Heya board, here’s another review for another game I really like. Horrorvale is an indie RPGMaker game developed and published by Batworks for Steam on October 1st, 2024 for $15. It is a turn-based role playing game that follows the basic combat structure that many RPGMaker games do. The player selects which move each character in the current party uses, and all the moves play out for the enemies and allies according to the turn order. This is a story based game separated by acts. I will avoid spoilers if I can but will hard cut anything outside of vague whispers and general thoughts at around Act 3.
Horrorvale takes place in the underworld where all dead souls reside as various monsters from myths and classic horror movies, living in a society not too dissimilar to the real world dubbed Spookies. A skeleton girl named Alice is looking for her dog after he has been kidnapped by mysterious new monsters. First she must get permission from the mayor to leave the city as the new monsters, dubbed Creepies, are scaring the townsfolk. She starts out alone but can very quickly recruit party members through their recruitment quests. Going over each is outside of the scope of a general review but there are two in Act 1 with a lot more in later acts, eventually ending the game with about 30 party members.
Touching on each story beat, piece by piece is not something that will be done here because the story is really good and something that should be experienced through the game itself. The twists in the final acts work well and ultimately the ending is great. It does have a few flaws, such as some party members not getting as much of a focus in their stories and pacing during the Acts 2-3 being awkward. Overall the characters are enjoyable and the humor is done well. It is a reference-heavy game, with a focus on horror and monster media. It never feels overdone or too unserious but the game does lack genuine horror. There are scary moments and a few chase scenes but the game is not truly about horror, it is about death and what society associates with it. It flips between the vibe when it wants to, using death as not only a humorous device but also the serious crux of the whole story.
The side quests don’t feel like slogs to go through and are each fun little stories, especially the ones that focus on party members. They range from “going to the moon” to finding out a character’s father is a terrible father. Outside of that there’s one main endgame dungeon which is a really nice challenge. There is not much in terms of post-game. Only an arena where the player can do updated versions of each boss fight. Each refight updates the fights and adds a twist or two that spices up the fight and makes it harder outside of pumping up the stats to endgame levels. From compressing multiple bosses into one fight or adding whole new allies for the boss, each refight justifies running it back, except for one. The fight was already an hour long slog that did not get better in the refight. Not hard. Just annoying.
Combat-wise the game plays really well. The status effects are quite robust and there are a lot of good synergies between multiple party members but none are required to make any character work. The enemies are quite varied as well, as they’re just other people in the world along with the party itself. A number of the enemies are exclusive to sidequests but don’t feel like padding out a bestiary. Each boss fight feels like a good challenge for each of the points you fight them and are unique. Secret bosses are in the game and very secretive. Not convoluted in how the player finds them but it takes some searching for each one. The status effects are done well here too. No enemy is truly immune, but bosses generally have lower chances on some effects, especially on the few stuns in the game. Most status effects alter stats, make things weak or negate other status effects and any that aren’t damage over time are viable through the entire game. Status effects in RPGs are hard to get right but Horrorvale does it really well in both its gameplay and flavor.
The art style and character designs are really good. It may not be overt what each character is inspired by and even without knowing the reference, the design can still be appreciated. It compliments the lighthearted vibe and works well even when the story gets serious. The soundtrack is also enjoyable and never became something mutable during battle. Sound effects however, are where the game’s audio design works really well. From the critical hits to what happens during the story, the sound effects add a lot to the experience.
This game is not for everyone. I’d recommend it to people that enjoy other RPGMaker games like OFF, Lisa: the Painful or Suits: A Business RPG. I’d also recommend it to people that like horror or any scary media, it’s not trying to be horror but it is definitely a love letter to it. Anyone that doesn’t like story in their games will definitely be turned off by this. As well as people that dislike turn-based RPGs or think references cheapen an experience. This game is one of my favorites. I really like it and it’s something else I’m biased towards. Even with an annoying boss and endgame equipment being mildly grindy to get for every party member, this is a 10/10 for me.
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