When playing horror games, I know the developer has done a good job when the atmosphere is so intense that I’m even glancing behind my back in the real world to double check the sounds I’m hearing are actually coming from the game. Wait, was that door opening noise coming from the game or behind me?
Croxel Studios taps into this fear in its puzzle horror game, Tormenture, where we take on the role of a child in the 1980s who has heard about a haunted video game of the same name which is supposedly responsible for several missing children. Our curiosity gets the better of us as we sit in our dark bedroom, ready to play Tormenture with a guide and notebook in front of us. In Tormenture, we will continously switch between the “real world” in our bedroom and the pixelated world of Tormenture, which has been heavily inspired by Atari’s 1980s classics, such as Adventure. However, as we become absorbed into securing the four relics and completing Tormenture, it turns out the rumours are true as it soon becomes clear that we are not alone in our bedroom…
I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the 8-bit Tormenture as much as the “real world” scares going on around us, but I was completely wrong. Croxel Studios has done a fantastic job at modernising Adventure. The starting area appears very familiar, taking place in the Adventure castle with the classic task of moving from room to room to pick up key objects so that we can defeat enemies and progress. Much like Adventure, we play as a simple square and can only pick up one key item at a time. We must then take that item to where we need to use it, avoiding enemies along the way. But once we’ve completed this tutorial segment in the castle, Tormenture opens up into a semi-open world which was not a part of the original game. This open world features a multitude of creepy NPCs, side quests and a ton of Easter Eggs to discover and collect.
As mentioned before, we are tasked with collecting four relics, each of which are found in one of the different themed areas and must be located by working out area puzzles, some of which overlap into other areas, and once we’ve made our way to the end of the area, defeating the boss using that area’s designated key item. The save points take the form of grandfather clocks which are dotted around the map and also replenish our health which consists of three hit points – red visual effects and a change in music will signal when you’re on your last hit point to warn you to heal up quick. Upon death, you respawn at the last grandfather clock you visited but any unlocked puzzles will remain unlocked.
There are a variety of different enemies in each area along with a neat selection of various tools you can pick up to solve the puzzles. Tormenture is very challenging, both in staying alive against enemies and also its puzzle solving. Especially when you take into account that the virtual and real world begin to collapse in on each other as we progress in the game, with solving puzzles around our bedroom often opening new paths in the 8-bit game. I do recommend taking note of anything that may be relevant when playing Tormenture as it can often get overwhelming to remember everything – in fact the wizard NPC also recommends this! With the amount of secrets to uncover, including a secret ending if all the Easter Eggs are found, I can easily see this being a fun game for completionists to 100% complete.
Tormenture is also one of the scariest horror games of the year. It does a fantastic job of building up the tension as we progress. We’ll constantly hear things moving around in the bedroom as we play and see reflections in the screen of our CRT television. There were some really intense moments where I found myself flinching away from the screen, knowing something horrible was about to happen. While there are a few jump scares, there are also plenty of other well-designed and unexpected moments and creative ways used to create terror. Though I will say that there are maybe one too many timed moments where moving through a certain area will trigger something happening in the bedroom. As we do a lot of backtracking in Tormenture, it was really easy to pick up on when these would happen and I wish the scares were a bit more procedually generated to make them less predictable as it broke the immersion somewhat.
In terms of visual and audio elements. While the graphics in the “real world” are fine enough that there’s not much to comment on, Croxel Studios also does a good job at enhancing the look of the 8-bit game while also keeping it recognisable as an Atari classic-like. Each area features a different colour palette to keep it interesting and all enemies have a distinct look so you know what to look out for when you come across them. As the visual elements are fairly limited due to the 8-bit graphics, most of the game’s character comes from its audio. Here is where Croxel Studios has really shined. On top of the great use of ambient and creepy noises coming from the bedroom, the in-game noises sound distorted and broken which gives it a very eerie feel. NPCs mumble in an off-note robotic tone, each area has a different soundtrack but, again, there’s something just not quite right about it. This all combines together to somehow make an 8-bit game seriously creepy despite the graphics limitation.
Overall, Tormenture is fantastic and I grew heavily invested in it. I absolutely love the challenging puzzles and it’s one of the few horror games that’s had me removing my headphones and bracing myself as I feel a build up towards a scary moment. The blend of the “real world” in the bedroom and the 8-bit game has been done seamlessly and they work really well with each other to ensure one part of the game isn’t given more attention than the other. I very much recommend this not just to those who got to experience the Atari 1980s classics when they were first released and are looking for a nostalgia hit, but to younger horror game fans too as there’s something for everyone in Tormenture.
Jess played Tormenture on PC with a review code.
