inconsistent artwork and a few sexual points of the horror appear to be for lazy shock worth – I’ve by no means performed something like this earlier than. I’m conscious there’s a large number of endings to work in direction of (nearly all of them sad), and I do know there are random occasions that may spectacularly derail a playthrough. The developer additionally has some dark-sounding plans for future updates. This game hurts me, but it surely’s a very good ache. You might prefer it too, simply don’t say you weren’t warned if you get up with out legs.
Fear & Hunger is out now on Steam and Itch (the place you may also discover a demo) for £5.79/€6.59/$8. Please pay heed to the game’s content material warnings.
