Secrets of the Witch House

[h1]Secrets of the Witch House Review[/h1] Don't feel like reading the whole thing? Down at the bottom is the conclusion and score given to the game! :) [h1]Introduction[/h1] A good game that makes you enjoy all of the action and upgrading that comes with rogue-like titles, Secrets of The Witch House is a delightful indie that packs a lot for its size. Weapons are satisfying as they have particular uses and are better suited for certain types of enemies or approaches to situations. [h1]Control and Map Design[/h1] When it comes to control, this title is fun. Weapons have their uses, such as rifles allowing you to kill enemies from far away when you are low on health or shotguns being valuable to kill those big armored foes. There is also a bazooka that can blow you up quickly, as the explosion range is quite huge. The real kicker, however, is the shop that allows you to acquire weapons and upgrades. The shop is silly, in a good way! It allows you to spend your gold on whatever you want, and it comes with a pachinko machine, for real. I don't remember how many times I went into the shop to buy a super gun and ended up spending all my savings on the little Pachinko machine to try …

Fun title with rogue-like ingredients including procedural level generation, permadeath and resource management, but minus the turn-based nature and twisted into an action FPS. Quick and easy to pick up and play, SOTWH isn't punishing just for the sake of being punishing. Unlike certain other games this game feels (for me) like it could be beatable - one day. The game never takes itself too seriously. How can it with a weapons arsenal that includes lasers and nukes? The writing style is humorous, and the game somehow manages that Spelunky-like achievement of making you smile when you die. Talking of Spelunky - there's also shopkeepers and a pachinko game. I love the low polygon art style - there may only be few polys but they have all been well-crafted showing high attention to detail and loving nods to various horror tropes embedded throughout the background scenery. In my opinion, SOTWH is worth the asking price and importantly provides an enjoyable return on the investment of my time. Recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed this not-quite-roguelike and although there are some caveats I'll cover, it really kept me coming back and determined to finally complete it. But let's start with the good stuff. The design is excellent throughout and it really tells that the mapping and gameplay were properly planned and executed as intended. I found it a difficult ride (more on this later) but no one aspect is too hard in itself - its the conflation of environmental elements together that make this one-run insta-death game tough to beat. Similarly the sound, look and feel are high quality, add immersion and are fitting to the game. The only real roguelike element is that the house design changes on every run, so although you will come across most locations at some point each run, they may connect in different routes and orders meaning you never quite know what the challenge ahead will look like, which is great. But it's really much more like a 3rd-person action shooter with a lot of FromSoft and DOOM influences. And here's the rub; I don't particularly like and certainly am not good at Souls-likes and if I was ever good at DOOMs, I become less so the older I get! So you might find, like …

Really cool little game with a unique visual style. The destruction is very well done and fun. Character movement is smooth and feels great.

Wonderful game. A bit short BUT makes up for it in replayablity. Level design is fun and enemies dont overwhelm the player. Solid game 9/10 ( i do wish i was a tad longer)

Not a deep game but fun for a few hours, it's one of those games you play when you have an hour or so to kill. The gameplay took me around 10 minutes I to get used to but then became a lot of fun. Overall a nice and short game, with an art style that is pleasant to look at, that I can wholeheartedly recommend.