Player choices are binary, so that there are only ever two options in a given situation. It’s ironic, then, as the only way to progress in this game is precisely to do the opposite: you have to use the other characters as a means to an end.ĭespite Tomentum’s heavy emphasis on moral choices, their implication seems relatively weak. In the game’s introduction, the player is presented with German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s famous categorical imperative: treat other people not only as a means to an end, but as an end in themselves. Likewise, the characters in the game are equally one-dimensional: there’s no real motivation to save, rather than kill, a character, other than any commonsense morality external to the game. There’s no real motivation to save, rather than kill, a character, other than any commonsense morality external to the game.

However, the overarching plot was rather thin: the protagonist’s amnesia and unknown identity naturally make for a good mystery to solve, but the ending handed the player that information in a monologue, without any development or consideration. I also liked the use of a variety of terrains to show the progress of the protagonist’s journey. Storywise, the game has potential: the threat of torture in the dungeons is very real, and it’s enhanced by some gory imagery of other prisoners being impaled repeatedly on spikes. How much can a thin narrative be saved by pretty art? There are no cheap jump scares in Tormentum it’s more of an ongoing sense that something is very, very wrong. This is a minor issue though: overall, the sound design worked well to compliment the disturbing visuals. The “storing” effect for putting items in your inventory, or the clomping down the stairs, or the scribbling-in-a-notebook sound all seem to be a bit comical and out of place. Some of the sound effects, however, were a little hokey and detracted from how immersive the game was. The barely audible chanting in the dungeon levels, for example, isn’t particularly scary, but when paired with the visual effects of various forms of torture and the sadism of some of the characters, the result was an extremely creepy sensory experience. The aesthetic style of the game is also enhanced by its soundtrack, which worked to heighten the sense of unease. While this doesn’t affect the gaming experience much, it can be difficult to immerse yourself in a game when you’re looking for directional arrows, in the cases where they’re almost obscured by the art. However, players can use the mouse to pan left and right in the environment, and this is also necessary to see the directional arrows to move the character to the next screen. The artistic style also matches the overall tone of the game perfectly: it’s surreal, trippy, and just a little bit terrifying.Īs a result of the detailed art, the environment is 2D, and the protagonist doesn’t actually move around the screen. Each image looks so finely handcrafted that you could print it out and hang it on your wall, if you’re into hanging that sort of thing on your walls.

Giger’s work, the 75 hand-painted stages in the game echo the dark, macabre style of the Swiss surrealist. The most noticeable thing when playing Tormentum is that it’s truly a visual feast. Tormentum's Art Belongs in a Very Spooky Gallery

This sounds easy enough, although there are choices that the player makes along the way, such as lending help to one character over another, which are designed to influence the game’s outcome. From there, he has to escape from a hellish dungeon, travel across a desert and find out why he only has a memory of a particular statue. The protagonist starts the game as a hooded, nameless amnesiac locked in a metal cage under a flying machine, his companion being a giant talking rat. How well the game does this is debatable, but it is still worth playing for the amazing sensory experience. The title released March 4th, 2015, and Polish indie studio OhNoo promises a deep philosophical story of redemption, where the player’s moral choices affect the outcome.

Tormentum dark sorrow memory game