Tormentum – Dark Sorrow is a new Point and Click adventure game by developer Oh Noo, who have only made an iPad interactive book before this game. Taking the style of Demon/Dark souls and combining it with the point and click style of old school games gives you this dark but enjoyable gem of a game. With its beautifully drawn graphic style and its bountiful amount of story and lore, Tormentum aims to set itself apart from others in its genre.
Being funded on Indiegogo for $11,538, with their goal only being $9,000, there was quite a bit of support for this little game. Stating the team was only comprised of 3 people and showing off the beautiful artwork and puzzles they had to offer.
Story
The game starts off with both your character, a Dark Souls pyromancer witch robe wearer, and a Rat-Human hybrid being held captive in two separate cages carried by a flying airship. The Rat talks of how you were both captured and that you’re being taken to a castle to be tortured for the evil you have committed in life. You land shortly in the castle where a dark armoured figured confirms why you are being kept here, to rid you soul of evil and purify you. He leaves after telling you of your fate, with only a cell to sit in and a crow by the window to keep you company.
With some sort of Amnesia stopping you from remembering anything before being in that cage you decide it’s time you got some answers and freed yourself from this prison. As you begin you escape you will come across several other prisoners, guards and inhabitants of the world, who for the most part seem dreary with pasts full of despair.
From the tower to the outlying areas you will talk to other people, gather items to solve puzzles as well as solve riddles given to you by both people and objects alike, all the while making choices based on who lives and who dies.
The game is said to be around 4 hours long and that is a fair estimate for new players, but veterans of point and click adventures might go through the game a lot faster. I was able to complete the game in under 3 hours my first time. Without a lot of side content the game length is hard to stretch out, unless you click every little detail in the world and talk to everyone in it. There can be about 2-3 playthroughs to be had from this game, as there is a good and bad ending, but choices allow you to see both sides of the stories as well as different choices along the way..
Gameplay
Unlike some of the newer point and click games you character won’t walk about the areas around him, he merely stands still while you as the player investigate the area. You can move you mouse and click on objects in the world to pick them up or click on interesting architecture and writings to get some details about them. As you collect items they will go into you satchel which you can open at any time and get a closer look at your items.
There is no form of combining objects in this game, which sadly cuts down on the solving of puzzles through items. You merely find the right object and place it where it is needed, besides cooking two items together at one point. From coins to gems you will find several items you need to fill slots or sate someone’s need for shiny things, for doing so you are rewarded with information, another item or passage through a door.
The puzzles in Tormentum are rather varied and there is quite a lot of them to be found. Sliding puzzles, number puzzles, match 2 symbols, turning, cooking, deciphering, weight counterbalance and much more. Each puzzle felt stimulating with a gradual increase in difficulty as you made your way through the game, without really hitting the high end too often. Puzzles are set up in a 2-4 step manner, get information about the puzzle and a possible item requirement, look for the item in a nearby room, place it properly and figure out the puzzle that is opened before you.
I found it hard to find any instance where your character is at harm, without ever finding a game over or death screen. The hooded figure normally stops you before you make a mistake or if you forgot an item, as well as items that can be picked up normally emitting some sort of light or being highlighted by the game itself to let you know it’s important.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The music in Tormentum is amazing, the quality is top notch and every track fits the areas they are played in and the themes going on at the time. The style is constantly dark and sombre, adding to the atmosphere the game gives you, immersing you in its lore and characters. I never felt a time where the scenes felt empty, the music gave me a push when I needed to solve a puzzle or when I needed to climb up a staircase to a statue. The only nit-pick I could find was that sometimes the music was a bit too quiet and I couldn’t fully appreciate its impact.
The graphic style of the game is great, from its medieval architecture and equipment to the religious figures and depictions of characters in both their models and paintings adorning the walls. While it is rather dark and twisted it never felt as if it was insulting or disgusting in any way, merely showing a different side to the world of fantasy and that not everything is pretty, white and celestial.
Tormentum – Dark Sorrow is an excellent display of artistic flair, bringing together the art style of H.R Giger and the themes from Demon/Dark Souls series. Gothic landscapes and interesting characters are what make this game feel so fresh and unique against all the other point and click games on the market right now. If you’re a fan of Lovecraftian horror this is also quite a beautifully portrayed game with some of the features that inhabit it and the insanity some of the characters show off.
Tormentum – Dark Sorrow gets a 4.5/5, the puzzles and difficulty are top-notch, both in variety and the sheer number of them. The game doesn’t get stale at all, as you never do 1 action for too long, continuing on through the castle as well as the different scenes there is always something new to see and find. Fans of the genre and gothic art styles will love this game, though the lack of voice acting could pull it back for new players as there can be quite a lot of reading to do.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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