Horror game fans are excitedly talking about a new horror game that's just launched as part of Xbox Game Pass. The game's name is World of Horror and it's being pitched as a horror RPG deeply inspired by the works of two of horror's most famous writers, Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft. Going off of those two names, potential players can probably guess that World of Horror goes to some very dark places. Interested parties can download it for free via Xbox Game Pass right now, though it's also available to buy on Steam.
According to World of Horror's description, it takes place in a small fishing village named Shiokawa, set in Japan. Shiokawa is at the heart of the mystery behind the awakening of the Old Gods. The result is that people in Shiokawa are experiencing nightmarish phenomena as the world around them melts into madness. How the player fits into this story as the end of the world nears remains to be seen.
The H.P. Lovecraft influence should be immediately apparent, with the references to the Old Gods, madness, and the end of the world. As for the Junji Ito influence, that has more to do with World of Horror's visuals. The game features a manga-esque visual style reminiscent of Ito's work. It also features a lot of horrific visuals, including violence and gore, that also harken back to Ito's most frightening stories.
As for World of Horror's gameplay, it really needs to be experienced to understand. It's clearly a horror game, but as for its genre it's quite a bit involved. It's an RPG with roguelite qualities. There's turn-based combat in which the player will take on brain damage and garish wounds. Beyond that, players will have to make challenging decisions where life and death hang in the balance. In the World of Horror, nothing's beyond the norm.
It should be noted that World of Horror as it currently stands is incomplete. It's an Early Access game. Currently, there are 12 mysteries to solve, over 200 encounterable events, and 5 main characters. By the time it's finished, developer panstasz wants to increase these numbers by 50-100%. It's still a robust (though somewhat buggy) experience worth checking out. After all, it may not remain on Xbox Game Pass when reaches its full launch.
World of Horror is available now on PC in Early Access.