Retro Style Horror Comes To South America!
Solo developer David Pateti enters the horror genre with Mortisomem, and it just so happens to be his best game yet!
Players take on the role of Donald Barnes, an American merchant and immigrant in Brazil, who is returning home after a night at the local bar. On said journey, an eerily tall figure begins chasing him down with an equally large whip. This is, of course, the mortisomem – a folklore-style demon that haunts the local village.
With a retro style and VHS aesthetic reminiscent of Puppet Combo, David Pateti manages to craft a hauntingly fun exploration of a spooky folklore tale.
Atmosphere and Ambience
The success of various other short, retro-style horror titles has already proven that you don’t need mind-blowing visuals to make a tense and compelling game. Mortisomem follows this approach with its polygonal characters, muted textures, and simple design – yet it still manages to capture a pitch-perfect atmosphere.
The fog adds a great layer to the already eerie mood, never allowing the player to see too far ahead, similar to Silent Hill. This effect is amplified by the large, fully explorable map, which can feel a bit overwhelming. There isn’t a set order in which to complete objectives, and players are free to tackle them however they like.
The ambient music is fantastic and adds to the sombre and bleak tone. Mortisomem also features excellent sound design – from the strange noises emanating from the dense forest surroundings to the hounding footsteps of the mortisomem suddenly appearing behind you.
I can’t fault the atmosphere or ambience at all; it’s one of the most well-crafted horror environments I’ve experienced in a long time.
Shortform Gameplay
That being said, where the atmosphere, sound, and visual direction excel, the same can’t quite be said for the gameplay. It’s essentially a walking simulator – and as mentioned earlier, the map is quite large, which may be seen as a downside due to the amount of backtracking required. You can sprint, but your stamina drains quickly, and you must remain cautious of the mortisomem appearing out of nowhere.
When it does appear, the first few times are incredibly effective – I visibly jumped on more than one occasion. There’s also the occasional NPC who will sprint past you screaming, which adds to the tension beautifully.
But, by the time the same thing happens for the fourth, fifth and so on number of times – the novelty swiftly wears off and it becomes more of a nuisance than anything else.
The whole game only takes between 1-2 hours to complete, depending on how much you explore and how many side quests you tackle. There aren’t many, but the side quests are a nice addition to the main objective, which involves unlocking three specific keys from different areas.
Each key comes with its own challenge or puzzle. One of them is locked behind a frustrating platformer section that will likely take multiple attempts to complete. It’s a short but sweet title, and for the low price, I’d say it’s well worth playing.
The Inventory System Is A Pain
However, by the fourth or fifth time of going through the same chase-and-hide cycle, the novelty wears off, and it becomes more of a nuisance than a thrill.
You can wield a gun – both a handgun and a rifle are unlockable – but you don’t actually need to use them until the very end of the game. It’s often easier to simply outrun the demon, which isn’t particularly challenging.
What is challenging, however, is managing the painfully small inventory. Your lantern takes up one slot, as do your handgun and its ammo – that’s already three slots filled. Then you need to carry three keys to progress, which maxes out the remaining space. That leaves no room for side quest items, forcing players to drop and later retrieve them repeatedly. That’s where the backtracking becomes tedious.
Inventory management should present some challenge in horror games – but in this case, it feels more annoying than purposeful.
Clunky Controls and Bugs
I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the control scheme. I accidentally skipped the opening cutscene twice after restarting because the “Next” button was B instead of A. Interactions also vary – sometimes it’s A, sometimes B – it’s inconsistent and confusing.
To shoot your handgun, you have to hold RB and press B, rather than just using RT (which isn’t mapped to anything). There are no tutorials or control prompts – you just have to figure things out through trial and error.
It’s a shame there’s no option to customise or remap the controls, or even a simple control guide in the menu. That’s a missed opportunity that would have really smoothed out the experience.
I also encountered a bug during the final boss fight, where I got stuck in the reload animation multiple times and had to restart the encounter five times. I eventually managed to get around it by preemptively collecting all the necessary ammo prior to engaging with the boss which seemed to do the trick. Had this not worked though I wouldn’t have been able to finish the game.
Excellent Narrative and Lore
On the subject of the boss, I best mention the excellent lore before getting to that. The mortisomem itself is built up excellently, with various NPCs telling you all about their experiences with it. It’s rarely a question of whether it exists and more a case of why it has returned.
There are various notes scattered around the map that tell tales of the demon showing up in past times, and of various historical references to Brazil and the Paraguayan invasion, as well as contemporary news around the setting of 1917.
It’s all fascinating stuff and I found myself actively seeking out these pieces of lore to find out more. You can also tell how passionate the dev is about the historical aspects.
After all the excellent setup and development of the mortisomem character himself, the end boss fight is a bit underwhelming, and players don’t have to do all that much differently to unlock the multiple endings. That being said, the neverending movement of the boss, paired with the pounding and harrowing music (if you can call it music) that accompanies its movements makes for a relatively unsettling fight at least.
It just doesn’t quite live up to the massive reputation the mortisomem builds up during the game.
Compelling, but Needs Refining
Overall, Mortisomem is a compelling retro style horror game that will provide a good couple hours of entertainment. With some captivating lore and a fantastic atmosphere, fans of the retro VHS aesthetic will have a great time roaming the dreary forests of inland Brazil.
With some slight control adjustments, a refined inventory system and a slightly longer campaign, Mortisomem could have been a really special experience. Still it lays all the foundations brilliantly and I eagerly await whatever David Pateti comes out with next!
Important Links
A Terrifying Brazilian Folktale Awakes in Mortisomem on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch – https://www.thexboxhub.com/a-terrifying-brazilian-folktale-awakes-in-mortisomem-on-xbox-playstation-and-switch/
Buy Mortisomem, Optimised for Xbox Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/mortisomem-xbox-series-x-s/9pcrmqd4rfhh
Grab an Xbox One Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/mortisomem/9n2jhxnzwwzm
