As the warm summer months blend into rainy, dismal winter times, there’s nothing better to settle down with than a fiendishly difficult, addictive puzzle platformer inspired by the best of the ‘90s. Devoured by Darkness is one such title, and is vying for that spot on the ‘must buy’ list.
Releasing today on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and PC platforms, Devoured by Darkness sees our gruff protagonist suffer through extreme mental torment as he travels through an incredibly eerie and mysterious forest. Spikes, chasms and rickety bridges lie in your wake, and the player must make use of the environment to solve a variety of puzzles, platforming your way to victory.
Developers FlutterBeam are keen to emphasise that you will die… a lot. But that’s just classic retro platforming, making it even more satisfying once you reach the end goal. This ain’t no Dark Souls however: with a lack of combat in sight, it’s all about evading the traps that seek to end your life.
In what is emerging as a recent theme in platforming – just look at such titles like To Leave – the main hero of Devoured by Darkness’ plot is enshrouded by suffering and mental illness, making his plight even more tragic.
However, not all is bad, as he also possesses some form of telekinesis or magical powers, being able to move objects far away from him. This is where the puzzle aspect of our puzzle-platformer comes into play, where moving objects onto platforms is the most simple of actions the player is expected to perform.
A more full list of features present in Devoured by Darkness includes:
- — Mysterious protagonist with some mental issues
- — Amazing pixel-art graphics
- — Puzzle-platforming gameplay at its finest
- — Sullen ambiance of unknown happenings
- — Many ways to die (If you’re still don’t…)
If Devoured by Darkness sounds like something up your street, then look no further than the Xbox Store. On Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, the game can be purchased for £4.99. Alternatively, Devoured by Darkness is available on PS5, PS4, PC and Switch.
Game Description:
Cold autumn wind was blowing into my mind. It was enjoying sounds of deep forest and a terry surface of a lake. That place couldn’t be real. That was a fantasy, a fantasy designed to the smallest detail. An intermittent scream was carried by thunder over the trees. Someone was drowning…
