Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 17, 2021

  I've got a lot of complicated feelings about [i]Mundaun[/i]. On one hand, it's a beautifully rendered and genuinely unique survival horror game that's quite unlike anything I've ever played before; on the other, it's a game with edges so rough that they significantly drag down what is an otherwise entertaining ride. What makes [i]Mundaun[/i] unique is immediately obvious; the hand-drawn presentation of the game is really the twine holding the whole package together. Every rock, tree, and citizen of the small Swiss town of Mundaun is sketched in, as if sprung to life from the pages of some old, forgotten folk tale. At first, it might seem like a gimmick, but upon examination, it actually sets the tone quite nicely. A fair few people have compared this game to the '70s horror classic [i]The Wickerman[/i], but that's not quite right - no, [i]Mundaun[/i] is a dark fairy tale, at heart. Enter Curdin, our protagonist; he has returned home following the mysterious death of his grandfather, an incident which strikes Curdin as suspicious, and his concerns prove almost immediately to be true when a menacing and decidedly supernatural old man reveals that he killed Curdin's grandfather. The old man then proceeds to curse Curdin as well, burning his left hand, which really puts a damper on Curdin's already morose journey. From here, Curdin begins an ascent up the mountain, but that description fails to drive home how utterly dream-like the experience is. Among other things, the journey has you befriend a disembodied goat's head, battle wits with a magic painter, flee from demonic bee-keepers, and fight the ghosts of soldiers from some war long past. Never content to rest on horror game cliches, everything about [i]Mundaun[/i] feels like it's been plucked directly from Swiss legend, and it's in these moments that the game truly shines. But for as much as I'm praising [i]Mundaun[/i] - and I do emphasize again that I think this is worth buying [i]and[/i] playing - it ultimately left me kind of high and dry, to the point where I'm reticent to recommend it; I went back and forth on why, and I think it ultimately comes down to two major factors. The first is the actual mechanics of the game. [i]Mundaun[/i]'s combination of light stealth and gunplay are totally serviceable, but the impact feels underwhelming; this is made somewhat worse by the frankly exasperating pace at which Curdin ambles through the Swiss mountains. Movement speed is woefully slow, where sprinting is less of a luxury and more of a necessity to move through the unnecessarily large environments. This slow speed is compounded by a fear-mechanic in game, which slows Curdin when he becomes frightened by the various monsters he faces. On paper, it's a clever integration of gameplay and storytelling, but in practice, it makes an already slow-paced experience infinitely slower in the moment, instilling less anxiety than irritation. My [i]kingdom[/i] for a brisk pace, Curdin, I beg of you. The other major hiccup is the game's fear factor, which is... present, but only just. Now, I'm not one to knock a horror game for not necessarily being frightening (I rather controversially enjoyed [i]Silent Hill: Downpour[/i], so I'm in no position to throw stones at glass houses.), but [i]Mundaun[/i]'s approach to horror spends more time in the uncanny valley than it does instilling true dread. Some of that boils down to the goofy animations and lackluster enemy designs, but I suspect some of it was endemic to the genre of folksy horror invoked here. I wish I could be more specific, but in a very vague sense, the Vibes™ just didn't really do it for me here. The dream-like, quasi-Lynchian horror of [i]Mundaun[/i] just never quite clicked with me, though I will admit that your mileage may vary depending on why you come to the horror genre to begin with. Yet in spite of these issues, I do actually think that [i]Mundaun[/i] is doing something special. No other game really embraces this vein of horror, let alone so stylishly, and the actual narrative beats of the game prove remarkably entertaining and engaging when you get to them. [i]Mundaun[/i] is a great four to six hour survival-horror game stretched about two hours too far, in my opinion. However, the uniqueness of the setting and the love with which Hidden Fields has crafted this surreal jaunt into the horrors of the Alps mean that it's worth playing, if perhaps when on sale. As a final aside, I do hope that this game portends more projects from this small team of devs - [i]Mundaun[/i] shows a lot of promise, and I, for one, would love to see what comes from any future, more mechanically ambitious projects.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 31, 2021

  Welcome to Mundaun, a small village in the Swiss Alps where you play as a man named Curdin who has come to lay his grandfather to rest. There was an unfortunate accident involving a barn fire, and when Curdin arrives on his grandfather's land it doesn't take long to realize that things are amiss. The village priest says that his grandfather was buried in the cemetery, but you've seen with your own eyes that the body still resides in the barn; trapped in the ashen remains and charred lumber. A mysterious man appears to Curdin and burns his hand and despite now having physical proof that something is awry, no one wants to talk about what exactly is going on. It's up to you to explore these Alps, and figure out exactly what dark secrets your veteran grandfather has been hiding all of these years. Mundaun has a unique black-and-white(ish) aesthetic that's authentically hand-drawn with heavy, almost oppressive, thick-leaded pencils; there's a great mini-documentary on YouTube that follows the developers on their trip to Switzerland and shows where they got inspiration for their textures, building structures, and environment design, as well as how they transitioned the paper drawings to in-game textures and character models. MWM Interactive and Hidden Fields put in a great deal of time and effort to produce something that's accurate to the life of pre-modern Switzerland, and their hard work shows superbly in the outstanding atmosphere and crude beauty of Mundaun's visuals. To miss it, you would have to deliberately ignore the loving craftsmanship that went into every detail of this title's visuals. At this time, there is no other video game with this type of hand-drawn imagery. The flowing mist and fog that overcomes parts of the Alps makes the location feel otherworldly at times; peering down into what would be a network of villages, only to be met with marshmallow-like clouds conveys the feeling of floating in another dimension. At times this fog overtakes portions of the map that you explore, and it allows the developers to gently force a guided linearity to the story; something that's necessary due to just how large the six-area map truly is. Although the gameplay is linear, it never makes you feel like you're 'on-rails'... there is always a good chunk of land open to scouting to your hearts content. Taking the time to survey the landscape, not only for the spectacular views, pays off with tangible items such as bullets, matches, and stat upgrades, as well as some extra additions to the plot through notes and optional encounters. It has been said before, but it's worth repeating; the atmosphere in Mundaun is simply incredible. The days are well lit, but cloudy. Sometimes there's rain, sometimes there's snow. The nights are usually clear, with star-filled skies and a bright full moon, though sometimes there are lingering snow clouds. Although this is a horror game, the nights feel especially calm and peaceful, and you can almost feel yourself breathing in the crisp, cold, fresh mountain air; of course, that is until the monsters show up... but that doesn't happen all the time. The developers were even able to add in some wind effects here and there, and there's sections with a rushing flow of water coming in from a waterfall. I'd usually gripe about how there's no soundtrack in a horror game but much like Dark Souls, Mundaun just doesn't need it; the footsteps of your character and ambience from the natural environment works outstandingly well to immerse you. Rarely is a game perfect, so of course Mundaun has its own shortcomings. Most importantly, the combat is dreadfully clunky. Hitting an enemy requires players to press and hold a button for a seriously lengthy amount of time before being able to actually execute the hit; this extends to all weapons but it only makes sense for aiming the rifle, and using the pipe to thwart bees and beekeepers is the worst offender. The cumbersome mechanics become increasingly frustrating and you're better off avoiding combat all together if possible, but that brings us to the second major annoyance; enemies can hit you without even aiming at you. This issue is predominant with the Haymen, who shoot hay at you and can do so from an ungodly range. If you're on the right, and they're pointing left, their hay attack will still make contact with you. Ultimately, the monster encounters in this game just do not add anything to the overall experience. In fact, they detract quite substantially from it. Added to the underwhelming combat system is a 'fear' mechanic that doesn't make much sense, in that you'll be 'afraid' and move slower even when you cannot see an enemy, and doesn't seem to get much better even when it's fully upgraded. As a side note, you can max out fear resistance, health, and combat by finding items, but only the health upgrade truly seems to matter in the long run since it lets you take a couple more hits. Despite its pitfalls, Mundaun remains a labour of love that's worthy of every word of praise it receives. Visually, the game is a breath of fresh air in a genre that has started wearing its redundancy like a favourite cozy sweater. Although much of the aesthetic leaves you feeling calm, there's still a certain unsettling ambience and overarching weirdness that you can't quite shake, and for good reason. The story is like a good book that you just can't bring yourself to put down, and you'll have a hard time not seeing it through to the end in one sitting. There are five endings that you can obtain, and each one requires a new playthrough; though whether the 4-6 hours to do multiple runs is worth it is ultimately up to the individual. If you're looking for a new experience that you're guaranteed to have not come across before, no matter how many horror games you've played, then this is the game for you. [h1]Rating: [b]4.5/5.0[/b] - Excellent, highly worth playing.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore
• gamedeal user

  Nov 27, 2021

  Mundaun is built from the ground up to be a folk horror experience adapted to the videogame format. The entire time I played it, I was reminded of movies like The Lighthouse or Midsommar. Movies that revel in their cultural influence to tell a compelling and strange story while providing an atmosphere filled with dread. The game is all around excellent and should be played if you appreciate the prior paragraph. All voice acting is in entirely in Swiss and, as far as I can tell, very well performed. Music is appropriately atmospheric and the art style adds to the sense of dread more than anything else. There's a surprising number of mechanics in the game and nothing felt short of polished to a mirror sheen. There's absolutely nothing bad I can say about the game. The worst you'll think is that it's just... strange. But those who appreciate refreshing ideas in the survival horror genre would do well to give this game a try. It's different, but that's what makes it great. I hope to see much more from the dev because they really nailed it with this game.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 25, 2021

  Mundaun is a 2021 psychological horror game set in a fictional land called Switzerland, where goats outnumber people and everyone has silly names like "Flurin." Experience first-hand the horror of life without internet access and where the only radio stations play yodeling music. It's a terrifying experience, please buy it.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 10, 2022

  I feel like Mundaun is a real place, out there in that secluded valley of the Swiss alps. With it's villagers, it's folk tales, and it's horror. The game is very immersive and atmospheric, brought to life by it's distinctive visual style, mood, and the fact that the whole game is spoken in Romansh. Some of the puzzles are obtuse, it can be difficult figuring out what to do next, and the combat can feel cumbersome and difficult at times. However, that only puts a slight damper on an overall incredible experience.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 26, 2022

  GOTY 2021. Along side Paratopic and Lost in Vivo, one of the few titles that give me hope for the future of horror titles.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 6, 2022

  The first thirty minutes or so are very intriguing and enjoyable. The unusual visual style and locale make for a great backdrop and I wanted to see more. So it seemed like a straight-forward but interesting game: Explore the area, solve puzzles and be told a weird but enjoyable story/folk-tale. And then the enemies appeared - and my interest in the game was almost gone. Not that I dislike games with enemies in general but the way they are implemented in Mundaun makes them nothing more than an annoying waste of time. Hiding from them is boring. But attacking them sucks more because the weapon you get breaks after a few hits, [b][i]of course[/i][/b]. Why does this game have this mechanic and these enemies? It's not scary or exciting, it's just irritating. The haystack enemies were thankfully easy enough to deal with, especially when you have matches and they stand near... normal haystacks. So I pushed on for a while - until the beekeepers were introduced. They cannot be killed, they can only be avoided or hidden from. [i]Because that's what this game needed, apparently.[/i] And that was the point where I stopped. The game just became unbearable thanks to these enemies. This is one of the games that could use a "peaceful" mode, similar to what SOMA offers. (To be fair, in SOMA it wasn't even really needed as the enemy encounter design was near perfect, meaning that hiding from and getting around enemies was actually enjoyable in that game.) Great idea, unique visual style, wonderfully unusual location, and (up until that point) an interesting story. But the enemy design is [b][i]so horrible[/i][/b] that I cannot continue playing. Terribly disappointing for me. To top it off, the game also has this weird Unity issue where movements are stuttery, especially at higher framerates. If you're prone to motion sickness, you might want to steer clear. Not recommended.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 14, 2022

  All you need to know is that you can pet goats. 10/10
• gamedeal user

  Aug 23, 2022

  A meticulous and passionate design based on hand-drawed textures presenting an unsettling atmosphere. Romansh language fits perfectly with the eerie tale, a pleasing discovery. Folklorish threats won't prevent you from enjoying a walk among the misty valleys of the alps, towards an old wooden cabin, in order to enjoy hot coffee made on a stove.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 24, 2022

  Mataría por Allegria.