Get sucked into an 8-bit eldritch mystery with “World Of Horror”
World of Horror is an unconventional Japanese horror-themed RPG that slowly snares you into rounds and rounds of replay. As someone who has been playing way too many fantasy dungeon crawlers and rogue-likes, World of Horror has been an exhilarating change, both thematically and in terms of gameplay. Even compared to other indie games, it’s been a unique experience that has challenged my perceptions of what good games could be like. While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s an experience that should be tasted at least once. Who doesn’t love a good mystery?
In World of Horror, you play a teenager who is trying to find out what’s going on with their town. Something seems off, and there’s always a little hint of eldritch horror just around the corner. Explore your town, solve mysteries, and battle supernatural forces, all while making sure you don’t drop dead or go insane. It’s up to you to save your town, and maybe the world.
“World of Horror” kicks off with a strong visual identity, but what does that mean for game UX?
What hit me upfront when I started up World of Horror was the 8-bit monochrome style the game uses. There’s an option to add a bit more color to the game, akin to different colorways, but I wanted to have my first run being the “original”. I haven’t played a game that had such a unique visual impression in a while, and this time, it felt like the game’s visual style doubled down on the theme of Japanese early-90s horror. This came through in both the game interface, as well as game illustrations. I can’t help but be impressed by how cohesively everything comes together. Should you decide to change the color theme of your run, the overall dark and gritty vibe still shines (or creeps?) through, so have fun with it!
One initial challenge that came up as a result of the game’s monochromatic visual style was that it was hard to figure out where to click and what information to pay attention to. There are a lot of new things to learn when you start playing the game, especially given that the gameplay is so different from many other familiar games. Without some way to communicate prominence and direct attention, the player has to spend some time figuring out what to do next. Thankfully, the game does guide you well through your first run, but it can get irritating when you’re still learning how to battle a scary demon and can’t find the damn button.
I’m usually really turned off by poor game user experience. I’ve stopped playing games right at the start when I found the tutorial too irritating, or if it’s too hard to figure out where to click and what to do. I’m here to have fun, why should I have to spend brain energy to teach myself how to play your game? With World of Horror, the game graphics just hit differently. I happily accept the trade-off of it being a little bit harder to start up and learn, for the cohesive 8-bit horror monochrome vibe that the game dev decided to go for. It’s so unique, beautiful, and intentional in how it adds to the game experience. Plus, I read somewhere that the graphics in the game were all created using MS Paint, which is amazing?!?!
The well-balanced structure and randomization create meaningful progress and flavor in the gameplay
Speaking of game tutorials and onboarding, I love how the game was designed to progressively introduce new elements to the player, in a way that doesn't feel too artificial. You start in a tutorial of sorts, where you solve one mystery. Following that, you can start a full run where you solve five mysteries and complete the final challenge at the lighthouse. And once you’re done with that, you can play around with the settings of each run, and choose new characters with their own unique challenges. It’s just all really fun.
It’s a well-balanced mix of difficulty and accomplishment at each stage. I’m sure there are more easter eggs and different difficulty settings which I’ve yet to explore. I’m looking forward to digging deeper and finding out more!
For each run, the mix of mysteries that you have to solve is randomized. While most of the mysteries are set in the main town area, some of them bring you out to other locations, which have different ways of exploration. Unfortunately, sometimes the mysteries that are set in the main town area can get a bit formulaic. After playing for a few runs, you can figure out how to best optimize a run. That’s why I usually look forward to the mysteries that are set in different areas because that gives the player a chance to try something different.
That being said, each mystery has several endings which can be unlocked. The fastest and most resource-efficient way for each mystery only unlocks one kind of ending. By exploring different ways of completing each mystery, you get the chance to unlock other endings which give a different insight into the lore behind the mystery. In that sense, the game also encourages different ways of playing, that don’t just lean into the “perfect game” kind of approach. I found that it’s something I needed to unlearn, being somewhat of a completionist sometimes when I play games.
Encounters within each mystery run are also randomized. Each step of exploration could bring you to a battle with a demon, it could lead to a quirky encounter with a deranged townsperson, and it could end up with you being cursed. There’s enough variety in the encounters so far that I didn’t feel bored. Sometimes, there are unique items or skills you need to resolve an encounter, which makes you think about how you’re going to tackle the same encounter the next time you do a playthrough of that mystery. There’s high replay value.
I wonder what would happen when players have played through the deck of mysteries and encounters. Could we look forward to expansion packs in the future, with new characters, mysteries, and encounters?
Love it or hate it, you gotta try it
So far, it looks like I still have a lot more to explore for World of Horror. It’s a world that’s full of horrifying possibilities, and I’m looking forward to getting new encounters that are ripe for the picking. I would recommend anyone to try out the game at least once. If you don’t like it, at least it’s something different from the usual. If you do, get ready to get sucked in by the eldritch gods that haunt this town.
