Tormented Souls

Ultimately, although Tormented Souls is a commendable homage to classic survival horror games, its focus on the past is unfortunately its biggest downfall. Advertisements for the game bill it as a "modernisation" of the genre, but the mechanics within feel as archaic as the games it's emulating. At around seven hours or so in length, you'll have a decent time here if you're a die-hard fan of horror games that wishes some of the big names would revisit their origins, but for everyone else, the fixed camera angles and limited combat may prove more frustrating than nostalgic. Add to that some technical hiccups in the way of dodgy cutscenes and animations, and you've got a game that very much plays second fiddle to the more established survival horror games on Switch.

Tormented Souls is a love letter and throwback to the old school survival horror games, warts and all, even including the age-old tank controls found in the games it looks to emulate. Honestly, it does a good job in this, setting the atmosphere, ramping up the stakes and only rarely venturing into the absurd when it comes to puzzle logic. While not completely innocent, with some nonsense puzzles, and a questionable art style for the protagonist, there's enough on offer to keep you going and it makes it more than worth the reasonable price of the game.

There's no doubt that any fan of classic survival horror titles needs to pick up Tormented Souls. The game is full of Easter eggs to classic horror series and provides a look at what could have been for the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. The visuals are detailed and beautiful with excellent light rendering and reflections, while the soundtrack is on par with these older titles. The gameplay is heavy almost to a fault, but offers different options to maneuver around the hospital.

Aside from the changes to the feel and efficiency with the cursor controls and some stuttering cutscenes, Tormented Souls remains one of the few successful attempts at recreating that late 90s survival horror vibe. Cinematic camera movements and a beautiful but eerie atmosphere (not to mention nightmarish monsters) lends some scariness to the game, while terrible voice acting and a strangely bare plot leaves players with more questions than answers by the time the game is over. It would seem the best and most authentic way to play Tormented Souls would be on Playstation 4, Xbox One, or PC. The very slight graphical improvements on a smaller mobile screen don’t take away the benefits of playing on other consoles.

Tormented Souls is a passionate homage to survival horror classics that manages to evoke tension and atmosphere with gameplay and design that enhance suspense and exploration. A title that, while not without flaws, captures the essence of an old-fashioned horror experience.

In the beginning, the vast majority of doors will be locked. Often we’ll know where to go, but it will be cryptic to understand how to get there. We’ll collect items and keys of dubious use, trying to make sense of them through the diaries and documents we find around, sometimes very well hidden. The homage to the early Resident Evil chapters was greatly appreciated. Personally, the game managed to take me back in time, making me feel disoriented and confused again. Hats off.

Tormented Souls draws heavily from the first Resident Evil games to create a horror experience whose atmosphere, presentation and level design are spot on. At the same time, several of its puzzles seem nonsensical, the performance is rather irregular, and the game has a dearth of new and original ideas, while its lighting mechanic is far from a good implementation. While Tormented Souls is overall a good game, it falls short of expectations for those who hoped for something more.

Tormented Souls is a great nostalgia trip taking full advantage of updated graphics and controls to bring a tense, uncomfortable trip for all willing to risk it. Worth taking the time on by both fans of the genre and newcomers wondering what all the fuss is about. Turn those lights on full, open the curtains and prepare to have nightmares.

There haven't been many games that have effectively emulated the success of the classic Resident Evil, but Tormented Souls does exactly that, although with some flaws.

While I wholeheartedly recommend the game, I warn everyone to stay away from the Nintendo Switch port until the issues are ironed out. As for me, I’m seeking out the Playstation 5 version as I’m legitimately curious about the ending.