Tormented Souls

« Tormented Souls isn't trying to be a necessarily accessible horror game. It embraces the retro heroes of the genre, and throws challenging puzzles and combat at players. More than that, though, the game has a nasty, hard edge, and ends up sitting at the loud and extreme end of the horror genre. If you enjoy your cathartic horror experiences, however (as I do), then you'll love the gauntlet of pain and torn flesh that this one throws at you. »

« If you love classic survival horror titles, Tormented Souls needs to be on your radar. It’s a terrifically terrifying love letter to Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Alone in the Dark. With brilliant puzzles, a genuinely scary setting to explore, and unsettling monsters to face, it’s the kind of game that will shock you to your core and stick with you long after the credits roll. While it undoubtedly wears its old-school inspiration on its bloodied sleeve, make no mistake: Tormented Souls is a modern survival horror masterpiece. »

« Tormented Souls is a great addition to your Halloween lineup by appealing to the new generation with good music and good graphics but catering to the older gamers with nostalgic gameplay, storyline and mechanics. It’s not perfect but it’s a good time. »

« Tormented Souls is a great tribute to the old school survival horror genre. The Chilean studio, Dual Effect Games, demonstrates great mastery and knowledge of the elements that made horror games great back in the day. Although graphically it is not very impressive and the presentation is kind of cheesy, the setting, the atmosphere and the monsters are so well designed that the resulting experience is particularly immersive. Tormented Souls strengths definitely outweigh its weaknesses. If you are looking for a typical horror experience from the late 90s and early 2000s, Tormented Souls is a must. »

« Tormented Souls knows what it wants to be during each moment of gameplay, and that’s shown in its puzzles and deadly enemies. The developers prove they are fans of the genre as the game feels like it was created to even test their skills. The lack of direction works for what they are going for, but some elements just feel like they unnecessarily pad on the game’s runtime. Still, this game is gorgeous with genuine moments of survival horror. Caroline has what it takes to become a recognizable face in this beloved genre. »

« Tormented Souls is an excellent love letter to survival horror games of old. With that comes limited saving, dodgy voice acting and clunky combat but that doesn't detract enough from the exploration and puzzle solving to sour the experience. Fans of the genre absolutely must give this a try. »

« There are too many aspects of Tormented Souls to appreciate for any fan of original survival horror titles to pass up. »

« Tormented Souls is a survival horror in the style of classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill games, that manages to have an interesting plot and good puzzles, while giving you a very fun time. »

« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »

« GAME MUITO BOM ,UMA CARTA DE AMOR PRA FÂS DE SURVIVOR HORROR, SUPER RECOMENDO, ME PRENDEU DO COMEÇO AO FIM »

« Con todas sus limitantes, este juego es un gran logro para el estudio chileno, un juego muy divertido y que se siente como los resident evil del ps1, con todo y los puzzles asi como un sistema de movimiento y de camaras como los del juego mencionado, pero con graficos actuales. Que gusto ver que hay tanto talento en latinoamerica. »

« Tormented Souls, the work of the Chilean studio Dual Effect, presents itself as a video game, adding a new dimension to digital archaeology. Analyzing the diverse perspectives of those of us who have walked its halls, a clear conclusion emerges: the game is a love letter, sometimes excessively faithful, to the golden age of survival horror (1996-2002).Before beginning this review, it is imperative to recognize the value of this Latin American production. Under Chilean direction, the studio has achieved what many higher-budget projects fail to accomplish: the capture of an atmosphere. The game not only imitates the fixed camera angles and chiaroscuro lighting of references like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, but uses them to evoke a sense of childlike vulnerability and primal terror. The music and level design are not mere coincidence; These are narrative elements that transport the player to an era where fear stemmed from the unseen.Tormented Souls begins with its protagonist, Caroline Walker, who receives a mysterious envelope containing a photograph of twin girls (Anna and Emma). A connection to these girls triggers a migraine, and after some initial cinematic events, you awaken in a bathtub, naked and connected to a medical machine. Looking in a mirror, you discover that one of your eyes has been removed. Thus begins the macabre game.Tormented Souls unfolds and its controls emulate the early Resident Evil games, with a fixed camera and fixed points that cannot be manipulated. This can lead to highly complex puzzles to solve. While the difficulty is an incentive that encourages "deep conceptualization," there is a fine line between intellectual challenge and logical ambiguity. There are mathematical and conceptual puzzles reminiscent of the density of classic games, and other puzzles that lack a coherent structure, forcing you to resort to external solutions that, even after being revealed, feel arbitrary. This "lack of experience" in game design can diminish the fluidity of the narrative. Tormented Souls, drawing inspiration from Silent Hill, features clunky melee combat, and the animations of the protagonist, Caroline Walker, also suddenly leave much to be desired. However, within the context of spiritual survival horror, this rigidity (including the tank controls) is a deliberate design choice. The wandering breaks the visual immersion and reinforces the avatar's vulnerability. Nevertheless, it's undeniable that the mediocre dialogue and the scarcity of final cutscenes detract emotionally from a story that, while interesting, feels constrained by its own reverential respect for the **** biggest point of friction lies in the save system, limited by consumables. Here, a battle rages between two philosophies: The purist vision, resulting from limited saves that generate real tension and consequences for mistakes; and the modern vision, representing an anachronistic system that adds no strategic difficulty but punishes external factors (lack of time, technical failures) and alienates the contemporary player. I believe the lack of a minimal autosave system or more balanced ammunition management suggests that the balance between "homage" and "frustration" isn't always successfully **** conclusion, Tormented Souls is an impeccable yet imperfect ode. It triumphs masterfully in recreating a lost atmosphere but stumbles by inheriting design flaws that the industry has already overcome. It's a must-play for genre enthusiasts seeking a "spiritual" experience, provided they're willing to sacrifice modern conveniences on the altar of nostalgia. RATING 7/10 »

« 9.1-9.3/10 This old school inspired survival horror puzzle solving game is brilliant! Tormented Souls is the first of it's genre I've actually played, and it has absolutely gotten me hooked! I highly recommend this to anyone as a great starting point for the genre if you're new, or if you've played many and want more.. this will certainly give you that needed fix. The puzzles are really fun, some quite challenging but ultimately fair and all solvable with the exception of one, where I just didn't know a certain thing I will not mention and absolutely needed to use google to solve it, but it was only one part of a single puzzle I needed this for later on in the game. Definitely very satisfying gameplay, lots of quality exploration, fun shortcut unlocks, great atmosphere, compelling story, and also a satisfactory feeling from resource acquisition and management, I very much enjoy when you're limited on supply, makes receiving more feel so meaningful, in my opinion scarcity is very important in survival horror. Looking forward to starting Tormented Souls II. »

« ENG_: First of all, credit where it’s due: this small Latin American studio run by two brothers deserves recognition. I think their work has a lot of merit, and it captures the spirit of late‑90s and early‑2000s survival horror remarkably well. The only real flaw I’ve found lies in the puzzles. You can tell they lack experience in that area. Some of them are very good, and their difficulty is actually a plus. But many others are ambiguous and lack logical coherence, even when you look up the solution. I also got the impression that the scarcity of ammunition, which is typical of the genre, isn’t properly balanced. /// ESP_: Reconocer, ante todo, el trabajo de este pequeño estudio latinoamerica de dos hermanos. Creo que tiene mucho mérito y que recoge muy bien el espíritu de los antiguos survival horror definales de los 90 y principios del 2.000. El único fallo que le he visto son los puzzles. Se notala falta de experiencia en esto. Algunos sonmuy buenos y su dificultad es un aliciente. Pero muchos son ambiguos y carecen de sentido lógico incluso buscando la solución. También me dio la sensación de que la falta de munición, típica del género, no está bien calculada. »

« Jogo muito bom, traz a nostalgia dos survivor horror antigos com uma pegada moderna. Puzzle um pouco complicado mas com trabalho e dedicação deu pra entender. Só precisa melhorar o ângulo de câmera. »

« Absolutely great game with total understanding of survival horror games !! I had a great time, I've finished the game 3 times (one without healing, one without saving and one time for completion of all the journals) I'm going to do it one more time under 3H to unlock the Platinum trophy. This is a great game and I've paid the second game but I need the planinum to go into the second game !! Great time on a survival horror classical game !!! »