Tormentum: Dark Sorrow: Review

Last year, the famous Swiss artist died Hans Rudolf Giger (Hans Rudolf Giger), who invented the image of xenomorph for the film “Alien”. In the same year, father also died Petra Rushkovsky (Piotr ruszkowski), leader of a little Polish Ohnoo Studio. What is the connection between these two sad events? The fact is that Peter decided to make a game in memory of his father, Miroslav, – and at the same time it can be called dedication to creativity Giger.

On the border between sleep and reality

Already a name Tormentum – Dark Sorrow sets up in the right way, and from the very first minutes we plunge into the atmosphere of pain, suffering and death. The main character, a man in a long cloak and a hood hiding his face, reveals himself in a cage, which a huge airship is lucky in an unknown direction. He does not remember anything: he does not even know his name and where does he come from. Soon, together with other captives, our hero becomes a prisoner in a huge Gothic castle, where skulls, bones, torture cameras, monsters and riddles are everywhere.

At first he has to escape from the castle, then make a journey through wild wastelands and visit the Valley of Ice Tears in the end to find the answer to the main question: who came from and that all this was – a nightmare or gloomy reality? Or the last chance to save your soul?

The plot stomps on the spot for a long time, forcing us to look for a way out of the castle, again and again visit familiar locations. However, then more and more interesting characters and situations appear. And the denouement in Tormentum – Dark Sorrow And at all from the series “is worth waiting”. In addition, in the course of passage, as the authors promised, we periodically need to make a moral choice – to kill, for example, a pretty witch sitting in a cage, as he asks for a jester with a gloomy face, or, conversely, free her. Mostly decisions are in the spirit of “execute or pardon”, but there are more interesting situations – to choose, say, to whom to hand over the crown.

All decisions have both local ones (then you will also https://playhub-casino.uk/ see the rescued prisoner and even be able to visit his house), as well as the global consequences that determine which – “bad” or “good” – you will receive the ending.

Terrible riddles

Tormentum – This is a classic quest. The hero does not move, we move between the screens by clicking the mouse and in each location we select important objects, solve puzzles, look for keys, twist levers and valves or pass mini-games.

The design of the tasks corresponds to the gloomy atmosphere and stylistics. We disassemble the bones of the skeleton to get the key, insert our eyes into dead eye sockets, with the help of directed mirrors we make a pentagram from the rays of light, activate the torture mechanism piercing the guardian of the wiper with spears, cut the belly with a huge dead worm to get the precious stone, and so on.

True, many situations and puzzles are repeated and do not require any special brain efforts- Tormentum periodically resembles a collection of mini-games. And the logic is sometimes very abstract, from the series “The main thing is that it is strange and mysterious”. For example, to cut off the paw to a poisonous spider, you must first melt a symbol and insert it into the forehead of a huge doll, which the creature will then drag somewhere. Feel in touch? So we don’t.

Games as art

However, all this can be called more nit-picking than some serious criticism. The plot is gradually revealed, new characters are found, tension and desire to understand what is happening. With a change in locations, new puzzles and puzzles appear.

But the main thing is, of course, the atmosphere itself and stylistics itself. It is useless to describe for a long time, just look at the screenshots and art, add Gregorian chants and atmospheric thought-metal, and you will understand what we are talking about. Grotesque figures and mechanisms, huge eyes watching you, frozen in a scream, a train walled up in the wall, a train made, made of dead flesh, people with masks of animals and insects, giant statues against the backdrop of meteorites falling from the sky – Tormentum at once it reminds of the necrotic Giger, And about surrealism Salvadora Dali, And about mysticism Jerome Bosch.

Before Tormentum, the Poles released a children’s interactive book with the sweet name Amelia and Terror of the Night on mobile platforms.

Make a gloomy, atmospheric quest with a large number of puzzles, a moral choice and two endings – this, of course, is good, especially today, when there are two times, two and counted. But there is nothing supernatural in this. But by the forces of three people, for 11 thousand dollars collected through Kickstarter, to create a real work of picturesque art, which I immediately want to drive out on posters, paintings and “wallpaper” – this is a feat, talent and deserves respect. So we will wait with special impatience from the next work from Ohnoo Studio. Or personal exhibition of her artists.

Pros: enchanting design and atmosphere;abundance of puzzles and mini-games;moral choice affecting the final;Great work with sound;Beautiful soundtrack.
Cons: Puzzles rarely challenge you.