I’ve been seeing a lot of threads on this game recently and I decided to check it out. I’m glad to say that it IS really good.
To get it out of the way, I don’t think this game actually has much in common with Fear & Hunger aside from it being a horror JRPG. To be fair, there are a lot less horror JRPGs than you’d expect (walking simulators made in RPGMaker don’t really count). Mechanically, there’s much less of a focus on managing your characters’ needs–there are food items in the game, but they only serve to restore your health. There’s also plenty of methods of restoring your HP/stamina and multiple shopkeepers in the game, so there isn’t that same need to be conservative with your items like in Fear and Hunger. When I started the game, I expected more emphasis on the simulation/survival aspect, but it takes a backseat to the exploration (the real meat of the game!).
Also, if you hated the coin flipping, instant KOs, and limb loss in Fear & Hunger, you’ll be glad to hear that there’s no such thing in this game. Saving only requires you to sleep until the next day OR explore the apartment enough to fill up a ‘danger’ meter. I think the ability to save and instantly travel everywhere takes the fun out of resource management in JRPGs, so something like this was a good compromise without it feeling like RNG bullshit. There’s no permadeath as well, so you don’t have to worry about dying to an unlucky hit. If you hated the gameplay of Fear & Hunger, you’ll find this to be a lot less tedious.
I’ve read a post describing the game as ‘the closest thing to Mother games tonally, surprisingly’ and I’m apt to agree. It doesn’t pull any punches with the body horror AND also for whenever (You) fuck up badly, but it also has a fair bit of humor and humanity between it all. There’s a lot of detail put into the different interactions you can have with party members and the residents of the apartment. Things aren’t great, but everyone is trying to live in their own way. Honestly, it really is refreshing to find something that doesn’t just blast you with cynicism. I’m bad with horror games, but I think I’ve grown to find the apartment ‘comfy’.
I have to mention that the art direction is great. I’m a big fan of body horror and it definitely delivers with the body horror. Enemies ‘transform’ during fights and it’s exciting to see what they turn into! There’s a few CGs in the game where it counts and animations as well! The artist put in enough detail for you to both be disgusted and think ‘wow, that’s really cool’. I think the grimy artstyle is a perfect fit for the game as well. I’ve said a lot about the art in this game, but the sound is pretty great too. There’s as much detail put into the music as the art (there’s a song for every game you can find) AND it also gets ‘dynamic’ at certain parts of the game. I don’t mind when games use public domain assets, but I think having a distinct art direction like this is what really makes a game memorable over just number crunching.
Criticisms: The game becomes a lot easier after you build up a party! In general, the game was a lot easier than I expected, but that isn’t an entirely bad thing. There were a lot of times in the game where an intimidating-looking monster just died in a couple of turns. Maybe I was overleveled for the area, but after a while areas stop feeling dangerous. All enemies drop money too, so you’ll have plenty of money to stock up after you clear out an area. I’m guessing time constraints are a part of it, but your companions aren’t mentioned anywhere in the endings. It’s a little strange considering how many interactions you have with them in the rest of the game, but I’m expecting them to probably get added in later.
It’s only a few hours long (it took me around 10 hours to beat the game while trying to explore everything) and some parts can feel a bit unfinished/empty, but there’s so much detail and SOUL put into it that it’s more than worth your while. The developer seems to still be actively working on balancing and adding more to the game, so I’m excited to see what else the dev adds.
The game is on Steam. A game jam version exists on itch.io.