Tormented Souls Reviews
However, if you’re a fan of old-fashioned survival horrors and find yourself yearning for one that offers a modern lick of paint and a new setting, there’s a very high chance you’ll absolutely love it. It’s not as good as the classics of the genre, but developers Dual Effect and Abstract Digital have delivered something that is hot on their heels.
The puzzles cannot be brute forced, and hitting a wall is a large part of the intended gameplay experience. Dual Affect did their homework, and they know their classic survival horror very well. Their confidence in puzzle design and aesthetics make them a worthy successor to the classics that defined the genre.
Tormented Souls is a great nostalgia trip taking full advantage of updated graphics and controls to bring a tense, uncomfortable trip for all willing to risk it. Worth taking the time on by both fans of the genre and newcomers wondering what all the fuss is about. Turn those lights on full, open the curtains and prepare to have nightmares.
Through all that, I found Tormented Souls to be just intriguing enough to be worth checking out if you have the time. It's a lesson in where survival-horror games have come from and what stories can still be told within the genre. With a little more modernization within the combat and cleaner visuals, this probably could have been an underground classic.
Tormented Souls could have been a round game if it had managed to better balance its playable aspect. Elements such as an unclear map, unintuitive design when guiding the player, few save points or the difficulty of enemies tarnish an experience that would otherwise have resulted in ten. Even so, it is a curious game, full of nods to the genre and that will undoubtedly delight the purists of the most complex survival horror experiences.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Giving a nice nod to the nostalgia of survival horror classics, Tormented Souls brings together the best elements of all of them and brings to the new generation a must-have experience for all fans of the genre, whether those looking for nostalgia or not. An extremely positive surprise and I hope that in the future it becomes a great franchise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Tormented Souls is a very well made classic survival horror with nice inspiration from Resident Evil 1,2,3 and first Silent Hill games. If you miss these Classic Survival Horrors, Tormented Souls is a very good choice to play and enjoy. Be ready to Fear!
Review in Persian | Read full review
Just two long evenings are enough to go back to the times when the genre triumphed at its best. The same unique gameplay elements have been preserved when trying to create your own universe that puts the atmosphere above the script.
Review in Polish | Read full review
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.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
We take a deeper look at the most modern attempt to bring back classic survival horror gaming with DualEffect's Tormented Souls
So if you’re up for a few scares and a bunch of brainteasers to keep you busy, Tormented Souls comes highly recommended. Here’s hoping it’s a big success and affords Dual Effect and Abstract Digital Works further opportunities to explore the survival horror genre — ’cause they’re damned good at it.
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.
Boasting good puzzles and solid level design, Tormented Souls doesn't break new ground, but it does well what it set out to do. It's not a game I would recommend to everyone since you have to get used to the clunky combat and the lack of guidance and be equipped with enough patience to overcome the initial difficulty barrier.
Tormented Souls is definitely fun for more than ten hours. This game has a spooky atmosphere and is reminiscent of the good old survival classics that everyone loves. Unfortunately, the biggest problem here remains the immeasurable amount of difficult puzzles, with no way to lower the difficulty or get more clues. However, all lovers of old survival horror games should give this game a try.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Tormented Souls draws heavily from the first Resident Evil games to create a horror experience whose atmosphere, presentation and level design are spot on. At the same time, several of its puzzles seem nonsensical, the performance is rather irregular, and the game has a dearth of new and original ideas, while its lighting mechanic is far from a good implementation. While Tormented Souls is overall a good game, it falls short of expectations for those who hoped for something more.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Tormented Souls isn’t going to break the mold or elevate the aged survival horror formula, but if you get around its rough spots, it will transport you back to the golden age of the genre before action and hand-holding took the place of terror and helplessness.
Yes, you could argue that in trying so hard to make a game for the mid-2000s in 2021 leaves the developer with a game that’s fundamentally dated before it began, but that’s the point. All the modern indie horror games that work get that. Compromises will certainly bring you a bigger audience, but games like Tormented Souls, as scraggly and mean-spirited as the games that inspired them, are far more likely to scratch that itch for survival horror’s golden era, rough edges and all.
In general I’ll admit that I’ve been a bit frustrated by games from the indie space on Switch who describe themselves as having horror elements...
There haven't been many games that have effectively emulated the success of the classic Resident Evil, but Tormented Souls does exactly that, although with some flaws.
While I wholeheartedly recommend the game, I warn everyone to stay away from the Nintendo Switch port until the issues are ironed out. As for me, I’m seeking out the Playstation 5 version as I’m legitimately curious about the ending.