Considering that the founders have an impressive history of horror, including the original Silent HillYou’d be forgiven for thinking you knew what to expect from Bokeh Game Studio’s debut. In its place, Dilmekafa It’s something very different: you don’t cower against monstrous threats, but you fight back with a diverse cast, with an equally diverse selection of weapons.

The cast has a lot in common with the players on PS2 Forbidden Siren (it was also recently added to the PS5 digital store), but instead of creepy isolated locations, you explore the dense urban environment of a fictionalized 1990s Hong Kong. Considering the plethora of horror remakes we’ve seen lately, some crazy changes to the premise and gameplay are also pretty refreshing. The question is whether these oscillations all come down; The answer is a bit complicated.

meat puppets

The eponymous cutterheads are mysterious monsters that hide among the human population when they’re not eating brains, like the Asian Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The victims are none the wiser until one’s head explodes open, revealing its strange, insect-like shape.

Also hiding in plain sight is our hero, a mysterious spirit known as the Night Owl who is on a mission to destroy the sharpheads. Funnily enough, they can take on anyone, starting with a dog, almost turning the opening into a good boy version. vagabond. By holding the left bumper, you can target someone nearby and quickly switch from one body to another.

It seems intentional that you basically throw people around with little care (even most character models resemble meat puppets, dulling the impact when things get bloody), but eventually you start encountering select individuals called Rarities who form a special group. Connect with the Night Owl. Possessed but still sentient, these characters can actually put on a decent fight with their unique blood weapons and abilities.

Your first Rarity is a young woman named Julee, who has sprouted blood versions of Wolverine’s claws. The community opens up to people from all walks of life, like a sex worker fighting with a giant mascara brush, a South Asian housemaid fighting with an oven mitt, or a homeless man who knows martial arts. Between missions, your soul will occasionally have one-on-one conversations with each Rarity, sometimes revealing backstory or a clue that will unlock the next mission. While you can technically choose who you take on in most of the quests, only the first Rarities make a good introduction, and as the story progresses it becomes clear that there are only a few main characters while the rest of the community dwindles away.

Hack and own

While the secondary character models look unintentionally funny, the presentation of the city of Kowlong, seen only at night, is superb. From street markets to seedy nightclubs, exploring these urban environments is a pleasure, especially when you use your belongings as a means of passage. The wonderfully unconventional score by legendary composer Akira Yamaoka further enhances the noir appeal.

There’s even a straight-up Surveillance mechanic Forbidden Siren where you can see through a cutterhead’s eyes, noting their vision to parse their position before taking the bend and exposing them. When you first encounter a cutterhead you’re powerless and forced to run away, so it’s pretty exciting to become the hunter when things start to change.

Unfortunately, things go wrong when you actually have to fight these monsters. Having a community adds some variety, but the combat isn’t very fun. Attacks feel simple, with annoying arming animations that are frequently interrupted; useful abilities have long cooldowns (and an annoying error sound when you try to use them again too soon). Sadly, blood not only determines your health, but also powers your weapons and abilities; Your supply is replenished by absorbing pools of blood left by defeated enemies or other fallen humans.

Most annoying is the game’s parry mechanics. Instead of reading the enemy’s animation, you have to swipe the right stick towards the glowing UI symbol that appears. It is very easy to tap the bar prematurely because you actually have to wait for another signal which is very difficult to read later. Dodging enough times slows down time to get free combo hits, but I’ve only achieved this once, during training; You quickly abandoned that just for the sake of jumping between bodies. While boss fights end with a dramatic camera freeze on a close-up of the possessed character, to me it was usually the sullen face of some random person, not the main cast member.

A bit circular

For those who enjoy urban exploration Ghost Tel: Tokyo or Sleeping Dogs, Slitterhead’s Kowlong is unfortunately more quest-based than open-world. The floors have a claustrophobic design, from the cramped corridors to the streets, which is in keeping with the main source of inspiration: the Walled City of Kowloon. Not having a perfect city to wander around isn’t necessarily a loss.

The question is how many tasks return to the same small number of locations. Given that they encourage replays with collectibles and memories that already increase your skill points, they force you to repeat as something must be done to unlock a new story path. Some Rarities are unlocked with clues so complex that I had to replay the same boring mission multiple times; My only consolation was that you could leave early and continue your new discoveries. These characters also assist characters you learn over multiple missions.

This repetitive loop structure has been partially removed. Forbidden Sirenwhen game design was frustratingly opaque. The plot may go places other than the initial body-snatching premise, but seeing as it does, unlocking the good ending doesn’t seem worth the effort when it also means replaying missions that increasingly drag or recycle mission objectives.

Slicer decision

Slitterhead may not be a horror game that ups the fear factor, but it’s still an atmospheric game and has some crazy ideas in a genre that’s not often risk-averse. It’s exciting to play an action-horror game that isn’t just about destroying zombies, but its fictional version of Hong Kong manages to be both a dreamlike and nightmarish memory.

Unfortunately, appreciating its quirks also means putting up with its clunky, boring implementation and stubbornly old-school design. I was immediately glad this existed so we wouldn’t get stuck in a loop. resident Evil And Silent Hill remakes and just like Forbidden Siren before it has undeniably cult appeal. But like enthusiasts of the old, it is difficult to recommend.