Felvidek is a surprising RPG set in a dark fantasy version of 15th-century Slovakia, with great art-style, nice combat, and a good balance of comedy and horror. The animations are especially great, both during combats, with detailed pixel art attacks, and cutscenes, including trippy and bizarre scenes. At the core, Felvidek is a JRPG with turn-based combats, where the characters must explore a small but rich open world. Moreover, Felvidek is full of secrets, hidden paths, and easy-to-miss secondary quests, everything to expand the characterization of the game even more.
In this grim historical world, you must be ready to face Hussites, Ottomans, and other human enemies in challenging turn-based combats. However, things will get a dark fantasy twist once the Cult is revealed, the main antagonist of the game. Every enemy has a specific color palette here. For example, the Hussites tend to be yellow while the Ottomans green. And purple is the color of the Cult and its bizarre members. In the beginning, the enemies are regular robe-wearing cultists, or more armed soldiers, normal humans associated with the Cult. Then, grotesque maws and eyeballs start to appear on the humanoid designs, creating a new breed of disturbing cultists. Later on, true abominations will join the Cult’s ranks.
A nightmarish being visiting the protagonist
Everything in Felvidek irradiates personality, from the art-style to the animations and unconventional characters. In fact, the protagonist is a drunk soldier always grinning and obsessed with reconquering his wife that cheated on him. Felvidek takes huge inspiration from Slovakia, from traditions to jokes and history. Even the language is heavily influenced by the Slovak.
In the following interview, I had the opportunity to interact with Jozef Pavelka, one of Felvidek’s creators with Vlado Ganaj. Together with Jozef, we will analyse the work behind Felvideks, its secret, and a possible future DLC.
Q1: Thank you, Jozef, for the opportunity to interact with you. Felvidek is one of the most interesting RPGs released this year. How did the development of the game start?
A1: The project originally started at SUTNARKA (faculty of design and art) as a visual exercise with the goal of creating a design for the exterior, interior, and a character that could traverse them. It snowballed from there.
Q2: What were your references and inspirations while developing Felvidek?
A2: It’s important to note inspirations differ for me and Vlado Ganaj, the writer of Felvidek, although there is a lot of overlap. My greatest inspiration was Teodor Schnitzer, Slovak graphic print artist. As for the games, Gothic, original Fallout and Hylics come to mind. Vlado drew a lot of inspiration from Slovak literature and movies.
Q3: How challenging was it to combine historical events and characters with more occult and dark-fantasy themes?
A3: Felvidek is not historically accurate educational material, even though a lot of research was made into the material culture and the events surrounding the story of Felvidek. We use the medieval setting more for atmosphere and visuals. Occult themes lend themselves for such environment.
A fortified cathedral… inside the belly of a monster
Q4: Felvidek has a very peculiar and interesting art-style, including animation, cutscenes, and the specific color palette for particular characters (for example, purple is for the Cultists). How did you define this specific style and color scheme?
A4: The style is a result of a dance on the intersection of digital and traditional graphics. I love exploring new ways of incorporating traditional printing techniques into digital art and vice versa. This approach to digital art was at the core of my academic studies.
Q5: Felvidek is a game completely rooted in Slovakia history and traditions. Which is your favorite legend or myth from Slovakia incorporated into the game?
A5: I love that we incorporated Hussites into the story. Most people don’t know that they were on our land in the 15th century, let alone the impact they had. Also a lot of Slovak memes, politicians and some jokes are referenced, in one way or another.
Even a well could hide a mystery
Q6: What instead about a myth or legend from Slovakia that you didn’t include inside the game? Thinking about it now, how would you include it in Felvidek?
A6: I won’t tell, for I would spoil a bit of our planned DLC.
Q7: Sharp knives, cheating, and a smile always on the face: the love story behind Felvidek is definitively a peculiar one. Could you comment on how this love story became a central element of the plot or helped to define the characters?
A7: Vlado needed a personal story for the characters to create an emotional reason for the plot to be driven, as opposed to the characters just investigating some unholy plot.
Is the main character finally kissing his wife?
Q8: Felvidek is full of secrets, sub-quests, and hidden elements. Which is the most hidden secret that you are proud of?
A8: I love the original interaction with Pištík you get when you approach him after you were robbed by Ida.
Q9: Eyeballs, maws coming out of the stomach, and fleshy demons: which is your favorite enemy?
A9: Has to be Numbnut. I mean, what a bloke.
Grotesque monsters slowly join the human enemies
Q10: We are very curious to know which are your future plans. Is Felvidek 2 a possibility or are you working on a different project?
A10: Right now I am working at Warhorse, but we are currently also developing a DLC for Felvidek with Vlado. I have plans on what to do after, but those are projects that will take up years.
Final Remarks:
I would like to thank Jozef for the nice opportunity and really interesting answers. It was very nice to learn more about the work behind Felvidek, and I am really curious about the future DLC. While waiting for the DLC, you can find Felvidek HERE.
Burggeist is one of this year’s best surprises, an action RTS with tower-defense elements, amazing world-building, and innovative mechanics. Burggeist looks like a lost Japanese PS2 game, a combination of the reflective open-world of Shadow of the Colossus with the disturbing characters of Drakengard.
The main character is Ignace, a magician working for a mysterious society. His wife was petrified by a mysterious illness, but when all hopes seemed lost, his daughter found a solution. Or better, Axiom, the demon communicating only through letters with Ignace’s daughter, found a solution. Only by building a tower to heaven, Ignace will save his wife. Finding a place to build the tower is easy enough, but protecting it from the hordes of Abhorers is another topic. Luckily for Ignace, the demon Burggeist, a titan bringing around an assault platform, will help him in the task.
Aliscans is a peculiar land, a mix of dark fantasy and medieval Europe. There are some hints of the real world, such as the Black Plague or some tribes. On top of that, Aliscans is a world of magic, hidden relics, and mysterious demons, with a lot of dark and deep lore. For example, demons can only be seen between the fingers of a kid’s hand. For this reason, several magicians implant a kid’s arm on their bodies. In Aliscans, building something too high is impossible, and will cause a horde of monsters, the angelic-looking beings called Abhorer, to appear to destroy it. Outside the common world, the Onion Universe exists, divided in Spheres which are possible to reach and influence each other, still based on the Solar System.
The world has several places to build a tower, and even if you need only a 5000m towers to move toward the end-game, building different towers will expand the game. In fact, when a tower is high enough, a character could come to visit it, starting a secondary quest with usually incredible rewards. And of course, all the characters are peculiar, bizarre, and in some cases disturbing individuals, reminding me of Yoko Taro’s games such as Drakengard or the first Nier.
In the following article, I will analyse some of the most peculiar and disturbing characters associated with secondary quests.
Marius
Marius is a mite and peaceful man, a farmer looking for a good place to live in this harsh world. He found the perfect house in a hidden spot, with even a field ready outside. However, he is worried that could be a trap and is here in the tower to ask for your help. Just to quickly check the house to see if it is a safe place. Sounds like the most common quest in an RPG, right?
Well, after reaching the house, you find the inside filled with growing tumors of flesh, swallowing the walls. If this could be just an encounter with a random monster inside the NPC house, the far terrifying truth is revealed inside a hidden note. Marius is not human, but a disturbing, powerful, and sinister entity. A proper Slenderman or Boogeyman hidden in sheep’s clothes.
Do not run from him, You must match his conversation, Do not mention what you know: these are only some of the pieces of advice hidden inside the note. Moreover, Marius is an entity that enjoys transforming humans into grotesque lumps of flesh with a simple touch. This explains the flesh growing inside the house. Marius is known as the Walking Cataclysm from Mars, an entity coming from the external spheres of the Onion Universe, a being only looking for destruction.
However, till the victim follows its plan, without giving signs of knowing the truth, Marius will not show its real face. Only metaphorically speaking, because Marius’ real face is a hole of meat. Luckily Marius has a weakness: flies. The entity dislikes flesh flies, creatures swarming dead meat and flesh, an anathema for this disturbing NPC. Flies can scare Marius away, but the Walking Cataclysm will bring its act somewhere else, since it is impossible to kill.
Iron Egan
A knight in full armor, Egan escaped the war and the Black Plague. However, while death and disease surrounded him, these are not Egan’s main concerns. Right now, he is terrified of his armor, since he is unable to remove it. However, the truth is even more terrifying, because the armor is not simply stuck on Egan’s body, but it is completely hollow inside. What happened to Egan’s body?
Well, the body disappeared because the cursed armor fed on it, and now the cold metal is the only body hosting Egan’s personality. However, in this condition, Egan is practically immortal, unable to die, and willing to change the world. When he will get tired of being alive, a Tempest of Mercury is the only natural phenomenon that could finally kill him.
Herzeleide
The Abhorers take different bizarre shapes, from sort of flower artilleries to flying balls with hands. They relentlessly attack any tall construction till it is destroyed to the ground. They especially enjoy targeting the colossal towers built by the protagonist, stopping only after being annihilated.
What the protagonist never expected to see was a humanoid Abhorer. Herzeleide looks like a doll, gorgeous, with pale skin, and good manners. Her only problem? Well, during the first meeting, she misses parts of her head. Other than being quite creepy in this state, she is not dangerous.
After recovering her missing fragments, Herzeleide will be complete again. She wanders around the land looking for her family, the purpose she needs to fulfill as Abhorer. Herzeleide doesn’t wish to destroy tall buildings, but only to look for her brother. Avoiding spoilers, her mission is crucial to the game.
Man in the Hole
The 26 Reciprocities is a mysterious blank book holding huge power. It is a sort of spell book based on palindromes, and to use it, people need to flip through two different copies of the book in opposite directions. If done correctly, a hole appears inside the book, connected to a peculiar pocket dimension. From inside the darkness, a young man with gigantic eyes stares back at the readers.
Simply called the Man in the Hole, this weird being is a relic of an ancient time, somehow connected to a previous humanoid civilization. The Man in the Hole is a being associated with wisdom, able to provide, twist, or deny knowledge. In fact, when the Man stares at the readers, several formulae and equations flash in front of it, highlighting its role as keeper of hidden and secluded knowledge. The Man doesn’t speak, only stares back. However, its power is so intimidating that even Ignace refuses to deal with it, offering the book to his master.
Aunty Halja
The world of Burggeist retains similarities with Dark Ages Europe, including the Black Plague and Witch Hunt. Usqiss is one of the last witches, the only survivor of witch-hunting. She is able to ride two flying brooms at the same time, but other than that, she doesn’t have huge powers. However, she always carries around a very disturbing souvenir of her past life. The head of her grandmother, Halja, who once was a great sorceress, now hanging from her granddaughter’s belt.
Halja was a very powerful witch, with huge black powers. While Usqiss brings around the head as a sort of charm in her quest for revenge, Halja still retains a fraction of her powers. In fact, when Usqiss is asleep, the head regains her conscience and can even speak. Halja provides real powers to Usqiss, even if she doesn’t realise it. Usqiss is obsessed with her revenge against the inquisitors, but the grandmother knows that she is only risking her life, thus, she is trying to stop her. This quest is full of contradictions and, while Usqiss will ask Ignace to find the inquisitors, Halja will ask him to stop her.
You can also have a look at all the cutscenes involving these peculiar characters in the following video from the Surreal and Creepy Games channel:
The last two entries of Yakuza/Like a Dragon series applied a revolution to the saga, switching from brawler to traditional JRPG. However, the insanity of the setting is also transported in this new format. Be prepared for the weirdest side quests and special attacks. And of course, mini-games are also back in its peculiar glory, from snapping photos of sickos to managing a resort island. The biggest mini-game in Infinite Wealth is surely the Sujimon, an actual parody of Pokemon featuring criminals instead of cute monsters.
The Sujimon started in the previous Like a Dragon only as funny reference to the bestiary and the enemies of the game. It is only in Infinite Wealth that the Sujimon go far beyond a joke, becoming a complex mode parodying Pokemon in everything. The player can now wander around the map hoping to capture enemies after a battle by offering them gifts. And of course, other trainers and an entire league are also present to fight. By collecting different Sujimon, the player can build their team and face challenging rivals. Moreover, Raids around the map offer complex battles against powerful Sujimon. Gacha tickets are also rewarded in different events, and they are essential to obtain random Sujimon. And since the parody goes all the way of Pokemon references, legendary Sujimon are also present in the game: the Kiwami Sujimon.
Before talking about Kiwami Sujimon, it is worth specifying a huge change in Infinite Wealth, compared to the previous games: the setting. In fact, Infinite Wealth is almost entirely set in Hawaii, a huge and exotic location quite far from the usual Japanese setting. The Hawaiian setting is also reflected in the enemies, now more rooted in this place. This also includes the Kiwami Sujimon, which appears as some sort of Hawaiian gods of nature, each of them connected to an element. But how players can “catch ’em all”?
Kiwami Sujimon are end-game enemies, which can spawn in Raids around the island but only after finishing the Gold League. However, even at that point, Kiwami Sujimon pose an insane threat, since they are level 60. Just to compare, the secret super bosses are level 54. So there is nothing close to them in terms of raw level in Infinite Wealth. Luckily, Kiwami Sujimon are not as scary as they look, and a well-prepared party in their fifties can easily defeat them. And even if you are not so well prepared, the most powerful summons (the Poundmates) are practically able to one-shot these Sujimon… at a high money cost. Moreover, if you are really lucky, by using Japanese tickets at the Gacha machines there is a tiny chance of getting the Kiwami Sujimon.
It is time now to have a look at the 5 Kiwami Sujimon.
Kiwami Red
The Kiwami Red is the Legendary Sujimon of fire, a devastating creature shaped around raw strength. Its skin is red with a heavily muscular body, highlighting its physical power. It also wears chains, spikes, and iron elements, including a fanged cage around the head, giving an even more intimidating appearance to this burning force of nature. During a fight, the slow nature of the creature is its only weakness. Defeating it before it unleashes the powerful physical and fire attacks is a must. As Sujimon, the Kowami Red is also pure power, a tank with the highest HPs, supported by high attack.
Kiwami Blue
Well, there are really few things here in terms of design. The Kiwami Blue is not very intimidating, with a minimal design, except for the long beard and the blue skin. The stereotypical “king of the sea” fights with a trident, as expected, using water magic. Also as an allied Sujimon, it is probably the least interesting Kiwami.
Kiwami Green
The Green Kiwami has an amazing design: a humanoid god with a parrot head, the perfect god of a paradise island. The silly yet fitting design reflects one of the most mysterious enemies in the game, one of the few inhuman designs. This Kiwami Sujimon is the only one unable to talk, in fact, after unlocking it, the signature sentence is only a parrot sound. During the battle, the Green Kiwami is an adversary far more challenging than expected. First, the creature is incredibly agile, meaning that it will surely start first. Second, the bizarre plant in the god’s hand is a very dangerous weapon, able to inflict with its pollen multiple negative statuses on every character. The player must defeat the enemy fast, or the party will be unable to do it due to the massive negative effects. As a Sujimon, the Green Kiwami is probably the fastest existing Sujimon, even if weak and fragile. Moreover, its special attack can heal the team.
Kiwami Gold
The Kiwami Gold is the most expected Hawaiian god in the design: a golden humanoid partially dressed in Hawaiian clothes and motifs. Well, it also goes a bit on the modern superhero trail with the “S” pendant and crown. The god of lightning will unleash an electric storm against the entire party, as expected. However, it doesn’t pose a great threat, and it is an easy adversary compared to other Kiwami Sujimon. As an ally, the Sujimon is of great support, incredibly fast as the Green Kiwami and slightly more powerful.
Kiwami Violet
The Kiwami of darkness has a killing design. With purple skin and a demonic face (or a mask), the Kiwami is an intimidating and mysterious being. Is it a human wearing a demonic mask, or an actual demon? During the fight, the Kiwami Violet wields a scythe, truly embodying the “Hawaiian devil” concept in every detail. Luckily for the player, the battle is easier than expected, since the Kiwami mainly attacks with the scythe. As an allied Sujimon, the Kiwami offers a great balance between speed and power, placing it as a mix of the Red and Green Kiwami.
Blue Reflection is one of the rarest games of the last generation, and also a very peculiar JRPG. At first glance, the title looks like a generic school-setting JRPG focused on fan-service. And yes, the game has many scenes of the protagonists in “unusual” situations, but there is also far more to that. While it is true that Blue Reflection is entirely set inside the school, with just some quick missions inside a parallel dimension, the game also shows pretty unique quirks.
The main protagonists are modern magical girls, using their powers to face some really disturbing enemies: the Sephirot. While waiting for the Sephirot’s arrival, the party must explore dungeons inside the mind of schoolgirls heavily disturbed by a feeling, till going insane. And if you think now we are getting to darker territories, let me just focus on how Blue Reflection has big vibes from Puella Magica Madoka and Evangelion.
The references to Madoka are pretty obvious: magical girls fighting disturbing beings, with the truth getting each time creepier. The Sephirot are instead the connection with Evangelion, and the main reason behind this article. Mysterious and powerful beings, there are only 4 Sephirot, and each of them is attracted to the school. The heroines need only to wait enough time till a Sephira shows up. And then, a dramatic battle begins. Exactly like for the Angels of Evangelion.
The Sephirot have a dark and intriguing design, which really stands out from the general “school-life” setting of the game. Moreover, every battle against these beings is extremely choreographic, a long collections of insane action and gorgeous attacks. Seriously, the game completely changes during these battles (which you can see in a video at the end of this article). Each Sephira will attack the school twice, and only in the second and most difficult battle they can finally be destroyed.
So without further introduction, let’s have a look at the 4 Sephirot.
Yesod
The first Sephira is probably the most grotesque and disturbing, a colossal mutant composed of multiple bodies fused together. The lower body is the largest creature, a four-legged mutant with a big and grotesque face. Nested inside the lower body lies another face, the smaller body, surrounded by many arms frenetically moving around. The main body towers above, a muscular and thin mutant with long tentacles instead of fingers.
Yesod appears shooting deadly beams toward the school. The creature will get closer and closer during the battle. From afar, Yesod will target the party with strong beams and explosions. The multiple bodies of the creature are also potential targets and, once all the different heads are destroyed, the main body will get weaker. However, there is few time to celebrate, because Yesod will quickly reanimate them. When getting closer, Yesod can attack by creating shockwaves by hitting the ground, or using a dangerous bone blade coming out of its body.
Cochma
This Sephira looks like a cross between a Gothic cathedral and a tank. Cochma walks around like a tank, a bizarre vehicle harbinger of destruction. Its secondary cannons look like pinnacles of a modern church, thin and pointy, but not less destructive. The main body seems more like a creepy skeleton, with a huge round mouth, which of course works as the main cannon.
Cochma uses its dozens of cannons to attack the party. Some cannons shoot direct projectiles, while others throw grenades. Moreover, hundreds of machine-guns are hidden inside holes in its body, and they can shoot all-at-once for a storm of bullets. The main cannon is of course the most dangerous attack, a massive weapon able to cause insane damage. Cochma’s cannons are divided into two sets: Eas and Wes (East and West?). By destroying them, the party can temporarily disable the cannons.
Tephereth
If you were looking for a closer connection with the insane geometries of some Angels in Evangelion, such as Ramiel or Arael, Tephereth is the closest link. Appearing as what could be described as a flying jewel, the Sephira is a golden creature emitting energy. When it appears, the skies become of unnatural colours.
The creature is a strong opponent, with different body parts able to boost attack and defence. Tephereth mainly attacks by throwing storms of darts and energy bullets, so many that will cover the battlefield with explosions. Moreover, its body can reassemble, like a mechanical being. This includes morphing the main body into a sort of chainsaw, to then crash into the battlefield.
Netzach
The last of the Sephirot has a rather simple design. Netzach is a sort of mix between a knight in heavy armour and a Gundam. The crystallised armour protects the creature, while a spear and a shield work both as weapons and extra protection. The Sephira has some sort of wings, working like a propeller and allowing it to fly around.
Without surprise, Netzach is the strongest Sephirot. Its weapons are both targets, called Drago, probably in honour to dragon-slayer knights. The shield can heavily buff its defence, while the spear can throw many attacks, including an energy beam. The Gundam-like appearance of the boss is also reflected in some attacks, including throwing arrays of missiles from the shoulders. The shield also works as a weapon, transforming into a circular saw. However, the most dangerous attack is when the spear becomes crystallised. The difficulty of this boss battle lies also in the ability of Netzach to inflict many negative statuses, including a deadly poison that will quickly bring a character to death.
In the following video on Surreal and Creepy Games, check all the battles against the Sephirot.
LISA is definitively one of the best indie JRPGs ever made, pushing the RPGmaker engine to an impossible edge. It doesn’t come as a surprise that other games took huge inspiration from this masterpiece. Gutter the Cursed is one of these games, set in a brutal post-apocalyptic town where brutality and comedy clash and merge. The combat system is also heavily inspired by Lisa, with combinations of attacks associated with more powerful skills. However, the similarities end here, since Gutter is a hidden jewel of open world and sandbox mechanics. While exploring the city, the player can attack everybody, from merchants to the bosses of the different factions. The game also features many secrets, endings, and two DLCs expanding the world with complex side stories: the Rejected, where the player is a failed clone, and the Perished, where the player is a ghost roaming the underworld.
A deep gameplay element of Gutter comes at the very beginning of the game: the backgrounds during the character creation. The player can decide between different origin stories, each coming with perks and bonuses. Some backgrounds will slightly change the game, making it easier or more difficult, providing unique weapons and skills. Now let’s check some of these examples.
Raised by Snake Charmers makes you fast and resistant to poison, while also providing a pet snake for your adventures: a weapon with 95% chance of poisoning the enemy. Feral Child increases the resistance against diseases and provides the perk Cannibalism, which unlocks special moves to bite the enemies, healing or inflicting bleed. Moreover, backgrounds slightly change when creating a male or female character. For example, a male character can become an Ugly Outcast, which makes you weaker while increasing the evasion rate. Instead, the female equivalent is a gorgeous creature, specifically the Beautiful Harlot, which is similar but also provides the perk Beauty. Other backgrounds only available for female characters are Tomboy and Circus Performer, which unlocks the special skill Throwing Knives.
Other backgrounds can instead drastically change the game, creating a completely different playthrough and affecting party characters. In such a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the main character can of course also be a sick psychopath. The Disturbed Mind background has a huge effect during the game since it affects your relationship with the other recruitable characters. Some characters will refuse to join your party, feeling the evilness emerging from your body. On the other end, another character will become recruitable only when the Disturbed Mind is available. When reaching the Theatre in the main town, the spectacle inside is terrifying. Mutilated bodies all around, but still alive, willingly allowing the dominatrix hiding in this place to hurt them: Malice. In a normal playthrough, this will start a complex battle against the insane woman. However, with Disturbed Mind, Malice will be mesmerised by your “evil aura,” joining the party. And of course, she is an extremely powerful character. It is very interesting that choosing a specific background, among more than 10 others, unlocks a new recruitable character.
While being evil or with a troubled but cool past is not new, the Special Mind background is definitively unexpected. In this case, this origin doesn’t allow any positive perk but will drastically change almost every dialogue inside the game. The main character has huge social impairments, altering the choices into incomprehensible mumblings. As the Abomination background for Gutter the Rejected (below), Special Mind is one of those backgrounds that offers a completely different experience, thus reserved for specific runs after finishing the main game. Every dialogue and choice is in fact far more difficult to understand, and it is difficult to comprehend where “poking your nose” could lead in the conversation.
In Gutter the Rejected, the first free DLC, the backgrounds will go in an even crazier direction. This time, the main character is a cloned experiment that wakes up inside a lab. Foreigner DNA was combined with a human host, creating a specific abomination. For example, having Alligator or Squid DNA in your body unlocks special moves. The main character will gain useful skills to use during the battles, respectively 50% resistance to every damage and tentacles to trick the opponents into falling to the ground.
The Werewolf is another background available in the free DLC The Rejected. Among the many monsters to choose from, the Werewolf is one of the most interesting mechanic-wise. While the main character is still a normal human, at least in appearance, the transformation is intrinsic to the gameplay. During the battle, the character accumulates Rage to perform special moves that, when reaching the maximum, will allow the metamorphosis into a werewolf by using War Form. While the form lasts, the character will gain an insane strength, allowing deadly attacks and combos.
If playing a hybrid clone borne from an experiment that went wrong is already an interesting choice, the Abomination is definitively the most intriguing background of Gutter the Rejected. The Abomination is a grotesque creature borne from pure darkness. The main character will receive incredible powers, including strength, HPs, and special attacks. However, almost every character will be terrified of the Abomination. By playing this background, the player will lose access to many secondary quests, since the secondary characters will be terrified by the Abomination. Some of them will simply refuse to talk, while others will attack the player at the first dialogue. Moreover, the human party member refuses to join the Abomination. This background drastically changes the game, creating a really unique evil playthrough… maybe for a “kill them all” run.
The last DLC, Gutter the Perished, brings the post-apocalyptic RPG into the afterlife. In this DLC, the main character is already a ghost, who now roams the afterlife fighting ancient phantoms while discovering the reason behind their murder. While the underworld can be explored as the main game, roaming the land of the living plays as small puzzles, where you can use ghastly powers or possess people to unlock the next steps of the case. And of course, spirits from different parts of the world are available as background. The ghosts have different skills during the fight, and can solve the puzzles with their specific powers. For example, a Banshee can obsess people with creepy talks, sending them crazy, while a Jinn can enter inside the dreams of sleeping characters. Other ghosts can instead mess with the environment. A Revenant can hijack electric devices… including robots, which can become killing machines. The Yokai are the most interesting ghosts, able to appear in the human world with different forms, from a tiny messy rat to a fearful werewolf.
Gutter the Rejected was released few weeks ago. Meanwhile, I hope for another future DLC to see which other crazy backgrounds will be available.
Being stalked by a creepy serial killer is always one of the biggest scares in movies, but also in video games. Even more, if that killer is a grown man dressed as a baby. Several games tried to replicate the feeling of 70s-80s Slasher movies, but not many tried to be truly sandbox or open world. This is when the Lakeview series moved exactly in that direction. Lakeview Cabin and its sequel are incredibly addictive homages to slasher movies. Each level works as an independent horror movie, with different rules, characters, and of course killers. Lakeview Cabin 2 brought this to the next level, creating a violent rogue-like Mad Max-inspired level, and another focused on time travels… and a colossal killer chicken. The great idea behind this game is leaving the player to figure out everything on their own, without much guidance. This while offering the total freedom of interacting with every object to create impossible combinations and traps. Seriously, the player has a sandbox movie to experiment with dozens of strategies to stop the killers.
Lakeview Valley is a departure from the main series, providing a more connected story, deeper RPG elements, and an even more open-world structure. This time, morality is your only limit, as you can be the most nefarious murderer that this peaceful town has ever seen. Or not, maybe you can just attend your garden and help the townspeople. In fact, Lakeview Valley was described as a “murderous Stardew Valley,” where you can kill everybody but still improve your house and garden. But this catch is not the only identifying element of Lakeview Vally, because the game is full of lore, secrets, and gameplay elements. Seriously, between a hellish pocket dimension accessed by sleeping in a bed, weird characters judging your actions, and a day/night cycle bringing huge (and dangerous) changes during the night, the game has a lot to offer. Oh, and did I forget to mention time loops? Have a look at my analysis to have an idea: A peculiar and violent hell in Lakeview Valley: power-up while murdering and send the town to Hell [Evil Quests]
The town is alive and full of characters, each with a specific task and secret to discover. Sure, you can murder everybody, but can you do that without being incriminated by the sheriff? Because this is also an ending in Lakeview Valley. Plus, dark creatures will reward the player with special powers for each homicide. Seriously, there is a lot to talk about, but you can read better in the article Towns with a Dark Secrets, also featuring Lakeview Valley: Towns with a Dark Secret: the most hermetic, cryptic, and bizarre communities at the core of open-world games — Surreal and Creepy
Roope Tamminen is the developer behind the Lakeview series, including Lakeview Valley. Both Lakeview Cabin games are great horror games that are pure fun to play (that you should try!), but for me, Lakeview Valley has a special place, a niched and hidden gem. For this reason, in the following interview with Roope, we will focus more on Lakeview Valley. Of course without forgetting about his influences and future directions. Together with Roope, we will discover the secrets behind Lakeview Valley, a game with an important and unexpected message intrinsic to its development. If you are curious to know more, I suggest you read the following interview.
A battle for the soul of the city is ready to begin
Q1: Thanks, Roope, for the opportunity to discuss with you. Lakeview Valley was a huge surprise, a game really full of lore, secrets, and many things to discover. How did you decide to go toward a more open-world structure compared to Lakeview Cabin?
A1: How I choose my projects varies a lot, but I’ve noticed that a big part of my decision making comes from what I felt was “lacking” in my previous release, be it a gameplay element, or something in my own workflow. So for instance, Lakeview Cabin games don’t have written dialogue. So I had this creative urge to try my hand at writing conversations, so I already knew that my next game would be very text-heavy.
From a technical standpoint, I was basically just testing out some of the new 2D tileset tools for Unity, that weren’t available for the engine version used in Lakeview Cabin. And that initial prototype just grew and grew, until it was very clear that it was going to be an actual game.
So while I like to act that I’m just shooting from the hip when it comes to decision making, its actually a mix of careful planning and allowing my day-to-day feelings affect the “art” part of it all.
Q2: Maybe it was just me, but I had huge vibes from Harvester (which I found great) while playing the game. Which were your main influences for Lakeview Valley?
A2: Yes I’ve hear that before! But it’s actually been a bit embarrassing for me to admit that I had not heard of Harvester until someone made that same connection. I grew up in the 90’s as a video game loving kid, but somehow that had slipped under my radar, even through my teenage years of trying to find the darkest games possible after the introduction of The Internet.
But I generally try to get my influences from outside the world of video games. While the gameplay itself might be easily recognizable as some genre of game, I try to think of it as more of a pastiche to frame my own feelings, or just to channel some inspiration I’ve felt while consuming other media.
So back to the actual question, Twin Peaks played an obvious part. Groundhogs Day made an appearance in my mind a lot… I also read the entirety of Berzerk manga during the development, which influenced a lot of the decisions regarding the underworld.
But other than just films, books and music, I also wasn’t in the best possible place mental health wise during the development. I’ve been a depression subscriber since my earliest memories, and while it may sound kinda cliché, I do pour a lot of that into my work as a sort of therapy. But I still think Valley got the brunt of it, and in hindsight I’ve realised that the game as a whole is this sort of a metaphor for how depression feels, at least for me. An endless loop through life where nothing really matters, where evil seems to be rewarded and every good deed will be forgotten in a week or so.
Q3: From Babyface to Piggy, the disturbing serial killers, present especially in Lakeview Cabin, became pretty iconic. If you were given the option of directing a slasher movie about one of your killers, which one would you select and why?
A3: That’s an interesting concept to think about… If I had to pick just one of the enemies, it would have to be Babyface. A grown man in a nightgown and a babymask has some serious cinematic potential. But of course, if Lakeview Cabin ever made a jump to the silver screen, Red would have to be the main character, and his questionable morals could make for some interesting tension building. So there’s more room for him to grow as an anti-hero. But the most interesting thing about it would be trying to adapt something that already parodies the thing you are adapting it into. So the movie would need to be self-aware, and play with the slasher film tropes in some clever way, and while that sort of thing has been done many many times, especially in the slasher-genre (X, Tucker & Dale, Cabin in the Woods, Happy Death Da-this list could go on and on…), I still feel like there is an approach that would work in Lakeview Cabins favour, with the amount of fourth wall breaking I like to do…
But yeah, It’s not like I have thought about this that much, not waiting for a call from A24 at all…
Babyface in all his “innocence”
Q4: Changes during the night, hidden treasures, and a bed that literally drags you to hell: the town of Lakeview Valley is full of mysteries. Which was, according to you, the most secret and difficult-to-discover element that you hid in Lakeview Valley?
A4: You know… The whole development ended up becoming quite a challenge to finish, I remember frantically jumping from one thing to another to get everything connected, adding references to tiny little things that might explain a question someone might have… And in all of that crunch, some stuff might not have ended up working as I had intended.
Which brings me to one specific thing that a lot less people have mentioned than I initially expected, and that has to do with Morgos past, and how he came to be the way he is when you meet him. There’s a hidden storyline involving his affair with Mary, who’s death is mostly only hinted at.
So I did a cutscene of her dying in labor while giving birth to a giant fly, Morgo’s new form. I think I did it as tastefully as possible, but I still expected more players to mention it. Even if only for the fact that it adds some tragedy to Morgo’s character, since he only wanted to come back from the underworld to be with Mary again.
Morgo doing what Morgo does best
Q5: Lakeview Valley doesn’t go soft in allowing the player to do some very evil deeds. What was your most evil action when you were testing the game? Was there a character that you “preferentially” chose as the murder-testing victim?
A5: I think my most evil act might’ve been just making the game? Well maybe not, and actually there is a reason Little Bobby comes to your home more easily compared to other NPC’s. It helped me test things more easily, so he definitely got the worst of every possible weapon in the game.
He is also a completely despicable character by design, so he probably gets killed the most by every player. I tried to add an aspect into every NPC where it subtly makes you want to kill them, but in Little Bobby’s situation there is nothing subtle. He is there to nudge you into playing the game how it is meant to be played. But as a slap to the players face, he is the only villager who seems to thrive in the underworld, even though he is the one you want to suffer the most.
Not even Hell can stop Little Bobby
Q6: During the night, the town definitively shows its creepy side, with huge changes not only in the threats but also in the townspeople. How did you develop the night world and what were the rules behind its creation?
A6: Not so much rules, but I do remember thinking of it in terms of the themes of the story elements. There is this overlaying theme of becoming something else, wearing a mask to fit into the society. How we all have a hidden side, or maybe something we aspire to be, but can’t show to the world. And that’s presented in the game with actual metamorphosis happening, with people turning into an animal form after escaping from the underworld, or appearing as butterflies during the night.
But the moths themselves that appear… While thinking about animals and insects, I started to think about what insect has given me the biggest heebie jeebies during my life. And I remembered how I really hate that frantic fluttering of a moths wings… Gives me chills just thinking about them. What’s that about then?
This is a typical scarecrow during night-time
Q7: The Preacher, the Dweller, or the Scarecrow: the town of Lakeview Valley is full of disturbing and mysterious creatures. If you have to define the iconic “cryptid” for the town, which creature will you choose and why?
A7: While in a way the most plain of them all, I still like the Dweller. I like the simple aesthetic, and how he/her/it kinda emulates the frantic fluttering I mentioned earlier.
But the main thing is how the Dweller is my way of explaining why the game works like a game. In the end, every single game ever made is a groundhogs day situation. You can always try again. So the Dweller is my attempt to explain that very simple game “rule” that everyone knows, and give it some reason and connection for the player. There is a lot of fourth wall breaking in the Valley, with its endless time loops and talks of infinite possibilities. In the end, the player itself is indicated of being the main reason why all of this evil is happening. All because they want to play the game, and how it only exists while it is running.
The Dweller whispering under your bed
Q8: The Upper League is a group of especially evil creatures wandering the town. How was this evil league born? Were there other possible members during the development?
A8: It might’ve been this subconscious urge to create this sort of “villain team” after reading Berzerk, and being a huge fan of the Metal Gear series. I don’t think any of them were left on the drawing board, I tried to design each monster as something that might compliment the other ones, in areas that they might be lacking.
The whole human/animal-hybrid thing also played nicely into the themes of evil being rewarded in this universe, by having the worst of the people become even more powerful beasts. The animal inside of us being shown to the outside world.
Q9: Are you thinking of developing a sequel or a side story for Lakeview Valley?
A9: It does sometimes cross my mind, thinking of what a sequel might include and how I might be able to surprise the player. But in the end, I’m also happy to leave it as it is. In a way, it’s already a “spin-off” from the main series. So I’d much rather make something new in the universe instead of a straight up sequel to Valley.
Lakeview Cabin 2 already continues some of the story elements, some characters from Valley return, but for now the Lakeview-universe will stay as it is. Although I do tease where the series might be going, in Lakeview Cabin 2’s epilogue…
Q10: According to a recent tweet, your next game could be totally different, including not being related at all to Lakeview. Could you give us some hints about your future directions?
A10: Yes indeed! I talked earlier about how I’m choosing my projects, and how the previous project affects the next one. And right now, it is the Lakeview itself that I need to get away from. So my next game won’t have anything to do with the Lakeview-series, I guess in a way to prove to myself that I have more in me.
So I’ve been working on my take on an immersive sim. In a nutshell, your goal is to escape from a prison in 1700’s France. It’s a complete departure from my previous games, and it’s evolving into this fusion of old school point & click adventures and more modern type idle-clicker games. A point and clicker? All I know that I’m very excited about it, and I’m happiest I’ve been creatively in a long time!
Final Remarks:
I would like to thank Roope for the nice opportunity and really interesting answers. I didn’t expect that there was such a personal journey behind Lakeview Valley, and now that I can see it, I appreciate the game even more. And I cannot wait to see what the 1700’s France prison game will be. While waiting for Roope’s next game, you can find Lakeview Valley and the recently released Lakeview Cabin 2 respectively HERE and HERE.
Let me start by saying that, usually, you don’t see here many phone-only games. However, Phantom Blade Executioners (PBE) is one of the few exceptions since this game surprised me in every aspect. The art-style is simply gorgeous and effective, the lore and the setting are truly original, the enemies are disturbing beings, and even the plot of each episode is intriguing and captivating!
But let’s start from the beginning. PBE is an action RPG set in a dark fantasy version of ancient China, a world shaped by many sects and religious orders, each with personal doctrines and values. The world is shaped by the Sha-Chi energy, a force flowing into special people and great martial artists. By dominating this force, people can achieve incredible powers. But the world of PBE is not only shaped around the Sha-Chi, but it also features steampunk elements. Specifically, mech masters and automaton are also common in this world, disturbing humanoid beings and weapons created by ancient artisans. What happens when you combine the two elements? Ordinary people looking for powers tried to invest mechanical devices inside their bodies to generate artificial Sha-Chi energy: the Sha-Chi Mod. If it is true that these people achieved incredible powers in the blink of an eye, long exposition to the Sha-Chi Mod mutates the owner’s body into a grotesque and mindless abomination.
While the Sha-Chi Mod is typical of end-chapter bosses, the automatons part of the steampunk side of the game are pretty common enemies, with a killing aesthetic and disturbing design. The first enemies are gigantic automaton axe-man, deranged maniacs with porcelain-like skin. Other automatons are instead smaller figures, for example, the insane pyromaniacs throwing bombs, which according to the lore are very well-selected people turned into mechanical beings. There are also female automatons, in the shape of musicians playing the lute with six arms, able to play a deadly melody and levitate above the ground.
But if mechanical men and women are not that disturbing, wait to see how creepy are the automaton kids. And the iced mountain in episode 3 is full of creepy automaton kids. They have small bodies and far bigger heads, looking like parodical creatures, with gigantic grin smiles on their faces. Even if only slightly different, there are both boy and girl versions of these automatons. The kids can be recruited as Phantoms, entities summonable by the player. Their cards are completely missing details, which are instead only summarized in creepy laughs such as “Muahahah” or “Ehehehe,” highlighting the maniac side of these synthetic kids. But how were they created? According to their official biography, “Kids with worry-free faces have the most innocent smiles. No one bears to kill a child with an innocent smile.” So yes, these smiling kids were created so that people would lower their guard, and they would easily kill even the strongest master.
These kids attack like bandits, using small weapons and vomiting a toxic gas. They are not so strong enemies when alone, but their strength in numbers can create a lot of problems. And since the kids also have automaton mothers, the mountain is swarming with them. The Imp Mother is a creature with an incredible design. A sort of female mechanical witch standing on top of a gigantic cauldron, with several arms going out from it, and also helping it to move around like arachnid paws. In combat, the Imp Mother throws toxic swamps all around, but that is the least problem since the mother also generates the automaton kids. The reason behind her summoning is especially creepy. Long ago, the Imp Mother lost her children. Since then, she has been kidnapping human children every 10 days, to then turn them into automaton kids. But she is never satisfied with their mechanical love, hence, she continues to kidnap more children.
Why is the mountain full of mechanical mothers and progenies? Everything is related to the sect of female fighting monks living in the mountains. The sect was fighting in favor of justice but had very strict rules regarding the chastity of the members. One day, a powerful woman, and the favorite candidate to become the next master, fell in love with a man. In secret, she became pregnant, and then the man disappeared. Waiting for his return, while keeping secret the pregnancy, the woman suffered alone. Betrayed by a close rival, the woman was persecuted by the heads of the sect. And she was forced to lose the child. After disappearing, mad from the tragedy, she accepted the gift of Sha-Chi Mod, and used her new powers to create a colossal automaton infant. A surrogate child to pursue her revenge against the sect. The story is more twisted and complex, but I am trying to avoid too many spoilers.
During her boss battle, the woman will literally ride the gigantic child from inside its huge broken head, while the baby crawls around trying to kill the player. Every boss battle inside the game is epic and visually striking, but the gigantic baby of the third chapter is definitely the most unexpected and creepy boss battle. The crawling automaton infant is the largest automaton inside the game, and the most terrifying but also sad being. But there is another gigantic kid automaton missing from the list, even “younger” than this one and unable to crawl. However, to meet this creature we must leave the cold mountains toward an experimental hospital.
The last baby automaton is another colossal being, obese, and disturbing. The chubby creature is an experiment, always hiding its deadly power behind an innocent facade. The Chubby Doll has a very weird and disturbing story, hidden inside its Phantom description once unlocked as a summonable ally. The creature has a huge complex of inferiority, hating people for considering it dumb and goofy, but too slow to crush them while following the hate. Sad of being unable to rip apart fast people like ants, the Cubby Doll discovered that in some rare moments, it could become very fast. So fast to crush and rip people having fun of it. During the fight, the doll will alternate between two attacks. The first is maniacally crying on the ground, damaging all around. The second one is much faster, probably its “haste,” where the baby will jump in the air to then crush the player beneath. The obese creature is unable to move, and will simply stay there. However, due to its insane HP pool, defeating the Chubby Dolls is not trivial.
The world of PBE is an amazing and complex scenario, full of disturbing elements and pieces of lore to discover. The automaton kids are a small part of it, and I hope to see more of this intricate world in future updates.
Lobotomy Corporation is probably the closest example to a SCP game, without being exactly based on any SCP. The Korean game is a management simulation where the player is in charge of developing and maintaining an electric company. However, there is only a small caveat in this job: the company generates energy from imprisoned anomalies. From abnormal fairytales to grotesque abominations, the facility has more than 70 different creatures to work with. And the more incomprehensible and dangerous an anomaly is, the higher the energy produced. Lobotomy Corporation is a game imbued with lore, where every anomaly has tons of information to unlock by understanding and interacting more with them. However, the smallest error could lead to catastrophic reactions since the anomalies can breach their cell to bring havoc in the facility. […]
The Slit-mouthed Woman (or Kuchisake-onna) is probably one of the most famous Japanese urban legends. The creature is pretty old and part of the variegated supernatural Japan background as much as any other Yokai or Onryo. The most official source for the Slit-mouthed woman is a newspaper article in Gifu prefecture dated back in 1979. Then, more articles about the creature started to spread, almost causing panic across Japan. Other references connect the Slit-mouthed Woman with the victims of horrible crimes back in feudal Japan, making her a proper Yokai.
Regardless of her origin, the story and the appearance are pretty much the same. The Woman looks normal, the only peculiar element is a mask covering her mouth, often a surgical one. In Japan, face masks were always very common, long before the advent of COVID-19. However, there was probably a time back then when it was still not so common to see people around wearing it, thus creating this urban legend. After the mask is removed, the Slit-mouthed Woman will show her terrifying face, with a big and carved mouth, often depicted as full of pointed teeth. The creature always carries with her a blade, such as a knife or scissors, which she uses to kill or disfigure her victims. When encountering a victim, the Slit-mouthed Woman will ask if she is pretty. If the victim agrees with her, she will carve the victim’s mouth to create the same disfigured smile. Instead, if the victim answers negatively, the Slit-mouthed Woman will simply slice the victim’s throat. Possible ways to escape from this terrible fate include giving a more generic and neutral answer. The Slit-mouthed Woman can also be driven away by showing her a distraction, such as throwing candies or money on the ground.
The Slit-mouthed Woman appears as the first case in the horror-adventure World of Horror. The game has an interesting 1-bit art-style and features deadly mysteries to solve and disturbing creatures to defeat (you can have a glimpse of the bestiary here: The most disturbing eldritch creatures from the bestiary of World of Horror). World of Horror takes huge inspiration from Japanese folklore and horror mangaka such as Junji Ito or Kazuo Umezu. It then comes without surprise that creatures from Japanese urban legends are also widely present in this game. In fact, the Slit-mouthed Woman is the first boss encountered during the tutorial. The mystery is set inside a school where brutal murders are happening, caused by a woman wielding a pair of scissors. The Scissor Woman here is more of an eldritch curse, a being materializing from dense smoke to massacre people, to then disappear to curse another place. To stop the Slit-mouthed Woman, it is necessary to find the correct elements of a ritual and to draw the perfect glyphs on the blackboard. By doing this, the player can face a normal version of the Slit-mouthed Woman, a very simple battle in a usually complex game. The Scissor Woman will take shape from black smoke as a tall woman wearing a raincoat and wielding a pair of scissors. The creepy detail? Her head is composed of three different heads, lined up vertically and connected by a continuous twisted and grin smile. However, the interesting detail is that this is only one of the four different versions of this boss.
For example, if the player fails to perform the ritual, a more eldritch version of the Slit-mouthed Woman will manifest. And this will be a tougher battle. The Horror Slit-mouthed Woman is a far more difficult enemy, the true eldritch essence of this monster not weakened by the ritual, with more attack power and HPs. Her face is more twisted and evil, even far less human, with void eyes or even multiple eyeballs in her faces. Defeating this strengthened version will award a special weapon, her Cursed Scissors, the second most powerful weapon in the game but with the downside of having a small probability with every attack of fastening the coming of eldritch gods. Defeating the Horror Scissor Woman also unlocks the Ending B. Both versions of the Scissor Woman can also permanently disfigure the main character by carving her characteristic creepy smile on their face.
The third version of the Scissor Woman is very peculiar to face because it is completely related to another case. This mystery is a long investigation involving mermaids, creatures from the depths, and the mad school janitor. During the final face-off with the janitor, one of the options to survive without fighting the boss is to burn down the school. Yes, a very drastic option that will damage the main character but also opens a new possibility. In fact, if you then have available the Scissor Woman’s case and you play it after burning down the school, the game will remember this event. While exploring the ruins of the school, you will face the Burned Scissor Woman, a modified version of the Horror one with fewer HPs but even higher damage. Her design is similar to the Horror one, but in this case, her skin looks almost melted.
The last version of the Scissor Woman can only be challenged when selecting Timeline B upon creating a custom scenario. Timeline B is a more difficult playthrough, and it will often open to new boss battles in previous cases. Regarding the Scissor Woman, by playing Timeline B you can face the Ghost Scissor Woman. This is by far the most challenging and eldritch design. Losing any human appearance, the Scissor Woman is now only a towering pile of heads, twisted and grotesque, spiraling around in a mix of grin smiles and eyes opening inside the hairs. Every face will be maddening whispering “Am I beautiful?” with different tonalities. This time, the Scissor Woman is not a tangible being but a Spirit. In this case, a proper battle is impossible, and the player should find the correct combination of Bows and Claps to complete the ritual and exorcize the Ghost Scissor Woman. Failing the ritual unlocks Ending D, which implies that the ethereal form of the Scissor Woman can possess and control other people, marked by the creepy smile.
Shattered Heaven is a deck-building RPG set in a grimdark world where God was murdered, and now humanity is paying the price for this sin. Humans live only till 40 years old and cannot reproduce if not by winning a brutal trial. Every 10 years, each tribe sends a Vestal and two Guardians to join this brutal trial, under the suspicious eye of a reborn Divine Child. The lore and the world are truly amazing, well-thought-out, and original in every detail, including the disturbing enemies. In the following article, I will analyze the setting and the creatures inside Naraka, the first dungeon of the game.
Cintamanya is the jewel of Sentia, one of the four tribes, a city made of gems and paintings. Sentians are obsessed with preserving memories and history, for this reason, they build the colossal Chantry. This palace is a special place where each room is dedicated to preserving a memory or an event. However, Cintamanya has a problem: it is built around a gigantic hole called Naraka. The abyss is inhabited by malevolent undead creatures, which are luckily trapped in there. But something else is resting at the bottom of Naraka, something far more malevolent. The Divine Child sent all the Vestals and the Guardians to discover the secret of Naraka, but none of them returned. And it was because of Eris, the most powerful Vestals of Sentia.
Naraka is a deep abyss, with colorful alien flowers scattered around, created from the powerful illusions of Eris’ powers. A gigantic building, the False Cathedral, protected by illusions, is the only human-built structure inside Naraka. The undead creatures are here reborn and morphed into twisted beings mixing flora and fauna. Animal or insect anatomy here mixes with tree elements, such as branches or leaves. Porcelain faces are also another common element inside Naraka, but this could be in fact an alien element since porcelain is often associated with the extinct Gods. The inhabitants of Naraka all have Latin names characterizing them, and the place shows other classic connections, especially since Naraka is also the name of Hindu Hell.
Discover in the following analysis the peculiar creatures inhabiting Naraka, and the story of her creator, Eris the Betrayer.
Clamoris
Clamoris is a truly disturbing enemy. She looks like a human female, a sort of holy vestal dressed in an elaborate vest, an extra pair of arms… and with their face in her hands. In fact, under the hood covering the head lies nothing, a void hole full of shadows where the face should be. The real face in their hand has a void or sorrowful expression, an emblem of Naraka’s atmosphere, a place of death and fake blossom. Moreover, the face is imprisoned inside a bird cage, another symbol of the dramatic situation inside Naraka. This shade of her past self, Clamoris in Latin means noise. Coming from the name, her main form of attack is Deafening Scream. The head will disturbingly scream, with an insane and terrified expression, damaging the entire party.
Sanies
Insect traits are a common feature between some of the creatures inside Naraka, including the bosses. Sanies (meaning something like “pus” or “poison”) is a mantis-like creature that strikes using its blade arms, with a powerful single-target attack called Lacerate. Sanies exhibits a long tail, more similar to a lizard or a dragon than an insect, while the face is a hollow porcelain mask. As previously specified, in the world of Shattered Heaven, porcelain is a connection with the murdered Gods, something that works like a spreading disease, infecting and sending creatures crazy. However, the most peculiar detail of this creature is the three swords in its thorax, a crude reminder that the creatures inside Naraka were once humans killed in battle.
Young Silva
Regardless of the innocent name, Young Silva is a grotesque abomination. The creature’s base is clearly a deer, an animal symbol of forests, but where something got really wrong. While the lower half is “normal,” the creature separates where the neck should be into an unidentifiable and amorphous abomination. A set of fleshy tendons connect the main body to a grotesque mass of fused pawns, like an aberrant bouquet of fur and hooves. The creature has few HPs but with a very high shield, and it can inflict heavy damage on multiple characters with its Innocent Whisper. The creature is clearly a symbol of nightmarish wildlife, where the initial idea was to imitate a peaceful and beautiful deer, but the final result turned into pure horror.
Incubi
Rarer creatures strongly connected with the floral theme of Naraka, Incubi are translated as “Nightmares.” A mix of wood and mud, Incubi appear half-fused with the ground in a sort of brown puddle. The upper half of their bodies is more solid, creating a tree-like architecture. The most creepy detail is surely their faces constantly hidden behind shadows, with only the shape of three eyes visible. Incubi are strong and deadly foes, able to attack the entire party by moving their liquid arms underground. Their attacks will also fill the deck with cursed Hexes cards, making not only that battle, but the entire dungeon notably more difficult.
Oblitus
This creature is another merging point between flora and fauna. In fact, it exhibits a four-legged anatomy, with flowers and branches emerging from its face and back. Interestingly, porcelain is also visible as a mask on the creature, and the branches look like they are trying to destroy the limitations of this mask. The Oblitus is extremely skinned and the body looks almost ill, but it should not be underestimated. Oblitus can shield and power up with the Chant of Naraka, and have an extremely powerful single-target attack.
Aurum
The apex predator of Naraka, the Aurum is a powerful creature able to support all the others, and showing an incredible design. Aurum means “Golden” in Latin, and the name is reflected in the royal design. Aurum has a golden crown, a cape, and paraments, as if it was the royalty inside Naraka. The porcelain head, so common in Naraka’s inhabitants, this time exhibits multiple faces. Tree-like elements are incorporated into the main body of the creature, which consists of a twisted root spiraling around and forming what looks like the staircase of a palace. Aurum is a dangerous foe with a lot of HPs and shield points, able to power up and protect the other enemies. Its most powerful single-target attack is called Golden Blight. There is also a stronger variant called Vox Aurum, the “Golden Voice.”
Sigurd, The Lost Guardian
Sigurd is the first boss inside the depths of Naraka. Eris’ last knight still alive, he is a dramatic and romantic figure, on the edge of death but still focusing on saving his queen. This tragic knight is also the last element keeping Naraka’s illusion alive, and shielding the False Cathedral where Eris hides. When in battle, Sigurd appears as a knight wearing ancient-looking armor and a cape. A green liquid, looking like leaves, comes out from every joint of the armor, such as if was hollow inside. Instead of attacking with a sword, the knight uses a pair of dented claws. The battle against Sigurd is long and challenging, and the boss uses very powerful attacks. Inner Shadow generates a clone of himself, and while using Patient Predator he attacks with the claws. Doomed to Prevail is a special attack that will damage the party like an aura, while Chosen of the Lady, is the most powerful attack, which needs 3 turns to charge.
Eris, The Betrayer
Eris the Betrayer is the main boss of Naraka. She has a very complex story and is a main character in the twisted plot of Shattered Heaven. Even before becoming a Vestal, Eris developed strong powers, and her chant was otherworldly charming for people. When the rumors about a voice whispering to people inside Naraka became stronger, the Divine Child sent all the Guardians and Vestals to explore the mysterious pit. But nobody returned from that expedition. The Vestal, Eris, discovered something inside Naraka, a voice, but also an ancient sarcophagus. Whatever truly happened, Eris gained the power to shape illusions and control the undead creatures of Naraka. She shaped Naraka into this weird ecosystem, hidden behind illusions, and created a new heaven for her and her knights. She became a god and a queen in this illusionary world. The other Vestals were murdered, and all the Guardians became Eris’ protectors, keeping part of the illusion alive with their lives. And of course, the official creed up on the surface didn’t like this, and they are trying since then to murder Eris and her Knights. When in battle, Eris will mutate from an innocent-looking girl with deer horns to a disturbing arachnid abomination. Her lower body looks like an armored insect, with blades as limbs, showing intricated designs and a dress typical of a queen. An intricated crown made of horns decorates her head, erupting from her eyes and blindfolding her. Moreover, when using the special attack, Immolation, her upper body detaches into strings of fleshy tendons, creating a very disturbing scene. Other attacks, such as Chant of the Void, Innuendo of Sorrow, and Melody of Despair, are projectiles that look like made of Eris’ blood. As you probably noticed, all her attacks are based on songs and melodies, a probable memento of her chanting abilities and power from before being corrupted. Oh, and during the battle, Eris uses her illusions to create a huge plot twist.
The two main bosses are also available in video format, if you want to check their moves and cutscenes. Be aware of SPOILERS especially in Eris video (marked in the timeline):
Dark RPGs 