HOLFACE

[h2]Holface, losing oneself in the masks we wear[/h2] Holface is a fascinating game inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, which in itself could already be classified as a horror game. But Holface adopts the concept of a symbiotic relationship between a mask containing fragments of a soul and its host and twists it into a parasitic relationship, with the mask simply being a means to an end for a Lovecraftian being to possess and consume a host over time. And this is where I really liked how the masks were utilized. Going back to the Majora's Mask connection, they are used as tools and to solve puzzles. But if we look deeper, away from the mask literally being a parasite or an evil being, you could also see it as a version of ourselves that we hide deep within us, where no one can ever see it. Day after day, we wear a mask until we slowly forget that we're even wearing one. The reality above ground only ever sees us with the mask, while the real version of ourselves remains buried deep within. This also makes the parasite hiding deep within the earth more interesting to me. The tree and its roots symbolize this perfectly. Its roots bury deep and surround the entire farm,…

I honestly think the developer was on drugs while making this game because so much of it just feels random. And I don't mean that in a positive way. The story and pretty much every aspect of the game feels like the developer had a thousand different ideas, threw all of them into the game, but never really did anything with most of them. Because of that, the game ended up feeling pretty mediocre, especially considering how short it is. I still think it did a pretty good job with its main message and for such a short game, it was still a pretty interesting experience. It's overall, a pretty good drug trip for one evening.

I bought Holface because I really enjoyed Fear the Moon, that´s why I wanted to support the dev and try their new game. I wish there was a neutral rating on steam, because that´s how I feel about Holface. Don´t get me wrong, the atmosphere is great and it really made me unnerved, which is what horror is for, I just felt like the overall story is trying to be too cryptic and trying to be way too much for a game this short. There´s practically no build-up, everything happens so fast and while that´s not necessarily a bad thing, it just doesn´t work here. Fear the Moon had you talking to your friends and finding out about the myths around the game area, but here it´s just one annoying wannabe scary cutscene after another that just destroys the immersion. Also my first playthrough got completely ruined because I got the not so secret ending(and got it three times after because my game was somehow bugged?) that makes the game 30 minutes and gives you practically zero gameplay. That´s another problem, there´s so much cutscenes, that you don´t play the game that much. Also, if you want to have a secret ending in the game that´s supposed to be seen after the first one, maybe don´t show the…

Three separate maze monster sections in a row........................... No thanks. ill take that refund. Had been weirdly good up until that point in a baked way. instakill and mazes though man lmao. Diabolical.

This sure isn't the game to play if you have a whole lot of very common phobias. 10/10, would regret all my life choices again!

Underrated gem, does a lot of very cool things with the mask gameplay that reminds me of Majora's Mask. Wish there was more or a sequel it was very fun all the way through.