Despair: Blood Curse

• DEVELOPER: Crimson Sequence
• PUBLISHER: Crimson Sequence
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Horror adventure
• RELEASE DATE: January 10, 2024
• STARTING PRICE: 11,79 €
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

Despair: Blood Curse is a horror adventure with huge potential, but the final product fell short of expectations. I was able to finish the game in just two hours, which is partially due to my experience with the demo I played during the Steam Next Fest a few months ago. Following the game's development since then, I had high expectations for the puzzle solving and the wealth of content. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed. It is important to note that the game was developed by a solo developer, which may explain some weaknesses, but criticism of certain aspects remains justified.

The good sides

The graphics of the game are really impressive; the ambience and space are rich and detailed, from the simple food on the table to the clothes of our protagonist, which further enriches the overall impression of the game. The level design is coherent and everything is elegantly connected. In the mansion where the action takes place, it is clear that something is wrong, and the game successfully creates an atmosphere of tension and fear. Ambient music and sound effects further enhance the feeling of creepiness, that is, they confirm that it is indeed a horror game.

Aiming with the firearms in the game is remarkably accurate and straightforward. You'll seldom encounter difficulties targeting enemies, with an emphasis on aiming for their head. However, there were occasional issues, as hitting an enemy in the neck often resulted in the same outcome as hitting their body. The game offers a variety of ways to fight against enemies, whether you use a regular pistol, an axe or a shotgun. Also, you won't have to worry about running out of bullets or healing bandages for the most part, which actually makes gameplay easier and allows you to focus on action instead of resources.

Personally, I liked the approach to how we discover the story, although I admit it wasn't always the most clearly presented during gameplay. From time to time, we come across letters that inform us about events within the game, which provide us with an insight into situations that took place while our main character was not present. The story, however, seems present only superficially, sometimes I forgot that the main goal is to find our sister, and we also get very little new information about the main protagonist. While some may find this approach acceptable, others may not.

The bad sides

Honestly, it's hard to choose where to start when looking back at the game. While some things can be forgiven in indie games, here the gameplay was evidently very flawed in many places. The combat is simple and shallow. I've often wondered why we didn't get the option to roll or dodge enemies. You spend most of your time running away from them until you manage to create enough distance to aim at them, which eventually became repetitive and tiresome. Additionally, some enemies are more durable, so if you don't hit them in the head, you'll waste more bullets than you'd like.

I understand the challenges in balancing gameplay and finding innovative solutions that will satisfy all players. However, the enemies are often repeated, their arrival is predictable, and sometimes it all seems random. I've noticed that after you solve a certain part of the puzzle and go back to the previous location of the fight, the enemies reappear as if there's no other place to encounter them.

Also, the enemies were monotonous in design, similar in appearance and sound they make, but quite detailed, despite having many of them; from cultists to demons, they all had the same attack patterns, and all of this further emphasizes the lack of variety in the gameplay. The difference between a boss and an ordinary enemy is almost imperceptible, and these problems are amplified by the inefficient combat mechanics. If an enemy hits you, there will be a short delay on both sides, and the question is why do we even have health when most enemies deal a large amount of damage. Melee combat is, to put it mildly, ineffective; using the axe often proved counterproductive, I took more damage because my protagonist was slow to swing the axe than when she was loading the weapon with bullets.

The bosses are interesting, but their performance leaves much to be desired, in other words, they do not bring any challenge. They lack variety in their attacks, are often slow and you need to hit them a hundred times before they are defeated. In addition, there is no clear indication of their health, and the final boss, who flies around and you have to circle the map a hundred times just to kill her, makes the combat especially shallow. Although the experience with the bosses was frustrating, I got over it because the gameplay is not too focused on killing enemies that often, and the experience improves the intuitive and accessible aiming as I mentioned earlier.

Puzzles and animations

The animations in the game are unimpressive and often uneven. Although they are present, they are often performed too slowly and seem clumsily animated. The absence of quality cut scenes, except for one at the end, which is also not well realized, suggests that the developer had challenges in this segment. Enemies are particularly static; their movements are almost identical, as if they are floating above the ground with minimal gesticulation. The main protagonist also suffers from the same problem; when we solves puzzles or combines resources like charcoal and sulfur to make gunpowder, the animations are so fast that they provide only a noticeable moment of activity.

The puzzles in the game feel more like basic tasks than real puzzles. Basically, you solve tasks like connecting various objects, searching for a key or discovering hidden rooms. I don't see anything wrong with the game giving us simpler puzzles, this aspect of the game was too dominant and I personally wasn't impressed. Especially frustrating was the constant traveling from one part of the map to another. While I love it when games encourage exploration of hidden corners and rooms, the setting for the second boss – a huge empty room with lava – was confusing. This design of the space remained a mystery to me that I will never understand; how was it possible to create a space like this under a huge mansion.

The use of inventory in the game is unusual. You can only carry eight items with you, while the others must be stored in chests that are usually located near the game save location. This would be acceptable if we weren't limited by the amount of bullets we could carry. For example, you can only carry 12 bullets for a shotgun, while excess bullets take up extra space. Additionally, if you happen to have too many items in your inventory, you have to go back to store the items you have, instead of the game automatically sending the excess items we can't carry back to the chest. Although each region in the game offers six save slots, this detail was not crucial as storage space was not that critical.

Verdict

Despair: Blood Curse is a really intriguing title and I highly recommend it to everyone for the value it provides for the price. However, it should not be viewed with the expectations typical of Resident Evil or similar games. Instead, it's important to approach the game with an understanding and appreciate the passion and effort the developer put into it, as this is reflected in the final product.

Despite the need for some improvements, feedback and general functionalities that improve the quality of the game, Despair has the potential to deliver an outstanding gaming experience. However, it is crucial to focus on the gameplay mechanics. Without a sense of accomplishment after successfully defeating an enemy, it's hard to find true satisfaction in the game. The animations are the first to be refined, but in the end, the entire title left an extremely good impression for a game made by a solo developer, and I hope they learn from these mistakes to make every other project even better.

Review copy provided by the publisher