Fear and Hunger: I’m scared but far from hungry after seeing this game
Spoilers ahead ‼️
“Fear and Hunger” is a dark and complex indie RPG game developed by Miro Haverinen. The game’s lore is intricate and detailed, with a deep and disturbing storyline. It’s set in a grim and horrific world. If you’re a fan of dark fantasy games you’ll love this.
I’m what you’ll call a lore wh*re so best believe that when I saw this game I had to dig deep into understanding what it was all about, on the first few playthroughs you would think it’s just a random dungeon game about killing monsters and acquiring armor. That’s pretty much where you’re wrong. The more you play and the deeper you get into the dungeon the more you discover about the gods, the people and the monsters that dwell in the dungeons of fear and hunger.
One heads-up about this game is that Miro Haverinen purposely made the storyline cryptic and fragmented so you never really know what’s going on and it seems like the more you find out the more confusing it gets. There are multiple storylines and multiple endings; the route for the true storyline is unclear. It leaves much to the player’s interpretation. It’s a part of the game’s charm that players discover the lore through their own choices and actions.
Of course there have been speculations that there are several canon routes in the game, this is because of the unfolding’ and events of the games sequel. “Fear and hunger 2: Termina”.
I’ll provide a brief overview of the game’s lore:
The game takes place in a realm known as the Unfleshed, a place filled with nightmarish creatures and unspeakable horrors. In this world, people are subjected to brutal experiments and torture, often driven to madness or transformation into grotesque abominations.
THE CASTLE AND ITS HISTORY
The castle in the game serves as a central setting for the story. It’s a place where various horrific experiments and tortures have taken place. The origins and history of the castle are shrouded in mystery, and much of it is left to player interpretation. It’s believed that the castle was once a place of noble lineage but has since fallen into a state of decay and despair. The exact nature of the castle’s transformation and the forces that now control it is not entirely clear.
CHARACTERS
You play as various characters who are thrown into this nightmarish world (jk they all willingly entered, that’s the funny part), each with their own background and motivations. As you progress, you uncover the dark secrets of the Unfleshed and its inhabitants. The characters are (left to right);
- Cahara: Our mercenary. Cahara’s is the charismatic one of the bunch, a smooth talker, all of which comes with the territory of being a thief and assassin. As the story progresses we see that he is selfless and actually a good person at heart, his reason for entering the dungeon was to get the inconceivable amount of treasure that the dungeons presumably held so he could get his wife, Celeste, out of prostitution and take care of her and their unborn child.
- D’arce: Our knight. D’arce is resilient. That’s the word that came to my mind as I observed her character. Her motivation for entering the dungeons was love. She came in search of Le’garde, a knight of the midnight sun and her comrade who had entered the dungeon for his own reasons. In the various endings we see that she was deeply in love with him, to the extent of learning dark magic to resurrect him (assuming you get the play through where he died). D’arce is a bold and strong character sometimes too much for her own good.
- Enki: Our dark priest. Enki is a man after enlightenment, he is the classic sarcastic and nonchalant dark wizard. After killing his twin sister in a duel for acceptance of the counsel of the dark arts, there was pretty much nothing that stood in his path to becoming the ‘enlightened one’ that was until he heard the tale of the pale skin, pale haired wizard that resided in the dungeons of fear and hunger a wizard that was said to be the true enlightened one, that became his motivation for entering the dungeon.
- Ragnvalder: The outlander. Let me start off by saying he has one of the coolest endings of the game (hint: God of ultraviolence) but I digress. Like the short description in the picture Ragnvalder did in fact suffer the most out of all the characters, losing his comrades, his wife and his child to a battle against the knights of the midnight sun. He also came to the dungeon looking for Le’Garde. For revenge. Assuming you choose this character you see a clear difference in strength and ease of killing the monsters. He’s the best suited for the dungeons if you ask me.
GODS AND RITUALS
In the game, the world is under the influence of powerful and malevolent gods. Worshipers of these gods perform gruesome and often horrific rituals to appease them. These rituals involve various forms of self-mutilation, such as sewing one’s mouth shut or gouging out an eye, to demonstrate devotion to the gods. The gods in the game are known to grant power and blessings to their followers, but they also demand great sacrifices. These gods play a significant role in shaping the world and narrative of “Fear and Hunger,” and characters within the game often worship them, carrying out horrific rituals to gain their favor.
There are three classes of gods in this game, the old gods, the ascended gods and the new gods. The old gods are what I would call the OG gods, original gods. No one is sure of their origin but their influence was and is still felt in the realm of the unfleshed to the present day, they are higher beings with unfathomable power.
The new gods are too many to mention, a pattern of their origin is that they were initially followers of the old gods who, like Enki wanted to gain ultimate enlightenment and transcend the human psyche and body, this is why a lot of them were once human. At the end of the day though they end up being just pawns and carrying out the tasks of the old gods whether they realized it or not, and like all the other new gods they eventually lose their influence in the human world rendering them irrelevant, through the story we see that the new gods are too many to even count, the most notable ones being Nilvan the endless, Valteil the enlightened, Francois the dominating and Ranshambara the tormented.
The most notable ascended gods are Alll mer, and the most recent, The God of Fear and Hunger (who had strength and influence that rivaled the old gods).
There are four main gods who were mentioned in Fear and Hunger, there are many more but they were mostly mentioned in the part two Fear and Hunger: Termina.
In Fear and Hunger, the four old gods mentioned are:
1. Gro-goroth, Destroyer of men: The god of destruction and human sacrifices, with a title like that you can guess what his image upholds. Although it is said that Gro-goroth is not a malicious god and instead his destruction is a way to welcome new things, he is said to be the most curious of all the gods, walking among men disguised in the skins and bodies of men and women alike. Followers of Gro-goroth typically perform rituals of human sacrifices, in return you get boosts in attack magic and necromancy.
2. Sylvian, goddess of love, fertility and creation: Sylvian is said to be the wife of Gro-goroth. She created man and woman to perform acts of love in her name. It was said that she eventually abandoned humans after realizing that they could not love her as much as she loved them but still acknowledges those who follow her. Followers of Sylvian are expected to perform acts of love and in return gain healing magic and the marriage.
3. God of the depths: The god of the depths is said to be the one with the most influence in the dungeon, for obvious reasons. Ragnvalder even stated that she is worshiped by those who are forsaken and forgotten, Much like those that reside in the dungeons. Later on we see that she still resides in the dungeons. Followers of this god gain mastery over insects.
4. Rher, the trickster moon god: Rher is one of the last old gods to still observe mankind. He is a jealous kind and would not share the godhood and the world order with humans and the new gods, because he doesn’t believe men (The new gods) should have the same rights as the true gods. Lady of Moon and Pocketcat are his servants, both bent on killing children as a way to get rid of humanity’s potential ascension. He is barely spoken of in Fear and Hunger but is the main mastermind of the events in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina.
There are many other factions in the game, such as the Inquisitors and the Plague Doctors, the yellow mages, each with their own agendas and roles in the unfolding story. The game is known for its moral choices, brutal combat, and psychological horror elements, and it explores themes of despair, suffering, and the consequences of one’s actions.
Asides from the rich lore of the game, I like the whole setup, it keeps you on edge because anything can happen at anytime especially if you’re new and not used to it yet, there is pretty much no level up and no matter the armor you have on you can still get f*cked up, you actually feel the tension in the air, the art style is so raw and disturbing, the background music and the little notes you get sometimes telling you of your increasing hunger and declining sanity all just really add a lot of charm to the game. The coin toss is another part that adds to the whole anxiety inducing nature of the game.
BONUS
This blog wouldn’t be complete if I don’t show you some of the monsters.
This is one of the base level monsters you will see in the very first parts of the dungeons, they only get weirder the deeper you go.
Here are some others;
That being said, Fear and Hunger is an amazing game that is definitely worth the time and effort, there is so much more to the lore and characters that I couldn’t even cover in this blog so feel free to check the game out yourself or watch a play through, you’ll enjoy it.
P.s: The game contains scenes of extreme violence, gore, sexual violence and drug usage so keep that in mind if you plan on getting into it.
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it, have a nice one <3
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