As the stormy night sets in and the darkness surrounds you, you enter the world of Holstin, a Polish survival horror experience. This game takes you on a journey through an isolated town, filled with existential squalor comparable to that of Silent Hill. The game’s visual direction is a clever mix of 2D isometric pixel art and 3D sets. Initially, you may mistake it for a simple 2D game, but as you rotate the view, dynamic lighting and interactive objects hidden behind corners come into focus. During intense moments, the perspective shifts to an over-the-shoulder view, adding to the immersive experience.
In Holstin, the streets are overrun by a filthy slime, and everything in the town, from the people to the buildings, seems to be deteriorating. The cause of this decay remains a mystery, but you must navigate through this nightmarish landscape to find your lost friend and escape before the town takes hold of you too. The game describes the enemies you will encounter as “ungodly manifestations,” leaving the details of their origins and nature to your imagination. This ambiguity adds an extra layer of suspense and fear to the gameplay.
Holstin incorporates puzzle-solving elements that require close examination of objects like circuit boxes and padlocks. For example, one of the puzzles in the playtest involves attaching a single lightbulb to different lamps around a house. The tentacles lurking in the shadows are photophobic, and illuminating a room is crucial to progress. However, while these tentacles pose a threat, they do not immediately consume you when you get too close. This provides a sense of relief and allows players to focus on the puzzle-solving aspect without constant fear of instant death.
While navigating the decaying town, you will encounter its residents, who are all slowly losing their sanity. To understand their twisted minds, you must play along with their delusions and delve into their inner worlds. This aspect of the game brings to mind the experience of working at a real ale bar, where catering to the regulars sometimes meant delving into their eccentricities. The developers have created an atmosphere that thrives on the psychological aspects of horror, where understanding the character’s minds becomes crucial for survival.
Based on the information available, Holstin holds great potential to be one of the best horror games of its kind. The combination of atmospheric visuals, challenging puzzles, and psychological horror elements promises an immersive and terrifying experience. Whether it will live up to the legacy of Silent Hill or surpass it remains to be seen, but Holstin has certainly captured the attention of survival horror enthusiasts.
Holstin introduces players to a stormy night filled with terror and uncertainty. The game’s unique visual direction, ambiguous enemies, challenging puzzles, and the unraveled minds of the town’s residents all contribute to creating a truly horrifying experience. As more details emerge and the public playtest progresses, it will be interesting to see how Holstin evolves and whether it can claim its place among the greats of the survival horror genre.
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