Lovecraftian horror is about two things, the insignificance of the human being, and losing your damn mind along the way. In the new roguelike Lovecraftian inspired horror game Phantasmal: City of Darkness, developed by indie studio Eyemobi, there’s plenty and plenty of both to be had. A subgenre of role-playing games, roguelike games implement procedural level generation, permanent death, and fantastical settings. In Phantasmal, the player is taken to a fictional recreation of the Kowloon Walled City, a densely populated and largely ungoverned settlement in New Kowloon, Hong Kong that was destroyed in the 90’s. Before then, it was labyrinth of apartment buildings, offices, and storefronts that was intimidating enough populated and during the day, but in Phantasmal takes on a more dark and sinister appearance with horrific apparitions invading the city and out for your sanity.
As Lovecraftian-inspired games should be, Phantasmal requires one to use stealth over combat, and the more contact one comes into with the horrors that inhabit Kowloon, the more it drains their sanity, causing them to collapse into a fit of madness. This is also reflected in a unique light mechanic, where the player is forced to surrender their light source in the face of their nightmares, else they lose their mind even quicker in the light. Phantasmal: City of Darkness is available now on Steam Early Access, and check out the new trailer below!
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