Hope Deferred
Tell All · 2025 · RPG, Psychological Horror, First-Person, Nonlinear, Dungeon Crawler
PC
Very Positive98% · 50
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About Hope Deferred
Hope Deferred is a first-person psychological horror RPG.
Explore nightmare worlds and search for understanding in this PSX inspired dungeon crawler. Influenced by King's Field, Dark Souls, Silent Hill, True Events, and Delusion.Find your way out of a psychedelic nightmare. Get subjected to religious psychosis. Uncover the truth. Break the cycle.
You wake up in a locked prison cell. Everything is red. On the wall of the cell is a mirror, and when you look into it, you see the truth. Your cell unlocks, but you're far from free. Explore a non-linear world with interconnected level design, each space more dream-like than the last. Talk to NPCs or slay them. Read the signs or ignore them. Take the path set for you or find another. Read a bunch of scripture against your will. Interpret its lack of meaning. Worry about the mental health of another. Accept there's nothing you can do for them.Souls-inspired but far from Souls-like.
No dodging, no parrying, no blocking, no rolling. You aren't a hardened knight or agile hunter, you are a frail prisoner, and escape is your only hope. Fight monsters, if you want. I know that's what you expect, so go ahead. A mediocre variety of enemies for you to press the attack button at. Experience multiple endings, make choices, do it all differently. Maybe then you'll understand.Learn to love 4:3.
Go into the options menu and see that you can change the resolution. Accept that 1024x768 is the way it was meant to be.Come find me.
I'm there waiting for you.What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
shoutout to the dev for the free code, and to the Sword of Moonlight community5 found this helpful
I've never been into King's Field, but I know how it looks and plays like. While Hope Deferred is most certanly inspired by it, I was absolutely sucked in. The game is hard, and it doesn't take you by the hand, yet the posibility to save at any moment is the sole reason I managed to beat it, through trial and error. Well, I mean I reached and ending. Not the good one. But considering the amount of doors still locked (and the map the dev drawn showing the levels), I'm not even sure I saw half of the game. The atmosphere is incredible and it definitely manages that cryptic yet mystical feel I dig so much. Unfortunately for me, I'm not really built for this kind of game. If I managed to find a Moonlight Sword, open three shortcuts in the hub at the center of the four main levels, and get to the "God" of the game, it was mostly by chance. Half the time, I had no real clue what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go. But I guess that's part of the experience. I only wish some guy made a playthrough on Youtube to showcase every nook and cranny or even just the endings, but this dark gem is way to obscure for this unfortunately. Maybe some day I would start it over,…2 found this helpful
10/10. Got done with getting all 5 endings. This is another example of video games as art! If I were to give this a proper review it'd be spoiled. I felt incredibly grateful to play something like this at a really low point in my life. And thank you dev for being so vulnerable in sharing this <32 found this helpful
I haven't had to chance to play Kingsfield to truly appreciate this but even without that I really enjoyed the vibes! Very dark and gothic style rpg that makes you feel like you're going down the wrong path playing like you would any traditional rpg with the themes of morality.1 found this helpful
Absolutely psychotic.1 found this helpful
Good1 found this helpful
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