This is trying something totally new, and yet something that relies heavily on the stylings of the ’80s. It’s a narrative-driven, rogue-lite, turn-based mishmash that oozes Lovecraftian cosmic horror and Junji Ito’s flavour of terror, the writer of Uzumaki and the short story Amigara Fault among many others, with its artistic flair and slow-build jump-scare horror that Ito perfected in his manga. Naturally, there is a lot to talk about, and with it being a rogue-like experience, it’s easier just to explain the premise rather than the story itself. As one of a small selection of characters, you must solve mysteries that are plaguing the town, and find keys to open the lighthouse, while fighting off apparitions, monsters, and trying to maintain your sanity.
It’s all a bit like playing something on an 80’s console or PC, with those low-res, yet very stylish and clear art panels. The interface is initially confusing, but the developer included a handy dandy tutorial mode that explains the areas as you use them, and explains battling once a fight begins. There is a lot to take in, and the difficulty is set to devilishly devious; a first play-through is almost guaranteed to end in failure, but if one takes it slow and try to observe the events, take in all the dialogue on screen, and play the battles strategically, everything will eventually click, and progressing will become a little easier. It’s not an unfair system but the luck side of things can often get the better of you.
Everything about this oozes atmosphere and retro charm, making its every second addictive. The characters each have their own look and feel (even though their inputs to the mysteries are not all that unique to them), and each is assigned a difficulty identifier, with the swim captain being the easiest “starter” character, who is pre-picked in the beginner pre-set route. It’s possible to set up a custom adventure, and that’s where this truly shines, letting players flex their intelligence and luck. Here there is a variety of choices to be made; from which main character to play, to which cosmic deity they will be struggling against. No matter how many times one will set up a custom adventure, failure was just a few clicks away. If there is one thing this game doesn’t do is pull its punches.
Gameplay is on a sort of loop. Begin a story, find the lighthouse, set up your character, and pick a mystery to solve. There will then be tips and areas to explore, and the closer you get to solving the mystery, the more dangerous things get. The first encounter in most stories is with a low level enemy that can be beaten by stacking some kicks and punches. Stacking attacks is how this battle system works. There is a bar to which the player can add moves such as use items, magic or physical attacks, and once the bar is full they can act out their list of commands.
It’s decently engaging, and allows for a fair bit of player agency of a kind rarely found in this type of dungeon crawling, turn-based battling affair. The general uniqueness of this system is engrossing, though most battles are again using a randomized luck system like a tabletop RPG so expect lots of mistakes and missed attacks to happen. Once the player has survived the encounters and events of the mystery, they will unlock a key, and can then go home and pick the next mystery.
With refreshing visuals, and a cool retro aesthetic, it’s amazing how much there is to find and experience in World of Horror, from struggling with spirits, to solving mysteries about weird viral deaths. It oozes insanity. This is all backed up with solid sound design, which while being in keeping with the established style, is just full of charm and atmosphere. It’s not an easy title to talk about, but it is definitely one worth praising.
Summary
World of Horror is a 1-bit love letter to masters of horror like Lovecraft, Junji Ito e Kazuo Umezu. It’s a brilliant take on the Japanese dark-folk culture.
