Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Sep 27, 2021

  A fantastic eldritch journey. I really enjoyed my time with Lamentum. The 8-bit graphics are well done, and the monster design is wonderfully twisted. The game manages to focus on some dark themes of loss, faith, and regret, and I think it does a good job while doing so. I enjoyed each of the characters and their stories, and finding different secrets and endings. If you'd like to spend a few hours with poor Victor as he tries to escape this nightmare and rescue his wife, I'd say it's worth your time.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 1, 2021

  This is one of the few games I bought when not on sale. I'm a gigantic coward when dealing with horror games, but the pixel art aesthetic and relative lack of jump scares made this a possible title for me. So after finishing two of the endings let me just start with a tl;dr: I enjoyed the game and have no regrets. Now for details. Now keep in mind, I'm not some pro reviewer. I have no organizational structure like some of the other fancy pants around here, but I'm just writing what comes to mind. Combat: -Combat is clunky and repetitive. Trigger enemy attack, move back, counter attack. That being said, I wasn't bored with it because enemies do not respawn and running if always an option. -There needs to be a rework of the hitboxes. Hit boxes are very lacking in depth. So basically attacking upwards gets you more range than attacking from the sides. Unfortunately this applies to enemies as well. There's on boss that has a 360 degree attack and the range at the top part of the attack is significantly longer than the sides or bottom. -I don't really have any positives I can say about the combat other than that enemies don't respawn. If they did, I wouldn't have finished this game. Audio: -I can't really remember any music from the game other than the sad piano music. That being said, someone REALLY needs to rework the audio because some notes on that piano sound like they're coming out pretty shrill and honestly hurt my ears. -The SFX were fine and atmospheric. Visuals: Ok, this is where the game gets kinda weird. It almost feels as if it was made by two pixel artists of varying skill. The more skilled one worked on the larger sprites like the statue in the main hall of the manor, whereas the less skilled one (no offense) worked on other things. The perspective is really odd. Some cabinets seem like they're stuck into a wall, and odder still is that depth is not applied to all sprites. Take the church for example. The pulpit's depth is fine, but the altar seems as if it's a flat object with no depth. Collision masks are really odd. Story: The story is nothing special but it is well told and fitting. The writing is also well done as well. Exploration: I will most definitely replay Lamentum just because of this. There are SO many things in this game that I missed. It kinda feels like Dark Souls in that sense. Where does the elevator go? How do I get the sword? Plenty of what ifs to bring me back to try the game again in a while. Overall: I think this game lacks polish and needs a kind of definitive edition makeover, but it's an honest and well done effort by a team of two (I think). No ragrats.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 9, 2021

  If Viviette (which I highly enjoyed) was the pixel version of Clock Tower going head to head with Resident Evil 1, Lamentum is pixel RE 1 dogged exploration and scavenging meets Silent Hill 2's corrosive hopelessness with a touch of Eternal Darkness' more American Gothic chapters. It's a harrowing tale of straight-ahead hero Victor trying to save his dying wife by taking her to visit with a strange count who has the potential to heal...but at a price. The price in these games is never in your favor and soon the dreamy Grau Hill Manor turns up the Satan and it's up to you to fight your way to one of the several endings on offer. This game has safe/save rooms with item boxes, so you should know what you're in for here and there's a ton of stuff to find on the manor grounds from weapons, ammunition, key items, ending items, ink wells for saving, healing tonics and just everything you could expect from survival horror. There's also a finicky combat system that at first feels wonky but boils down to the timing of fight/flight along the lines of a slower paced Shrouded in Sanity. You'll get hand to hand weapons and fire arms. I didn't find them overly difficult to use but I did die a couple of times learning the range/speed/moveset of each enemy (especially some of the bigger, nastier later ones). I'm gonna go on a rant about the enemies here in this next short paragraph... The creature/boss design was fantastic. They get uglier and more sinister as you find out just how big of a place Grau Hill actually is. From chapels to winding hedgerows to the manor itself, I was actually impressed with how detailed each location and its enemies were and was surprised that the place was big as it is. You'll be challenged by one hit traps (haters of those be warned...they're not frequent but they are there) and more standard puzzling along the way. As a survival horror vet dating back to the original Alone in the Dark series, clicking on everything is part n' parcel of the job description and helping out the other trapped members of the manor itself is also part of the ride. Nothing felt too esoteric for me. I've certainly dealt with worse (Crying is not Enough, hi, how are you old dog) but the game kept me on my toes and thinking above undead thought processes for sure. Just when you're about in need of something new to do, Lamentum shows off another area, task or beast of burden for you to suffer. Getting new weapons, seeing new areas and finding out what disgusting creatures were in the manor's darkest regions was a huge part of the drive for progression but so were the deeper threads of the story and the Hellraiser gone SNES art cutscenes. Like any good survival horror romp, storing up some inkwells and having more than one save slot (I played with limited saves because I'm an old grouch that loves bitching over lost progression and being low on save trinkets...don't let me lie and say that complaining is a bad thing...I do it to myself on purpose) is your friend to try different things out. Explore everywhere, click everything and you can be set-up to get the different endings with relatively little hassle and without a guide. That's not me discouraging you from a full second run-through because I guarantee I'll be back again sometime. It's like Horns of Fear (another of my all-time favorite pixel horrors), I'm not ready for another run yet because I still remember that game like the back of my hand, but there'll be an October night where I have to heed the call again someday. Lamentum was a blast for me. Hopefully it will be for you too. For me this is classic survival horror translated successfully into the indie pixel art world. It looks great, I had a great time playing it and it stands alongside Viviette and Horns of Fear as a shining example of its style. Honestly, it's probably my favorite of the 3 aforementioned (at least tied with Horns of Fear, if nothing else), so take that as you will.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 13, 2021

  Pretty good survival horror with 16 bit aesthetics, I wish it started stronger in a less linear way with harder puzzles but it gets better and overall it was a lot of fun. Though if any devs read this, for the love of god I don't care if they donated 1000€ each, I really, really don't want to see the 'funny' signatures of your backers sacattered randomly in my lovecraftian nightmare cemetery. Please find a better place for that next time!
• gamedeal user

  Nov 25, 2021

  Just completed the game with 2 endings and still have to get 2 more. Overall, the game is a great time and has a genuinely disturbing atmosphere as you would expect from any good survival horror game. The game keeps you engaged with mystery, lore and different environments in which you must find a way to survive. Pros: - Interesting story with an unsettling atmosphere - Character and monster design are an absolute delight (except for those bat things, fuck those guys) - Combat is easy to get a hang of along with the dodging - Interesting puzzles that didn't require unnecessary brain wracking but still made you take a sec to think - Multiple choices and endings add replay value Cons: - The map. It serves its purpose but it can be confusing until you learn to read it. Would be great if it allowed you to mark locations - The combat, while fun, became pretty easy and predictable to the point where I never needed to use my gun and could just kite enemies with the melee weapons. Felt more like the terminator than having to worry about actually surviving. - Miss-able collectibles to which there is ZERO indication even exist (but I suppose this adds to the exploration aspect). - The backtracking towards the end of the game could get a bit repetitive, it would be nice to add some fast travel locations or something of the sort. Overall a really fun game that I enjoyed way more than I initially thought I would. 8/10
• gamedeal user

  Dec 28, 2021

  I liked the demo so much that I bought the game once it released. Now I finally got to play it. What started off interesting and good , went to not so good and confusing. I had hoped that the story would kind of make sense in the end, but after playing it I know as much as I knew after 2hours playtime. The gameplay consists of puzzles, world navigation, combat (which really is not deep nor fun), inventory management and talking to people. I have finished the game with two different endings, both of which seemed to be bad endings and both were not very satisfying. I really wanted to like it, but its just an ok game that started to annoy me in its last quarter and left me disappointed.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 2, 2022

  Very good indie survival horror game. Has a bit of Resident Evil vibes in it. Also can recommend this game to H.P. Lovecraft fans. The story is pretty good and grim. Game gave me huge The Last Door vibe (you know what I mean if you played it). Combat can feel little dull but it's allright. Soundtrack is pretty dope - a lot of chill piano melodies, very good job! Solid 7/10.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 28, 2022

  Really fun RE-like survival horror game! I have a few gripes, but let's start with the pros! * Lots of fun backtracking and inventory management. While some might see this as archaic, I think they're welcome staples of the genre * Slow, meticulous combat that's challenging and rewarding * Cool world building, environment and writing. Can't think of many games that take place in this era, so the uniqueness is a plus * Tons of replayability due to branching quest lines, obscure secrets and multiple endings * Fun puzzles! The game contains multiple ciphers, its own language and passwords scattered about the grounds of the huge, creepy mansion. * Great variety of weapons, NPCs, quest lines and environments Now the cons, which are the only thing holding this game back. * A variety of (fixable) quality of life improvements should be made with an update. I found a number of bugs on my playthrough (nothing gamebreaking) . To name a few: * Switching between mouse and keyboard seems to cause problems, and there were a number of times where I had to get off my couch and get my mouse in order to click the confirm button on dialogue. * There were also times where I was able to move my character during cutscenes * there were a number of times when dialogue (especially the "I can save at this desk" dialogue) popped up and stayed up with the map screen open. * While I do appreciate having quests locked behind player choices, I don't think that the teeth and coins quest line should be locked behind areas that you cannot return to, as it locks you out of significant parts of the game. There are multiple instances of items that you simply cannot get after you've gotten through certain parts. I'm not sure if I'll be going back for a third play through just to see this stuff. * Enemy variety is lacking, combat-wise. Visually there's a plethora of enemies, but in many cases the variety is merely aesthetic. Most (maybe all) enemies have the same AI. They just walk up to you and attack. It would have been fun to see them do some more interesting stuff, such as charge attacks, projectiles, etc. * Some of the environments (especially toward the endgame) feel VERY padded, especially the outdoor locations, which just seem to go on and on and on without anything really interesting to find. This is made more annoying when these environments are filled with bits of health, which fill up your inventory, and you end up wasting them to get another item rather than go all the way back to your storage. Perhaps having a separate storage for health items would have worked here? not sure. Anyways, here's hoping this wonderful survival horror game gets a sequel!
• Pepsi Twix

  Aug 4, 2022

  It is a fun game with a good story. The puzzles can be challenging, and the combat is well done with different weapons to choose from and a variety of enemies. The boss fights are memorable too, and the overall atmosphere is great.
• TheOneBearded

  Oct 29, 2022

  It's a great game weighed down by a lot of annoying little things. While backtracking is a staple for survival horror games, this has too much. Combat is just ok. Some instadeaths can feel very cheap. Puzzles are a crapshot - either not bad to bang-your-head-against the wall. Some even have the answer several rooms away, which then involves even more backtracking to take another look. On the positive, the art design, story, and music was very well done. Reminds me of the horror in Silent Hill at times. It's a good little game. While it has some issues, it's good enough for me to check out whatever the devs make next. A strong 7 "what is that thing chasing me"/10