Description
With it being spooky season and all that, you probably expect a video or two with creepy crawly vibes, so here's a simple, addictive and gore-filled Indie gem by the one-man development machine known as "Warkus". Essentially "Resident Wanderer", "House of Necrosis" was a passion project reminiscent of games from the 32-bit era that spent 3.5 years in development and released earlier this year. With clear (and intentional) visual similarities to Capcom's "Resident Evil" with the Mystery Dungeon core of games like "Shiren the Wanderer" and "Torneko", the game is a clever Rogue RPG mishmash that has enough going on under the hood to justify the price of admission and a few distinct flourishes within the genre to say its sorta doing its own thing. While I lament that there isn't a little more "game" here and it's very basic in terms of configurations, I was pleased with what I got. It was developed with the "Godot Engine" as well.
Curiously, you play as a "Not Jill Valentine" main character who is unnamed... who is part of a special forces team that is also unnamed searching in the depths of an unnamed forest inside an unnamed mansion (we're just gonna refer to it as the titular "House") in a unnamed area to investigate a series of bizarre murders... you are separated from your team and leaving is futile as the interior has shifted into a maze. Btw, did I mention that you're unnamed? "House of Necrosis" mostly foregoes a plot of any kind and sprinkles a few breadcrumbs of lore through its hours of gameplay as you're thrown right into the thick of things. While I would've appreciated A LITTLE more background, it's also a bit of fresh air from the excessive exposition and hand-holding found in so many games these days. There are a few NPCs and some tips here and there, but you'll basically be learning the finer intricacies of the game through trial and error like the good old days - It's so cathartic... even when the screen is drenched in red...
Anyway, like I mentioned before, this game is part of the true "Rogue" sub-genre of roleplaying games that was popularized by games like "Shiren" and "Torneko" but actually originated in the 80s. As such, you can expect:
• Procedural Generation: Levels, maps, and items randomize with every playthrough.
• Permadeath: Dying forces you to start all the way back at the beginning of a run.
• Run-Based Loop: Die, learn, and try again with new randomized variables.
If you're familiar with the genre, then you already have a pretty good idea of what to expect, but if you're NOT familiar, be forewarned that they are considered some of the more difficult RPGs out there. There are a lot of little things to be mindful of while playing them and the player is constantly balancing resources and how best to manage them. This game follows the "simultaneous" movement system where you move on a grid and enemies move as you do, making it feel like a fast-paced strategy game. You'll come across tons of items, most which need to be identified, some beneficial, some detrimental, and you can decide how items are used or if you want to throw them at enemies and what have you. One thing that differentiates this from typical mystery dungeon games is its contemporary setting and, thus, the use of things like various firearms and ammo for shooting. In another strange twist, our heroine has magic she can learn which comes in handy in a pinch.
The basic gameplay here feels more akin to Sega's "Fatal Labyrinth" than more punishing games as the potions have a wide range of uses and basic attacks will be coming from four directions as opposed to more sophisticated games attacking the player from eight directions. Like other Rogue games, the player's level is reset upon restarting labyrinths, but the player can store items in strategically placed "safe rooms" and hoard back-up gear to make deaths less painful. Gear comes in different "rarity colors" which affect their growth potential and different random factors, of which there are quite a few, such as shocking adjacent enemies, bleeding enemies, increased experience growth, cash flow, things of that nature. Weapons and armor also gain experience and grow stronger the longer you use them. There are also traps, and the interesting "monster evolution" system where monsters become foul (red and purple) when killing other monsters, making them much stronger but they also drop rarer gear. There are several bosses and enemies with rare drops as well, so grinding is a worthwhile affair even with subsequent visits to the same places.
At $12, you'll get your money's worth if you're intent on actually exploring all it has to offer. I will say that if you have issues with a black screen and use NVIDIA, to set your settings to "let the application decide". This is a video of roughly one hour. You can get it at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2005870/House_of_Necrosis/
Enjoy.
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