In recent years there are many new literary works that have become fashionable, others have been abandoned by the wayside, and still others, like success, have been transposed into film or videogame format. Evergreen of past and contemporary culture, there are undoubtedly the writings of a gentleman who responds to the name of HP Lovecraft, which certainly need no introduction. The latest of the video games to be inspired by the works of the Providence writer is Lovecraft's Untold Stories, an action roguelike with RPG elements, in which we will explore randomly generated levels inspired by his stories. We will fight against cultists and monsters of all kinds, solving puzzles, challenges, bossfights and collecting clues about Great Ancients he External Gods. The title is available from January 31 at a price of € 14.99, however for the moment it does not feature a Spanish language localization (which may be among the languages that will be added at a later time).
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!
Let's start from the beginning: the title will not follow a fixed narrative vein. The story that i Blini games they tell us is fundamentally based on the gathering of information on the Great Ancients, in a sort of adventure which, however, does not correspond to a real Lovecraft story. But be careful, to be created is only the narrative arc - clearly adapted to the type of roguelike proposed - but the contents within the game are incredibly faithful, a sort of new story where the pieces of the cryptic puzzle of the Lovecraftian universe have been interpreted and assembled to perfection. In this way you will play this obscure title surrounded by an atmosphere of restlessness and a feeling of unstoppable insecurity, trampling the ground of the most significant locations (and also of the lesser known!) Of which Lovecraft speaks in his anthologies. From the Victorian mansion to the graveyards, but also through the port city and an abandoned hospital, your sanity will be tested in randomly generated levels. However, there is much… much more.
In the game we will walk our steps with 5 different characters, starting from Detective. The rest of the characters will be unlockable over the course of the game, and each in a different way. Not only that: each character will follow his own personal storyline, always and in any case inspired by the stories of the genius of Providence. The other playable characters are the Professore, Ghoul, Thief and Strega, and it goes without saying that in gameplay the differences between one and the other will be substantial. In fact, beyond the approach mode, each character will have unique abilities present only in it, but also exclusive objects that can be used and equipped. Gentlemen, the information gathering begins, Dagon, Shub-Niggurath, Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, and the great Cthulhu are waiting for us.
What can eternally wait is not dead
… And as strange aeons pass, even Death can die. As explained just above the photo, the information will be of vital importance in order not to lose ours "Sanity" when we meet the Great Ancients. The theme of the Knowledge is clearly one of the basic concepts in Lovecraftian culture, where the human mind is not ready to welcome something so extremely superior that crossing the line inevitably leads to madness and death. For this reason, a feature linked to it could not be missing within the game, where rationality will not always lead you to make the right choice: scattered throughout the levels there will be objects or locations with which to interact, and our approach will be decisive for do not let us be assailed by madness, or even to cure it in part.
Therefore, keeping an eye on the sprawling purple network that will "embrace" the mind of our virtual alter ego, we will find ourselves at looking for clues, to find objects and information which in turn will unlock new stories.
Unclean armies
Not just the locations, but also the creatures and cultists with whom we will have to deal in the various levels are faithfully reproduced and an integral part of the stories, beautifully embedded in the various narrative contexts of each level. To give an example, without falling into excessive spoilers, in the abandoned hospital we will have to deal not only with very unfriendly mutated patients, but also with the “Mi-go”, the extraterrestrials on which the experiments were carried out. As mentioned, to defend ourselves from all threats present each character will have their own stats, their own weapons, but also their own "combat moves", creating five different ways to play.
For example the Detective offers a balanced play style with excellent stamina and good vitality, while the Professor specializes in long-range combat, with less HP (pardon the pun) but with a special shield. Even less vitality will be available when we play with the Strega, however, compensated by his own elemental shields and his own incredible damage-dealing abilities. Finally, the Rogue grants us a more stealth style, specialized in melee, while the Ghoul deals a lot of damage and is able to regenerate (but with the impossibility of using medkits).
In the levels they will be scattered objects of all kinds acts to help you, from chocolate to take care of health, to other healing objects of all kinds, designed to save us from bleeding or from poison, and clearly to restore HP. However, the equipment, whether they are weapons, explosives or items of "clothing", some of which will provide us with specific skills or resistances. In addition, we will have the possibility to open some caskets scattered throughout the levels ... but only if we find the right key. Some particular relics and artifacts with particular effects will be clearly linked to the legends narrated in Lovecraft's writings, and finding them and making various connections is presented as a continuous pleasure (and a challenge).
The pockets of our character, however, will not be a black hole, and we will have to better manage both theInventory, both available storage. In some areas we may also buy and sell items, in exchange for money or information… with the vendors that are respectively Hastur (the king in yellow) and the same Lovecraft.
Delaying the inevitable
The truth hidden in the horrors that inhabit the universe are unbearable, as already mentioned, for every human mind, and in the end it will still lead to inevitable death, or madness. The inability to win against the Great Ancients It is well known, however, that we may delay the inevitable. The collection of information that we will do during the game will have the ultimate goal of preparing our mind for horrors, but finding knowledge is far from simple, and we will have to be extremely careful in the investigation during every single run to find something. Our progress with these collections can be found in the "Strange Place“, A sort of headquarters to which we can return after each level completion.
They await you in special levels… will you be able to reach them?
