Videogames

The Walking Cataclysm from Mars and the other bizarre and creepy NPCs of BURGGEIST

ranarif1 Comment

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:

When the legendary Pokemon are Hawaiian Gods: the Kiwami “Sujimon” in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth

ranarifLeave a comment

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.

Magical Girls Vs. Evangelion-like Angels: the 4 Sephirot of Blue Reflection [Boss Battle]

ranarifLeave a comment

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.

Play as a werewolf, a maniac, a Yokai, or an abomination in GUTTER the Cursed, RPG inspired by LISA

ranarifLeave a comment

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.

A town of killers, hellish dimensions, and an evil league of human/animal hybrids: Interview with Roope Tamminen about the “murder-simulator” Lakeview Valley

ranarifLeave a comment

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.

Dark-fantasy ancient China meets steampunk: the creepy automaton kids from the ARPG Phantom Blade Executioners

ranarif1 Comment

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.

The “Cognition Filter” in Lobotomy Corporation: How censorship saves your mind – via Surreal and Creepy

ranarifLeave a comment

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 “Cognition Filter” in Lobotomy Corporation: How censorship saves your mind

The many forms of the Slit-mouthed Woman in World of Horror

ranarifLeave a comment

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.

Porcelain mixes with grotesque flora and fauna: the creatures of Naraka in Shattered Heaven

ranarifLeave a comment

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):

The dark Christmas-inspired world of Toymaker, where frost infects people like a disease and Santa Klaus kidnaps children [Grimdark Worlds]

ranarifLeave a comment

Toymaker is a huge surprise and one of the most original and involving RPGmaker JRPGs. Set in a dark world scourged by a neverending winter, Toymaker uses a very peculiar inspiration for this world: Christmas. Not the Christmas typical of soft drinks commercials, but pagan Christmas rites and figures coming from North Europe. And for how bizarre this could sound, if you didn’t play the game, you have no idea of how good this combination is. For example, Gods are born from fear of the elements, frost is a disease infecting bodies and transforming them into spawns of a hive mind, and darkness empties people like void husks. And of course, there is the aforementioned Toymaker, the Santa Klaus of this world, a secluded God kidnapping children and placing their souls inside dolls.

Toymaker is an amazing journey in a world full of lore, following a story with many twists, and offering challenging battles and bosses. In the second article of “Grimdark Worlds,” we will discover the complexity of Toymaker’s world, with a special focus on the dark and mysterious Gods.

In the beginning it was Winter, Frost, and Nightmares

The world is shaped around very uncommon elements: Frost, Snow, Spirit, and Roots. Before these, all the elements were born from Light and Darkness, the Primal Elements. These primordial elements are so intense that can send people crazy. For example, darkness is an engulfing and nightmarish element that can create immortal undead enemies from corpses, or husks. In some places, the darkness is so dense and thick that can control minds, causing hallucinations and insane fear. The other derivative elements shaped this primordial and harsh world, creating their own ecosystem of creatures and altering the minds and bodies of other living creatures in contact with them. Every element is ruled by an ancient creature. In this case, Lussi is the ancient God controlling darkness, a fearful witch born from nightmares.

In Toymaker, Frost is not simply an effect of cold, but a sort of disease, infecting people and spreading. Frost creates zombies covered in ice, broken puppets of the Winter Gods. Frost covers everything and kills every life, and the only way to fight it back is through an insane control of fire. The Frostcrater is the God controlling Frost, an isolated entity spreading this disease. Some women become cold witches, bound to the Frostcrafter but not mutated. They have strong powers and are usually cast away from their community, always fighting for their mind to keep the Frostcrafter away. Gnomes are especially victims of the Frost, but also Root creatures follow the same destiny, easily becoming Frost Spawns. Frost Spawns are strong and colossal beings, often keeping the shape of the creature they devoured, with increased size or more worm-like bodies. They are also often characterized by a beard made of icicles.

Snow is the emblem of Winter and is different from Frost. It is more related to the wind and storms, debilitating people affected by it. Snow is also a synonym of Winter in Toymaker’s world, the embodiment of this harsh ecosystem. Of course, the God born from the fear of the winter is the Toymaker itself. Snow creatures are amorphous masses of melted snow, usually gigantic beings without a clear anatomy. They are more blobs of half-melted snow than discernable creatures.

Root is the everchanging element, moving underground, causing rot and decay in living beings. The roots live secluded and hidden in their underground world, a series of twisted tunnels connecting everything, engulfed in wood and darkness. A sheltered world that wants to remain hidden. The God associated with Roots is an old and forgotten being called the Hidden. Root creatures are thin beings and masses of roots, often taking a humanoid shape or, other times, just appearing as twisted and amorphous masses. However, some of the root beings are instead gigantic and creepy creatures, similar to a more twisted version of trolls.

Spirit is the sparkle of life, the energy composing souls, a warm and green vibrant fire. The element embraces lost souls, which travel around in the winter nights, often possessing inanimate objects or attacking living beings. Spirit is a complex element that can alter the minds of other people, making them savage and bloodthirsty. The Spirit creatures are twisted souls made of fire, yellow or green entities flying around the map very quickly with twisted faces painted on them. Other times, Spirit creatures can control dolls or other puppets, creating even creepier beings. It is not clear who is the God associated with Spirit, since Lussi is clearly darkness. It could be the mysterious Straw Goat, who is only hinted at in the Prologue.

The Faces Behind Fears: The Old Gods

In the beginning, there was only frost, winter, and nightmares. Then, people started to imagine faces in the snow, trying to give meaning to the people killed by the elements. How could a disembodied element like Frost exterminate a village? Surely something more powerful was behind it. They were not simply accidental deaths or natural disasters, “somebody” was responsible for them. After enough people believed in those faces behind the elements, the Toymaker, Frostcrafter, and Lussi were born. Each of them embodies those deadly forces. Gods are also based and shaped around Pagan figures related to Christmas rites in North Europe.

The Frostcrafter was alone in the mountains, isolated in its realm of ice and silence. One day, the Gnomes got too close to the mountain, awakening the slumbering God and spreading Frost as a disease. The Frostcrafter is a true servant of the Toymaker, using Frost to brainwash gnomes thus providing the workforce for the Toymaker’s Workshop. The Frostcrafter kills everything it touches, unable to understand life but still craving for it. For this reason, it uses Frost to create and twist living beings, but only to achieve mockery of life through ice and snow. For that, it now wants only to stay alone. The Frostcrater is a colossal giant made of ice, with a very disturbing and ghostly expression on its face. During the battle, the giant is a tough opponent with a lot of life, which uses strong frost-based attacks.

Lussi is a bad dream and a scary whisper that became real, feeding on fear. Lussi reigns over darkness, engulfing entire land in it, and swimming through shadows as if it was water. Born from nightmares, Lussi is a witch who rules over fear, a real boogeyman of everything unknown. In her realm, dead things are alive. She keeps dead things close to her, so she can care for them. Her servants are rotten Husks, rotten things reanimated by darkness, immortal beings serving their mother without being able to control their bodies. Lussi feeds on fear and can imprison people in worlds of deep trauma inside their minds. Lussi appears as a female humanoid, dressed in white, crowned with candles, and crying darkness from the eyes. During the battle, Lussi casts strong spells and can create duplicates of herself. Lussi is based on different characters from North European folklore, especially from the Norse witch with the same name hunting during the longest night of the year, but also Saint Lucia for the crown of candles.

The Straw Goat is very enigmatic, only mentioned in the main game and instead the central figure in the Prologue. The colossal humanoid creature, hidden beneath fur and a hood, was once a servant of the Toymaker, roaming the hills without bothering humans. At some point, something broke, and the Straw Goat got imprisoned by the Toymaker in a cage inside the Field of Candles. During the imprisonment, or maybe even before that, the Straw Goat became completely mad, to the point that now madness is a key element to describe this God. The Straw Goat seems to create a bond with human children, selecting a chosen one. In the past, it was worshipped by humans, especially Skalds and Hornhunters. The Straw Goat is a typical figure that marks the beginning of Christmas in North Europe, but the Yule Goat is also a far creepier figure usually wandering around towns and demanding gifts.

The Hidden, also called the Broodmother, is the God ruling and spreading Roots. As the name suggests, this God decided to hide from humanity, finding a secluded place to be forgotten inside a coffin. It is still possible to find old statues from when the God was worshipped in the depths of the tunnels, surrounded by roots and darkness. The Hidden has strong telepathic powers, can attract people, and create illusions. In Toymaker’s world, The Hidden act as the secret superboss. Fighting the Broodmother is an extremely challenging battle since the creature has multiple tentacles, each of them capable of using strong abilities and independently attacking.

The Toymaker is the supreme God of this land and Winter personification, followed by the other Gods and feared by every creature. In the past, people built machines and made sacrifices for him. Then, he cast everyone out and closed its gates. It now lives alone in the mountain, surrounded by dolls and souls. The Toymaker kidnaps especially children, and then it traps their spirits into dolls. According to the Toymaker, exchanging bodies with its dolls is a special gift and an honor. The Toymaker still lives in his Workshop on the top of a mountain, surrounded by disturbing dolls moved by children’s souls, existing till people fear and believe in him.

Surviving the Harsh World: Races and Tribes

Humans try to survive in this harsh world by living in primitive societies. The Herders are a tribe mainly living of goats, in peace with nature and trying to survive by avoiding dangers. They have tendencies to be nomadic, and they prefer to flee to better locations than facing dangers. The Hornhunters are instead a tribe focused on hunting and killing other animals. Bloodthirsty and tribal, they ferociously hunted especially the Reindeers, creating a bloody feud. It is said that they left Reindeers’ skeletons to mark their territories. And it is also said that those skeletons were screaming in pain even after death. The Hornhunters became mysteriously extinct after a bloody massacre. The Skalds are like outsiders, worshipping nature, and studying forbidden lore and knowledge. The Skalds are a mysterious tribe, often considered the guilty behind the changing of the Toymaker.

The Gnomes were the first servants of the Toymaker, helping it in its Workshop by building dolls and puppets. When they abandoned the Toymaker in its madness, the Frostcrafter forced them to work again there. In fact, Gnomes are in a constant fight against the Frostcrafter, and many of them were turned into Frost Spawns. From this fight, two main factions developed. One is the Candlelights, gnomes obsessed with fire, burning everything to fight frost. They live surrounded by bonfires and cast away the ones starting to turn… or burn them. The other faction is embracing Frost, learning spells from it, and thinking that serving the cold is the only way to learn how to survive. Even if the weak ones will turn into Frost Spawns.

The Reindeers are strong anthropomorphic creatures that once served the Toymaker, as well as the Gnomes. But while the Gnomes built dolls to welcome the children’s souls, the Reindeers assembled traps to lure and ensnare them. They live in an almost barbaric society, strong and brave fighters, where honor is everything for them. When they lose honor, they also lose the horns. The Reindeers were in a huge war with the Hornhunters, humans hunting them down. At that time, some Reindeers became Maneater, literally feeding on humans as revenge for this bloody hunt. Now they live isolated in a walled wood village. Even if the Hornhunters are no longer a menace, their lands are scourged by Lussi and her darkness. Some of them became husks while trying to fight the witch, while the others now live in the village tormented by nightmares.

An Ancient World: Iconic Places

The world is a primitive and harsh land, shaped by perpetual snow, tall mountains, and forgotten ruins. Glyphs and runes are everywhere, but people have forgotten about their true meaning. The Ruins of Hare Temple is an example of this, a place of pyramid and monolithic structure completely forgotten and covered in snow. Skald legends say that the Hare was a creature close to the Toymaker, and, regardless of whatever happened between them, the Toymaker still wants to keep the ruins intact. The Hidden Temple is the most secluded place where The Hidden is resting outside the world. To access the place, as revealed in the Prologue, five knockings are necessary to open the door. This is also reflected in the gameplay, where the player needs to press five times on the locked place on the map to unlock it.

The Field of Candles is a forbidden place to humans, an unexplorable land filled with souls and green fires. Legends say that the Straw Goat is caged in these lands. The territories engulfed by Lussi’s darkness are swamps empty of life, where only immortal husks roam. While venturing into these lands, the player will have their own heart portrayed on the map. Too many encounters with the ghastly beings, and something bad will happen. However, the Toymaker’s Workshop is surely the most emblematic place in this land. Built on top of the tallest mountain, the Workshop is a gigantic wooden house filled with Toymaker’s statues. The empty halls, deprived of life, are now hosting only the disturbing dolls created by the Toymaker.