World of Horror Review: It was made for me! This is my game!

From the instant I saw World of Horror being teased in 2018, I knew I would love it. It wasn’t a game that I hoped I would end up loving—I had decided how I would feel about it half a decade before it even released. I’ll be the first to say how bold, and stupid, of a thing that is to decide—I have plenty of experience with video games letting me down, after all. But, sometimes, you just know that, despite any uncertainties, a game’s going to be absolutely killer—and that’s exactly what World of Horror ended up being (both literally and metaphorically!).

I don’t think that I’ve ever played anything quite like World of Horror. It’s the perfect mixture of mechanics, atmosphere, and inspiration that I’ve always loved, and Panstasz has sewn it all together into a wonderfully unique—and horribly grotesque—experience. With that being said, it’s not perfect. There are additions that need to be made and bugs that need to be ironed out. Still, with what the game’s given us so far, I’m anything but worried about what the future holds for it.

Doomed from the Start

Hmm… now, where to start?

Unlike most horror games (and roguelikes), World of Horror doesn’t have anything resembling a continuous story. Instead, it opts to create a constantly morphing narrative based on each of the customizable elements chosen (either by you or the game) before the start of each run: character, backstory, timeline, and Old God. Regardless of what you pick, the main objective is always the same: you’re a resident of the Japanese seaside town of Shiokawa, and you’ve taken it upon yourself to solve local mysteries in order to stop a local cult from resurrecting an Old God.

As far as worldbuilding goes, World of Horror is absolutely phenomenal. While both Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft—WoH‘s two primary inspirations—have both been emulated in many different derivative works, I can’t say that I’ve ever seen them manifested as complementary parts of one another within the same story—let alone done so with such finesse. Using the Lovecraft-inspired Old Gods as the overarching threat of each run while using Ito as inspiration for the more “tangible” case-by-case mysteries not only has an incredibly natural feel to it, but also helps to ensure that players get to experience multiple sub-genres of horror all at once.

It’s also worth noting just how much World of Horror‘s artistic direction adds to the game. Sporting the look of a 1980s computer game, WoH treats players to a retro, and endearingly macabre, in-game universe filled to the brim with foreboding locations and unseemly characters. Aside from looking good, there’s also something to be said about how detail (or lack of) operates within the horror franchise. While realistic graphics are nice and all, more pixelated graphics, like WoH‘s, make much of the world appear more ambiguous, adding to the overall uneasiness of your adventures.

I love everything about World of Horror‘s setting. It does a great job with setup, and always provides players with a steady, satisfying stream of lore. But, I’ve got to be honest—I want more. While WoH is steeped in horror, RPG, and roguelike elements, it’s also very much a text-based adventure. And reading the same text over and over again can get a little stale after a while. Were this a normal adventure game, this wouldn’t be an issue, but the fact that WoH is presented in roguelike form means that you’ll be reading (or skipping) the same things over and over again. I’m not sure what, exactly, would be the best option to counteract this, but making sure that the game does something to ensure that players don’t get bored of the same stories over and over again isn’t something that should be overlooked.

Everything’s Connected!

Nice to “meat” you! G-get it…?

I’ve been dancing around the mechanics of this game since the beginning of this review, so it’s probably time that I actually dive into that. A majority of the game takes place through each of the five (or four, if you’re playing on easy) mysteries that need solving before you can prevent the Old God from being summoned. Naturally, the group of mysteries that you’re given is always random, but you can infinitely re-roll until you find a collection that strikes your fancy.

Despite being labeled “mysteries,” making your way through each of Shiokawa’s problems is mostly straightforward. In order to make it from start to finish you need to explore a specific set of locations in order, with the game appropriately guiding you and providing you with more of the story through each beat. Once you’ve gone everywhere you need to go, you’ll reach a final encounter. A good chunk of these encounters will be bosses whose deaths will bring an end to whatever havoc they’re causing. Other times, the story simply ties itself up with a bit of text. Regardless of what you end up with, though, it’s usually pretty unsettling.

Once again, I’ve found myself running into the same problem with World of Horror. Everything that’s there is great—but I want more. Sad as I am to say, there is very little change in how these stories play out from run to run. To the game’s credit, all but one of the mysteries have multiple endings—with one of them sporting a whopping five (more of those please). Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much effort to ensure that you get the ending that you want, and, once you learn the “trick” to obtaining each ending, you’ll be able to get whichever one you’d like on command.

I’ve already said it once, but I’ll say it again—I need more variation from you, World of Horror. The core idea behind suspense and horror is fear of the unknown. While that’s there in the beginning, this wears off very quickly. Doing things like randomizing certain parts of each mystery would do wonders for replayability or making certain routes/endings character-dependent would bring things to a whole new level.(which is already quite good

Every Step You Take, Every Move You Make

What say we stop fighting and I help you find a good dermatologist?

Fortunately, despite being straightforward, making your way from Point A to Point B within each sub-story is rarely easy. Each time you explore a new location, you’ll be presented with an event—or encounter—related to that area. And, with this being World of Horror, you can bet that most of these encounters aren’t going to be friendly.

The myriad events in World of Horror are incredibly rough on their own. As you journey throughout Shiokawa, you can expect to lose Stamina and Reason (the game’s two different kinds of HP), sustain injuries (which can be cured, but at a cost), accrue curses (which are permanent),  You can, and will, come across events that do things like restore HP, net you an item, or give you some pocket change, but these events aren’t nearly as common as their hostile counterparts. A lot of these so-called “good” events also come with drawbacks, making them more akin to a double-edged sword than anything else. Because of this, WoH ends up demanding that players manage their ever-dwindling reserves very carefully. On top of all of this, you’re also given a strict time limit for each run—measured by the DOOM level at the top of the screen—ensuring that you generally won’t be able to recoup your losses.

Dwindling sanity, open wounds, and a cursed visage aren’t going to do anything to help you along your journey—but where they really end up hurting you is in the game’s combat. Presented in turn-based form, the fights with the game’s many creepy-crawlies offer a surprising amount of complexity and an even greater amount of danger. While most fights are fairly formulaic, the amount of utility and defensive commands given to the player can, potentially, help you get by with the fewest scrapes possible—so long as you’re okay with them taking a while.

More… I Hunger for MORE

You’re probably sick of me saying it by this point, but I love this game. In fact, the only reason why I’ve been so critical on it is because I’ve enjoyed it so much. It’s come a long way, and I want to see it grow even more. World of Horror is phenomenal as both a video game and a horror experience, and I’m thrilled with everything that it has to offer so far. I don’t know where the game’s updates will be taking us, next, but I’m in it for the long run.

Final Verdict: 4/5

Available on: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC; Publisher: Ysbrid Games; Developer: Panstasz; Players: 1; Released: October 26, 2023; ESRB: M for Mature; MSRP: $19.99

Full disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher.