HorrorVale Reviews

absolute cinema

alice horrorvale

This has become my new favorite game of all time. If you like horror media at all then this is certainly a game you should at least try. I don't even like RPGs and I love the gameplay.

I am absolutely loving this game! Recommending it to my friends, family, streamers, literally anyone who'd listen just for the chance to bring this into the spotlight!

This is probably my game of the year for 2024. I found out about it a while before it was released, I think by searching for RPGs with mothman in them. Mothman is infact, in this game. I really liked the characters, story, and fighting in the game, which I think are the most important things for any RPG. This game has a ton of party members you can get also, which is something I love. I really like how each of them is a fully unique character with stories of their own. I feel like most RPGs with a big number of party members don't give any of them personality or dialogue after they're recruited. Horrorvales party members are very good, and I actively Tired to use different combinations. My only complaints is while I liked the fighting mechanics, almost every fight was way too easy. The only times I had any struggle was with a few of the secret bosses. I had to switch my team to stronger characters to win. The other issue I had is act one just isn't That fun. I don't even know what was about it but I remember just slogging through trying to beat it as fast as I could. As soon as I got to act two things got way better almost instantly. Other than that and a few minor nit-picks, this game has been very fun, and I recommend it to anyone!

This game is so incredibly charming in every sense of the manner. The characters are memorable, the humour is perfect, the atmosphere is a strong vibe, the difficulty can be really tough but still fair and the sudden switches from goofy to serious moments flow rather well. For those that love the spooky season, RPGs and games that’ll just make you laugh and cry equally as much, I 100% recommend this game!

I normally wait to finish a game before writing a review come up but I'm over halfway through and have a decent amount of time in the game and want to add to the positive reviews! Was originally worried when I saw the price tag was $20 That I was being up-charged for an indie project. I am happy to say that that price tag is well deserved with the amount of content in this game just taking into account all of the side quests and main game. I would like to warn that this is a very Gen Z/Millennial Internet type of game so keep that in mind before you purchase

As far as indie RPG Maker type games go, this one is good. I've yet to beat the game but I'm pretty far into Act 3. My main complaint is that the game is wayyy too dark in a few areas. I'm having to squint and guess where I'm going, and that's with my monitor on 100% brightness. This is somewhat of a common issue with a lot of indie games. I'm guessing the devs aren't aware they should be following a universal brightness standard or something. My only other complaint is a bit more abstract. I feel the narrative could use a bit more focus. Besides trying to find Alice's dog, it just seems kinda random imho. But I guess that's sorta to be expected with this type of game. I just feel if there was a stronger narrative theme that ran throughout the game, it would bring everything together a bit better imho. The best theme is usually a tough question. Like, is change always good? But anyway. Solid game 7/10

An incredible game well worth the price tag,and a LOT longer than I thought it would be! Horrorvale has been worked on for almost 6 years and it really shows just how much the devs made sure to have the quality as high as it can be. The soundtrack is awesome,characters are varied and charming,so is the world the game's set in! Lots of great sidequests that have rewards well worth the time completing them,and most help flesh out the characters that you'll be making friends with,and/or explaining more about the world and how things work! (Plum best goblin,please invest in Plum stock,you'll thank me later #PLUMSWEEP) The difficulty of the game (If you aren't going for the super tough secret stuff shhhh) isn't too difficult,which,considering the sheer amount of characters you can pick,is a plus,letting you make whatever kind of party you want! Do you like the character? Put them in! Are they a good character? Also put them in,there's some good wiggle room for you to decide! One small issue is the amount of status effects and states you can be in,which most of these (except for things like paralysis for example being pretty self-explanatory) are not explained. There IS a tutorial giving a general rundown of the sort things you will come across on the journey,though it doesn't outright TELL you what they do. It was a trial by fire to figure out what ailments and states do what,some of which I still don't know the effects of after doing 100% of the game! Most aren't too much of a challenge to deal with however,and there are plenty of items and party members to help with cleansing those bad ones and giving you good ones! The other issue that can be overwhelming at the start is the amount of damage types in the game,with Bone,Flesh,Nature,Blood,Ecto,Lightning,and Sugar,there's a lot to remember of which is effective against what type,with each enemy falling into one of these type categories. Thankfully there's a handy tutorial cheat sheet to help you remember,party members that can analyse enemies to learn about them,and a bloody eyeball item that can be used in place of the analyse skill if you happen to not have someone that can do that! Make lots of potions of varying types to help you out on your journey,from healing potions to potions that buff your stats,heal ailments,or even be thrown at enemies to deal damage!From a base ingredient to a side one,two specific potion items are made to create something neat,with MANY in total to create. A couple are even used to help progress through areas as well,so make sure to look everywhere for those ingredients! With each kind of potion you make,it gets added to a quick-brew list that way if you don't want the pain of remembering what base and side ingredient makes what,you can simply select the potion that you want,and it's made within moments! Though not exactly a bug,I noticed the more types of ingredients and potions I made that got added to the quick-brew list,the more the crafting menu itself seemed to lag out,with none of the other menus in the game slowing down or behaving oddly. Not sure if fixing what window mode the game is displayed will help,but overall just a heads-up for that! MANY,MANY horror references and nods to other games in the genre,even other media that isn't horror! A real love letter to people who enjoy the horror genre,from the old classics,to even internet horror! See how many you can find! There's a dog! Best boy! Also lots of information about mops,very interesting! All and all,Horrorvale's an incredible game that is well worth the trip,with some of the best things in this game LITERALLY being the friends we make along the way! Exciting for any dlc coming up in the future or whatever the developers work on in the years to come! :)

[h2]This game is a hidden gem, and the fact it's gotten so little attention is criminal.[/h2] I bought HorrorVale a couple months ago expecting a small, cutesy RPG, but what I got instead was so, so much more than that. You play as Alice, a young skeleton witch, on her quest to find her dog that just scampered off into town. However, as more and more hurdles are thrown your way, the story has you travelling all around the region, making numerous friends, fighting fearsome foes, investigating mysteries, and learning information about the world a high schooler probably shouldn't be entrusted with. HorrorVale is, on the surface, just your average RPGMaker game with a couple of unique mechanics sprinkled on it. One thing that quickly becomes apparent as you play the game is the sheer amount of references to memes, creepypastas, horror games/movies and so much more scattered all throughout, making the story that much more entertaining. The game itself is very light-hearted, both in its writing and its art direction, but still manages to throw some genuinely unsettling situations at you just to keep you on your toes. The main story is probably around 8 hours long, but you are strongly encouraged to embark on the many side quests that become available as you play; these are your main way of recruiting new party members, which are absolutely one of the highlights of this game. Classmates, bounty hunters, wanted criminals, eldritch abominations - you'll be hard pressed to get through the game without finding at least a couple party members you grow to love, and with about 30 of them in total, there is a lot of room for experimentation in combat. And it's not just party members: the shopkeepers, supporting cast, villains and even many of your run-of-the-mill NPCs are also a treat to interact with. The combat mechanics in HorrorVale aren't anything revolutionary, but they are more than serviceable: an element system, not unlike Pokemon's types, gives things a bit of depth, meshing well with the large amount of skills at your disposal given the plethora of available party members. What I found most enjoyable during combat, aside from reacting to what I'm going up against, is something I haven't touched on yet: the soundtrack. There is so much soul in this game's soundtrack, which is, without a doubt, at its best during boss fights, and I cannot praise the music team enough for their work. As for the story itself, which is divided into five acts (give or take): while it is very good overall, I will admit that the first two acts are (understandably) a bit lacking compared to the rest of the game, and the final act, not including the final boss, feels kind of underwhelming. This isn't to say the game isn't as enjoyable during these though, make no mistake. Some other things I didn't enjoy quite as much while playing: the side quests rely heavily on backtracking which gets tiring at times, some areas the game has you visit feel somewhat painful to navigate, the overworld art style sometimes feels a bit rough around the edges and, shockingly, I experienced frame drops during some of the latter parts of the game. These are, thankfully, all minor nitpicks that rarely detract from how enjoyable the game is. It took me a little over 50 hours to 100% the game, including the side quests and secret bosses (which do get challenging), and at no point did I feel like what I was doing felt not worth it and/or like a chore, so considering the game is only 16 bucks, I would call that a good deal even without waiting for a sale. I don't usually write reviews on Steam, but seeing such a labor of love get so little attention is honestly a bit sad. If you're on the fence about buying HorrorVale and you're reading this, then I'd heavily encourage you to give it a chance. If you've already played HorrorVale and you liked it as much as I did, spread the word around. I know I will.