When ancient fleshless horrors wait patiently on the other side of the threshold to return to the world and reign once more over human sanity, there is only one path to follow. A winding path full of unspeakable dangers and unimaginable terrors. A path on which, step by step, you will approach a truth that could well be your own eternal damnation. That is what the horror video game "World of Horror" is about, mixing some of the best elements from the world of H.P. Lovecraft (through the mechanics of the board game Eldritch Horror, from Fantasy Flight) and adding to the mix unsettling and terrifying illustrations in the style of Junji Ito.
The Twisted World of Junji Ito
First things first, it is important that you know who Junji Ito is, because World of Horror is – first – a tribute to his work. Only later, and without downplaying the value of the development, a video game. Ito is a manga artist known for drawing terrors that go beyond the norm, that unsettle just by looking at them. Impossible beings, that can sometimes be mistaken for something normal, but upon closer inspection reveal themselves as nightmares that should never have existed.
Master of the art of "body horror", Junji Ito's art strives to violate the established rules of the human body, to twist our conceptions of anatomy. Things that should not be, that could not be, but that are, because you are seeing them drawn. Exaggerations that ooze and overflow from familiar organisms, creating monstrosities that are very close but totally alien. True uncanny valleys of cosmic horror. As an example, here are some buttons.
World of Horror and the Mysteries of the Other World
Now then. What is this horror game called "World of Horror" about? Well, if you played the board game Eldritch Horror (developed by Fantasy Flight Games), then there should be no further explanation: it is very similar. The problem is if you don't know it, then it gets a bit more complicated. Anyway, I'll try: it's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, but with random events and multiple variables, where the story develops through your choices and their outcomes, with turn-based battles, inventory, and spells to cast, among other things. More or less that's it, but also much more.
In the free demo you can download from the itch.io site, you can choose between three playable characters, each with their own motivations to start investigating the cosmic horrors surrounding them. You can choose between Kouji Tagawa, who must investigate the disappearance of a friend (and perform a ritual for the culprit to appear); Kirie Saito, who must help a companion who has just accepted a bet that could end their life (if they are lucky); and Mizuki Hamasaki, who is invited by her aunt to a strange festival in the middle of a Japanese village far from civilization.
Each character will have a limit of actions to get everything needed to unravel the mystery behind each of their stories, finding clues, items, and fighting aberrations, among other things. At the same time, each character also has health and sanity points, which can be lost for various reasons. As if that were not enough, there is also a counter of "imminent damnation" that grows as you advance in the game in a thousand and one ways.
Well, really, I don't know if it's clear what the game is about, so the best thing is that you download the demo and try it with your own eyes. The demo, in its current state, offers one hour of gameplay and three different mysteries, one for each character. You can't go further, which is a shame because the mechanics lend themselves to playing for hours and hours.
The full game will be released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PC (via Steam) sometime in 2019. If you want to help the author finish it on time, you can stop by his Patreon and, by the way, get some of the more advanced versions. Having said all that, below is the real reason I decided to write this article: a gallery of the excellent 1-bit art of World of Horror. Pure pixelated horror! Enjoy!
Gallery
