Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Lovecraft’s Untold Stories
Developer: LLC Blini Games
Publisher: BadLand Publishing
Genre: action adventure, RPG, rouge-lite, twin stick shooter
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 10 May 2019
Price: $14.99
Also Available On: Steam
I must admit, I barely know anything about HP Lovecraft and his body of work. Nonetheless, Lovecraft's Untold Stories, a rogue-lite game with RPG elements and full of references to the revered author's creatures and characters, is still a big hit for me. I might have not fully understood the lore and mythos of it all, but a good game is a good game, and I definitely enjoyed playing it.
The game is presented in a 16-bit retro-inspired style, but unlike most games that utilize this look, the game is mostly dark, as expected for a horror game. And the game does deliver in providing the overall feeling of isolation, dread, and insanity. The sound and music also make the ambiance and environment as creepy and horrifying as possible. Right on the get-go, this game breathes horror right on your face. Maybe it’s not as scary since it’s in 2D and pixelated, but I can’t imagine myself playing this game in the 90s. I would probably stick to my Marios and Zeldas, but I’m an adult now, and I’m not (too) scared anymore. With that being said, I haven’t tried playing this game in the middle of the night or in a dark room. Because of reasons.
Anyway, in this game, you control characters and traverse randomly-generated levels based on stories by H.P. Lovecraft. The levels consist of interconnected rooms (very similar to Enter the Gungeon). Some of these rooms have enemies, like zombies and other monsters, and you are required to kill them all before you can advance to the next rooms. Regular enemies usually don't drop loots but you can get different kinds items within rooms, like different kinds of keys, gold, healing potions and bandages, weapons, armor pieces, chocolate, and some special artifacts that are used to open special types of doors that would allow you to progress in the game.
The starting level is a huge mansion that will immediately give you Resident Evil vibes. At the very start of the game, you control the Detective (in succeeding playthroughs, you may use other characters (the Theif, the Professor, the Witch, and the Ghoul) that you eventually unlock as you progress in the game). You are tasked check to everything in the room for clues about… well, the game really doesn’t explain it to you, but as you check stuff like furniture, cabinets, statues, artifacts, etc., you get more and more info about the stories that surround the game. You also learn about different Lovecraftian monsters, and if you are able to piece together clues, you will have a slightly easier time in beating them. There are at least five big Lovecraftian baddies that you will encounter throughout the game, and they will kick your ass if you are not prepared enough.
The game features an insanity gauge that gradually fills up as you look into different stuff. Choose an incorrect decision and you get more and more insane, until it gets too much that you shoot yourself in the face with your shotgun. Whenever you die, you start the level at the beginning, and each time you do, the room arrangements and placements of enemies, furniture, artifacts, etc. get changed, but you should be keen enough to not choose the same decision that got you more insane the last time. You may choose not to mess with the investigatory stuff altogether, but no, you actually have to do it, because some doors would require special items to open them, and finding them is up to you. Also, as mentioned earlier, you have to deal with monsters that will immediately chase you down or shoot at you at first sight to kill you dead, so better be ready to kill as well.
Like in Enter the Gungeon, this game also features twin stick shooting: the left analog stick moves your character and the right one aims AND shoots at enemies. The D-pad buttons are mapped to equipped items, such as bandages, potions, and other items. The ZL button is for using equipped explosives and the ZL is for jump-rolling (again, similar to Enter the Gungeon). The L and R buttons are for switching weapons. Bullets are unlimited, but depending on the gun that you are using, you will have to reload either manually or automatically when you run out of loaded bullets. During this time, you are very vulnerable so you have to constantly move around to get away from enemies. Killing all the enemies in the room allows you to move on to the next ones. Most rooms have multiple exits, and it is up to you to choose which one to go next and hope that you survive it as well. You are not required to but it is very advisable to explore all of the rooms of a level to make sure that you get all of the items that you can possibly need, but you have to keep in mind that the inventory has a limited capacity and you may need to drop items that you won’t be using. Dropped items stay where you drop them, as far as I know, so you can get back to them if you have to. They are marked on the mini-map, along with the various exits (paths to rooms that are not yet explored are marked with a question mark so you’ll know which ones that you have yet to visit).
Overall, this game is one enjoyable one, especially to those who are fans of horror and most especially to those who are fans of HP Lovecraft’s stories. I wish I was one, but I enjoyed the game still, so it’s not really a requirement. The looks, sounds, and overall feeling of the game is really good. Plus you can play on the go on your Nintendo Switch, so that’s a double yey. So make prepare yourself and let Cthulhu and the rest of the Lovecraftian gang take you away on one scary adventure. Just be careful not to go too insane.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS
- Amazing 16-bit retro-inspired visuals and sounds that really contributes to the overall horror feel
- The rogue-lite elements make each playthrough unique and fresh
- Wide variety of enemy types
- Keeps you on your toes as you battle enemies and explore rooms to look for different kinds of items that will help you on your journey
- Good amount of customization options
- Lots of breakable items
- Thoroughly exploring rooms might result to discovering new stories and even secret levels
CONS
- The difficulty level is quite high, even on the easy setting
- Long loading times
- The spike traps on the floor of some of the rooms are hard to see, making it unfair sometimes
- The sound effects are sometimes delayed or completely absent on some scenarios; I’m not sure if this is a game feature but it’s a bit jarring at times
- Although the game plays well handheld, the Switch screen is too small to make out some of the details on the game, such as the aforementioned floor traps, due to the art style
RATING: 4/5 Calls for Cthulhu
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