PAGUI

Review

“In the late night of October 5, 1954, seven years ago, Taiwan went through a period of turbulence that lead to lasting damage. At a distant temple, the lights flickered off. Doors slammed shut and voices pleading to divine oracles could be heard. But for what?”

You play as Lin Huo-Wang, a young kid who has been brought up in a temple after his village was eradicated by the government. It was followers of the temple who brought you from Hsing Chung village to the temple after being protected by the gods, and you’ve been there ever since. Evil lurks everywhere in the village since the eradication. Taoist mages attempted to expel the evil, but they failed and needed to be carried out after suffering serious injuries.

The game starts with you in the temple praying to the gods for approval on what to do next. You’re begging for a positive response; after one final try you get a “Yes” (although it’s a confirmation of disapproval). You decide that you’re going to Hsing Chung village, so you take the temple’s Divine Flags of Order and religious instruments for protection. So, you set off to the village in the hopes of finding your parents.

You arrive at the village under the cover of night; the village looks rundown and deserted. There’s a fog over the village and in some places, it seems as though it’s alive. Holding the religious items for protection and the Divine Flags of Order stuck in the back of your shirt, you head into the village. The village is creepy; you start making your way through, looking for anywhere that has signs of life. You finally find a house with a light on and go to investigate. This is where your journey begins ...



As you begin, you’ll be given some information on how to move, mission hints, compass and your Yang Chi (life). You will gain more information as you progress through the game. You are restricted as to where you can go in the village at first, but new areas will open as you complete objectives. To begin with, there is the house with its light on, and inside there is a creepy granny (she made me jump a couple times), but she will help and guide you.

Even though you have the religious instruments, they aren’t good enough to defeat the evil which lurks in the village when night falls. The granny tells you to visit the religious supplies shop behind her house. There you need to collect some joss paper so that she can imbue your religious instruments with power. To reach the shop you must make your way past some ghost-like figures. If they see you, they will come after you, and as you don’t currently have any powers, the only thing you can do is run away. You will be required to crouch and sneak past them; if you happen to get within their line of vision, you may have a second or two to get out of it. There is both a visual and sound indication when you have been seen.

You’ll gain a few powers to help you protect yourself, and you can find items to store and use to replenish your health when needed. You will also come across some puzzles which you’ll need to complete so that you can move forward. When in combat, you’ll use your religious instruments along with any newly found powers. I found the combat a little frustrating, as I was swinging my weapon in one direction towards the enemy, only for the direction to change, so I’d keep missing my target. This was using my keyboard and mouse; I think it would be so much better using a gamepad. However, my gamepad would only recognise movement and jump; I couldn’t attack or do anything else on my gamepad (Wireless Xbox One). I would love to play the game using a gamepad as I know it would suit me more than playing on keyboard and mouse, especially while in combat. The game does still play very well using keyboard and mouse, but I have trouble using WASD keys. If there was an option to rebind the keys that would certainly help me out, but I still think using a gamepad would be the best option.

The game is enjoyable to play, the graphics are nice and run smoothly on the highest settings (GTX 1060 6GB around 90 FPS). I like the music and sounds, and the storyline is good; just keep your eye on the granny, she can move faster than you think and she made me jump a couple times.

In the Options you’ll find settings for Display (Language, Screen Mode, Resolution, Brightness, V-Sync and Motion Blur), Graphics (Quality, Texture, Shadow, Post Effects, Anti-Aliasing, Effect, View Distance and FPS Limit), Sound (Background Music, Sound Effects and Voice), Control (Mouse Sensitivity, Run/Crouch).

 

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!


Positives

+ Enjoyable to play
+ Good graphics and music
+ Nice story
+ Runs smoothly
+ Has achievements

Negatives

- Gamepad only works on movement and jump (Wireless Xbox One)
- No cards currently

Review Summary

Lin Huo-Wang seeks answers about his parents and his identity as he revisits his village, which now has evil lurking around every corner.

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Zeepond Rating: 7/10

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