I’ve been keeping an eye on indie darling developer Arbitrary Metric since I first found Paratopic, back in 2018. That game’s bizarro world, disconnected plot, low-fi aesthetic, and incredible commitment to its glacial pace made for one of the most fascinating experimental games in the horror space when it came out. It isn’t a perfect experience — it takes less than an hour to complete, and you have to be patient the entire time — but it is a novel one. A unique one. A worthwhile one.
I eagerly awaited what would come next, expecting more of the off-kilter, suspenseful horror that was present in Paratopic. But, when Roman Sands released in 2019 on HumbleBundle.com, I ignored it. It was not on Steam, it was not horror, and early reports complained of endless bugs. I may have liked Paratopic, but not enough to change my mind on that. I was sure it wasn’t anything worthwhile, anyway.
Cut forward to May of this year. Roman Sands is being remade, now titled “Roman Sands RE:Build,” and Serenity Forge is publishing the title. As a result, I ended up with a code for the preview build of the game, and was blown away...
