Tormented Souls Reviews

it's alright. If you're a hardcore survival horror fan, then you might like it. The first section is relatively conservative with resources. IMO the best course of action is to kill every enemy you see. Plot is pretty bad. Probably better games out there to scratch that classic survival horror itch, but Tormented Souls isn't the worst game you can play. For what it's worth, I will be buying the sequel. 72/100

really liked it. only gripe/complaint is the couple last areas are kinda boring bunker hallways. other than that id reccomend

Developed by Dual Effect and Abstract Digital, and published by PQube, Tormented Souls (2021) is a survival horror game that pays homage to classics like Resident Evil, blending fixed-camera exploration, puzzle-solving, and tense combat in a haunted mansion setting. You play as Caroline Walker, investigating the disappearance of twin girls at Winterlake, only to uncover supernatural horrors. It's hailed as one of the best Resident Evil-like experiences in recent years, capturing that old-school vibe with modern polish.The game boasts nice graphics, with detailed, atmospheric environments—dimly lit corridors, grotesque enemies, and eerie lighting that heighten the dread. Voice acting is good, delivering believable performances that add immersion to the characters' fear and determination. The story is ok: a straightforward tale of mystery and the occult that won't win awards for originality but keeps you engaged with its nods to survival horror tropes.If you like Resident Evil games, this is one of the best options so far, evoking the tank controls, inventory management, and save-room tension of the originals while updating them for today's players. It's a solid throwback that fans of the genre will appreciate for its faithful recreation of that classic formula.

TLDR: similar to the original Resident Evil games, but heavier on horror themes, story build-up and puzzles (and I loved it for this). At the same time, combat is quite janky - it is hardly a game of skill. ----- Chances are you are looking at this game because it is 'similar to old Resident Evil'. So I'm going to focus on TS vs RE (original 90's trilogy) comparison! Setting/vibe: it's another creepy mansion! But creepier and more detailed than RE ever was. Actually, the gore and horror themes are much more intense than RE - to me this makes it a better representation of the ‘survival horror’ genre. Some people would find it too disturbing or scary to play all the way through (think: horrible medical procedures), but I think they did a good job setting their boundaries and then riding that edge. Gameplay/Combat: same tank controls as RE, but defaults to a semi-modern option similar to the RE1 Remake of 2002 which is honestly not bad. The protagonist, Caroline, is not a special ops warrior though, and combat really takes a backseat in this game, even though there are quite a lot of enemies. I think the whole game would have worked better without actual combat, but whatever. The biggest issue is camera angles. RE trilogy was bad enough, but this game improves the visuals with camera angles that aren’t quite static, and for the most part it works great. Except the occasions where you will be walking towards an enemy you can’t see (but can thankfully hear), and the camera pans with you, preventing you from seeing it until you’re close enough to get melee’d. There’s work-arounds, but ultimately any challenge in Tormented Souls’ combat is for the wrong reasons. Puzzles/Items: There’s a much stronger focus on this than in RE. It isn’t as simple as ‘found item A, go back to room Y and use’. The game will bring up overlays to interact with the machine/puzzle/item in more detail, and honestly I needed a hint from a guide a couple of times. Also: there’s no inventory limit, and you know what? I don’t miss it. Game length: I don’t like talking about number of hours since people play at their own pace, but I feel it has a smaller ‘scope’ to the original RE, but about the same genuine playtime (because you won’t die much, if at all, and because going through doors is about 10x faster).

Great game, there's only a few problem: 1) map gets stuck on first floor west. Whenever I open it I need to manually change to the correct one. doesn't seem intentional since it's neither the first map I could found nor the first in the "bookmarks" 2) I wasted my first save thinking it was a puzzle... haven't gotten my second ribbon until two hours later, afterwards got showered in them. 3) no difficulty selector. Minor issue, but I still prefer to give myself an edge in games where I can't see what I'm shooting at... 4) not enough graphical settings. I find the game to be too demanding for what it offers, clearly needs an ability to optimize it. 5) [steamdeck] - frequent drops to 30 fps when loading assets. Probably a RAM or SSD issue, since power draw falls from 13w (3w cpu + 10w gpu) to 4w (1w cpu + 3w gpu). 6) some of the puzzles are complete bs. Like the one where you need to recreate a melody by sound or the key one where you need to guess which shapes hides behind which concept... Gimme straightforward shite, based on the in-game information! 7) run button doesn't work nitpicking: 1) the map doesn't show objects of interest or area search status like resident evil remake or silenthill 2 (haven't played other classic title so don't know if I just played the outliners) 2) shotgun doesn't make sense 3) enemies are bullet(nail) spounges like in re2r 4) film noise when viewing cassets triggers my motion sickness. 5) sometimes it's not clear how to progress. I don't think I will ever play it again, but I'm definitely buying the sequel

If you're looking for a classic survival horror experience (Similar to what you would get in the late 90s/early 2000s), look no further! The story, graphics and atmosphere are great, combat is decent but not the highlight of the game, monsters are scary, and the game has plenty of puzzles (occasionally made my head hurt). Definitely worth buying for old school fans of the genre!

Tormented Souls is one of those games that really reminds you we're in a golden age of indie titles. However it's not without its flaws and those flaws can be quite annoying (At least for me). TLDR: Very good exploration and hard puzzles, combat is simple and flawed but oddly satisfying. Setting, writting, voice acting and overall visual design are very weak, generic and puts its inspirations too much on the forefront which really hurts any uniqueness the game could've had. Still worth your time if you like survival horror games! ----------------------------------Long review--------------------------------------------------------------------- ---I will start with the bad: In my opinion the weakest part of this game is its writting and narrative, the game's setting is quite generic-A haunted hospital, come on. Even making parodies of this is played out by now, hell the name itself didn't inspire confidence when I first heard it. The bad guys are a cult (This is hinted at very, very early on so hardly a spoiler) the main character has little to no characterization other than being "drawn' to this place and of course I think everyone figures out the twist of the game in the first 2 or 4 minutes of starting it. The character designs are also generic and not very well thought out. Caroline herself looks randomly put together, an ill-fitting leather jacket on a white lace dress, combat belts and pouches with leather boots, all this on top of the character's crimson red hair. Caroline looks like a rocker girl without any rocker girl characterization, in attitude, backstory or even her room.I used the second costume which is better designed in my opinion. The monsters themselves are so generic "hospital horror" that they could pass for free assets on an asset store, especially given the "Radiation" theme the game has, why not go for something more unique given such a scary concept as radiation? Indie horror games have this problem where they stick so closely to the things that inspire them that they get dangerously close to being derivative of those games-in the case of Tormented Souls here the inspirations are obvious; Resident Evil and Silent Hill, not only in gameplay but in overall style and mood,e specially Resident Evil here; but again the game copies some of these elements too closely, such as the mirror world is just too similar to Silent Hill's dark world but with a much lesser impact because it has no narrative reason to be there, many things in this game don't make much sense narratively and clearly only exist because it's a horror game and these things are in horror games so they put them here! And that's that. Finally the voice acting, I won't harp on this too long because it is an indie game they have to work with what they have (I have now played the Demo of Tormented Souls 2 and the voice acting is MUCH better, so kudos) However I would be lying if I said it didn't make the dialogue sound laughable at times. Hard to tell if this was direction or quality of voice actors though. ---Now the good! It seems I ranted negatively about the game but I wanted to end this on a possitive note; The thing about Tormented Souls is that it gets certain KEY things right that can absolutely carry a game: Exploration, combat and puzzles. Combat isn't brilliant, some people seem to like it, others don't, it's not a very hard game-especially with the surplus of ammo it offers-however I can't deny the satisfaction of dodging an attack to retaliate afterwards, or shooting an enemy point blank with the shotgun and watching them fly away as if hit with a FUS RO DAH like the good old days, all this to then run up to your downed enemy and pummel them into paste with a crowbar like a morphine addicted Gordon Freeman. Weapon selection is low sadly, but I never got tired of those point blank shotgun shots. As for exploration this is perhaps where I was the happiest with the game, like Resident Evil Remake, you will find yourself opening very satisfying shortcuts, figuring out ways around locked doors and coming back to open areas previously locked or inaccessible, there's not much to say but it's because this concept was so well figured out by the developers, I got a smile on my face anytime I went on long explorations to come to a locked door and find a huge shortcut on the other end. Satisfying is the only way I can put it. And finally the puzzles. This is where this game surprised me the most; Tormented Souls has very real puzzles, the kind that have you think for a long while. Some may find them annoying as many of the puzzles could be very much interpreted in different ways (I had to consult a guide that gave extra clues before revealing the solutions outright. I figured them out but I definitely needed the extra hints for many of the puzzles) However to have to sit there and genuinely figure something out is something I hadn't done since playing Silent Hill 3 with the puzzles set to hard. I don't think there's any shame in consulting a guide but I won't lie the puzzles I figured out by myself were very very satisfying. And that's it! Tormented Souls is flawed but it is definitely a testament to the ever increasing quality of modern indie games. I have already played the demo of the second game and have noticed improvements to the map, character designs and inventory as well as overall setting. I am excited to see where this developer goes in the future!

Tormented Souls borrows from some of the horror classics but has enough of its own personality to shine. The story may not be fully original, but neither is it so convoluted you need every journal scrap to understand. I love the tank controls and fixed camera angles which you don't see much with modern games. Conversely, Tormented Souls thankfully avoids arbitrary inventory sizes. It is very puzzle heavy, which may turn some players off, but they have the right amount of difficulty; I only used a guide on a few. Overall, a great atmospheric horror experience!

Very scary at the beginning of the game, saw woman and then naked woman jumpscare so scary

This feels like a well made love letter to more retro horrors like Resident Evil and Silent Hill and I loved it. Fixed camera angles, OPTIONAL tank controls, collect the limited recording tapes to save, puzzles and a need for good resource management. Positives: + Tormented Souls excels heavily in the atmosphere that it sets! The colour palette, the settings and the lighting really set the game up as an atmospheric horror. Loved the setting and designs of the rooms + Great Sound design! The music is so eerie and other sounds make the game feel very immersive. + Smooth, satisfying game play. + Good puzzles! They give you everything you need to work them out and don't leave anything too vague or down to guess work. + The story is pretty good, though a little predictable + Ammo isn't unfairly scarce. You can afford to kill quite a few enemies safely without your ammo reserves running dry. You will probably struggle if you try to kill literally everything in your path though so play smart and use a crowbar when safe (when they're snoozing) + Dodge mechanic gives you i-frames + Has auto-aim which is a huge help with fixed camera angles + Cool and creepy enemy designs Neutral: * The game is hard. This can be a positive if you like a challenge, or a negative if you don't. I personally found it fun for the most part. Negatives: - It can feel genuinely unfair at times. If you run out of a door where the enemy was trying to hit you close to the door, you can walk in there again and it'll still be in the attacking animation and hit you.