Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel Reviews
Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel seems like a mere Resident Evil 7 clone, but shows a unique and distinctive soul thanks to brilliant puzzles and a game structure that reminds us of old horror classics.
Review in Italian | Read full review
We’re giving Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel the benefit of the doubt. It’s flawed for sure. But the ten or twelve-hour playing time is mostly a good time thanks to the effectiveness of the titular guest house as a setting and the oppressive atmosphere it manages to conjure during your stay there.
If you enjoy modern Resident Evil titles such as Resident Evil 7 and Village, then you will feel right at home with Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel. It's an obvious love letter to the franchise that contains plenty of lore, mystery, horror, and puzzles. Unfortunately, the janky controls take away from what otherwise is an indie game with lots of heart and promise.
Ultimately, Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel is a bit rough around the edges. Its voice acting isn’t great, which ruins the tension at times, as do its poor enemy animations and sub-par combat. But in an age where new, half-decent survival horror games are few and far between, this isn’t worth writing off completely. Its puzzles are enjoyable, and it does a good job of creating an eerie atmosphere. Particularly if you’re a fan of the classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, it’s worth checking into St. Dinfna Hotel.
Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.
Fobia St. Dinfna Hotel does a lot of things right but it falls just a tad short of matching the greatness of many other games in the genre. I loved exploring the Hotel and solving puzzles that are reminiscent of classic titles like Silent Hill and Resident Evil. It's just a shame that combat is not only boring but lacks any real challenge, and the story doesn't provide much resolution or explanation to what's really going on.
Phobia: St. Dinfna Hotel, it is not a bad survival horror, perhaps it has mechanics that are little used and a sound section that is not very remarkable but due to its visual section and its more than 18 hours, it is a very interesting title. Recommended for fans of the genre.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The puzzles are challenging but satisfying, the spooks are wonderful, and the story draws you in from the very start—Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel has all the right elements, just may need a couple of gameplay tweaks for the console. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a horror game with all the puzzles you could ever need, look no further.
Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel lifts liberally from the best of the horror genre but its unsatisfying core gameplay loops leave you out in the cold. A nifty camera mechanic allows for some entertaining time-bending exploration and the game has a solid grasp on 2000s grunge aesthetics, even if the story at its heart is a little old hat.
Ultimately, how much enjoyment you get out of Fobia depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re just dying for gripping gunplay with myriad monsters to encounter, there’s no denying that you’ll probably be pretty disappointed with what this title has to offer. But if you can look beyond its rougher edges, Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel offers tantalizingly terrifying accommodations for survival horror fans.
With an interesting environment packed with puzzles and mysteries but a distinct lack of enemy variety and scares, Fobia should only be checked into if you can overlook its detriments.
Fobia may tread familiar ground, but it does so confidently and effectively. The game manages to build tension and fear without relying too heavily on jump scares, and its excellent sound design only adds to the spook factor. Anyone who likes survival horror games should give this one a try.
Despite it’s flaws, and low production value, FOBIA is a decent alternative to Resident Evil.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Let's imagine that apart from this analysis there is another. A similar one, but with a different approach in its approach. It could be that, instead of analyzing the work developed by the people of Pulsatrix Studios, he focused, that he left aside the annals of terror to deal with many other genres. That is the theory of parallel realities. Wandering along the steepest paths of consciousness, FOBIA – St. Dinfna Hotel gets lost in the dark limits of reason looking for the most hidden fears, to offer us a descent into madness where terror, suspense and fiction converge to sow multiple unknowns.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
There's a lot of potential in Fobia: St. Dinfna Hotel, and it has some moments of excellence. Unfortunately, the lackluster visuals, weirdly unfriendly UI, and general awkwardness drag it down. It's a fine game to play if you want to scratch the survival-horror itch and you've already gone through a lot of other titles, but it doesn't do enough to distinguish itself. I'd be deeply interested to see a more polished and refined sequel because the potential doesn't shine through as well as it should.
Don't judge Phobia – St. Dinfna Hotel just because it's an indie title. The game is very well crafted and with incredible detail. Despite some technical and story-tightening issues, it can be considered one of the best horror games I've ever played.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
You will not be afraid with it, but you will feel like in the old days of survival horror, thanks to its worked puzzles and its mysterious story.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fobia: St. Dinfna Hotel may not reinvent the wheel when it comes to survival horror, but it's an engrossing thrill ride nonetheless.
FOBIA – St. Dinfna Hotel is still worth a look if you truly enjoy survival horror titles; just don’t expect to be surprised as it’s a journey you’ve likely taken before under better circumstances.
There’s not much else I can say about St. Dinfna Hotel. If you’ve played horror games then you know what you’ll be getting from this one. If you haven’t played many horror games in the past then the clumsiness of the combat, and the lack of assistance through the puzzles, makes this a poor entry point to the genre. Indeed, if you’re not familiar with the classic horror titles St. Dinfna is in homage to, the entire experience is almost pointless. I do think the developers have talent and passion for the genre, and I hope that this is successful so they can get a second run at it. If they do, all they need is to have their own voice and the confidence to add to the genre, rather than parrot it, and I do think they have it within them to create something special.