Tormented Souls pays deliberate homage to two of the greatest horror titles ever: Resident Evil and Alone In The Dark. These products, hailing respectively from the Far East and France, shook the horror market of the ’90s, which was still nascent and uncertain. Will Tormented Souls earn the right to call itself the spiritual heir to these giants? Let’s find out.
Developed by Dual Effect and published by PQube, Tormented Souls was initially released for PC and PlayStation 5 on August 27, 2021, followed by Xbox Series S/X on September 7, 2021. Versions for PS4 and Xbox One were released on February 25, 2022, and finally for Nintendo Switch on April 14, 2022. It is a survival horror game with a deliberately old-school style. Utilizing mechanics such as a fixed camera, it does not hide its strong inspiration from the great masterpieces of the genre.
Nostalgia Rules
This isn’t the first nor will it be the last time we see new titles trying to evoke the sensations of old flames. For better or worse. Concepts like retrogaming have recently come back into vogue. Several software houses have also released remastered versions of ’90s or early 2000s video games, much to the fans’ delight. There’s a reverence and glorification towards these video games. Even their undeniable flaws are often overlooked in the sacred name of nostalgia. So, can a product that is deliberately old-fashioned work? In controls, and mechanics, but also emotion and charm? The answer is: that it depends; it’s subjective. The formula works for those willing to embrace its characteristics. And it works damn well.
The introduction of Tormented Souls is brief and intense. An apparently ordinary Canadian girl named Caroline Walker receives an unexpected letter at her home from the Wildberger Hospital. The letter contains a photograph of two girls, with a message somewhere between intimidating and melancholic: “Do you really think you can abandon us?“. The photo causes Caroline severe headaches and a terrible sense of discomfort. In the following weeks, she is tormented by nightmares and visions. She decides to visit Wildberger Hospital, only to find it abandoned. A stranger attacks her from behind, and she wakes up connected to an unknown machine, missing an eye. Frightened, confused, and shocked, she ventures into the depths of the building in search of answers…
Fear of the Dark
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark! I have a constant fear that there’s always someone near, someone said in the ’90s. In Tormented Souls, the feeling that will hit us as soon as we leave the initial room, which serves as a tutorial, is exactly this. Recalling Alone In The Dark, it’s clear that venturing into darkness without a light source is a bad idea. The game tries to warn us with an increasing image distortion effect, representing Caroline‘s anguish. But if we decide to ignore it… well, try it. Fortunately, we find our best friend, a lighter, in the early stages of the game. And here the first deliberately antiquated mechanic of Tormented Souls immediately emerges: we cannot equip the lighter and another object simultaneously. You can already imagine the kind of problems this can create. Moving through the abandoned hospital, examining doors, shelves, and documents, and jumping at every creak, we make our way through the unsettling mystery that brought us there, often struggling to orient ourselves and understand where to proceed.
The product succeeds excellently in its intent: to scare. I’ve consumed my fair share of horror, yet Tormented Souls managed to make me shiver repeatedly, with intelligently and skillfully crafted moments, never trivial. Certainly, we can’t expect total innovation, partly due to the game’s inspirational roots, but the horror and gore sections work perfectly. The abandoned hospital is a classic that never stops casting its spell on players. The great care taken in creating the environments, shadows, and sound contributes to wrapping us in a veil of malaise and oppression, pushing us to explore cautiously, fearful of what lies around the corner. Very, very reminiscent of ’90s horror.
I’m Lost… Again.
This is probably what runs through poor Caroline’s mind as she, panting and gasping, walks down the same corridor once more, now with a new item in her inventory, hoping it opens that darn mysterious door. Simply getting out of the room we wake up in will require solving a puzzle. Although not too difficult, it helps us understand how we can interact with the environment and inventory. We can combine items, rotate them to discover details and mechanisms and use them on other objects. One of the most successful parts of Tormented Souls is precisely this, accompanying us throughout the adventure. The hospital is vast and interconnected. In the beginning, the vast majority of doors will be locked. Often we’ll know where to go, but it will be cryptic to understand how to get there. We’ll collect items and keys of dubious use, trying to make sense of them through the diaries and documents we find around, sometimes very well hidden. The homage to the early Resident Evil chapters was greatly appreciated. Personally, the game managed to take me back in time, making me feel disoriented and confused again. Hats off.
And it would be foolish to forget that we are not the only ones populating the decaying corridors of Wildberger Hospital… Enemies and dangers around the map add challenge and urgency to the puzzles. We can defend ourselves, but our weapons and ammunition are very limited, and the adversaries are tremendously tough. As survival horror teaches, combat is the last option, to be used only if cornered. Fleeing and outsmarting are much more functional strategies, and we’ll have to make extensive use of them if we want to survive. Some enemies are truly terrifying, despite the character models not being of excellent quality, unlike the environments.
I Can’t Walk and Shoot Simultaneously!
Tormented Souls is violent and brutal just right, perhaps a bit exaggerated, but that’s part of its charm. The choice to give the player few means of defense is spot-on, enhancing the fear and anxiety that even a single enemy can instill. But when I say the mechanics are deliberately old, I mean they are through and through… to the point that it is possible to shoot only while standing still. Does that remind you of something? Exactly. Although dodging is possible, the system generates a certain degree of frustration at times, and this is something you must come to terms with from the beginning. Just like how saving is possible only in certain rooms and only if in possession of a specific item. I almost lost forty minutes of progress surviving by the skin of my teeth in a fight outside the save room. Just saying. It’s indeed expected, given the nature of the game. A modern save system wouldn’t have hurt, especially for many less patient players.
As mentioned above, the character models don’t match the quality of their surroundings. They seem truly archaic but in the negative sense of the term. It’s fine to dedicate the vast majority of resources to what really matters for the horror component, but the contrast is high, and it shows. The result is peculiar. It feels like playing a contemporary and ancient title at the same time, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. It’s not a criticism, and I’m sure the spell cast will prove powerful for many nostalgics, but at the same time, it will drive away several potential users. Inevitable.
A Peculiar Experience
Overall, Tormented Souls does its job. The plot is interesting and full of mystery, besides being quite long for a survival horror; it runs around ten to twelve hours, depending on the playstyle. The documents and letters found further deepen the game’s universe, and the writing quality is at a good level. The enemies are disturbing and destined to leave a lasting impression. Interaction with the environment is deep and essential for solving puzzles. Despite the flaws mentioned above, I can say I’m facing a quality title, a remarkable result for an independent product. It’s not for everyone, whether due to the heavy themes, the mechanics, or the genre to which it belongs. If you’re an old-school gamer or simply a horror lover, you can’t miss it. Wildberger Hospital hides terrible and dark secrets, waiting for you to shed light on them… with your trusty lighter. Just be careful what you reveal. Some things are better left forgotten.
Tormented Souls Review: A Reminiscence of Old Nightmares
PRO
- Truly scary
- Excellent quality environments and sound
- Functional and varied puzzles
- Interesting plot and good writing
- Good longevity
- Old school atmosphere recreated perfectly…
CON
- …perhaps too much
- Frustrating and exhausting in several sections
- Mediocre character models
- Checkpoints are often very far apart
7.7/10
