I wasn't sure about this one, but I saw a positive review posted by a very reliable Steam friend and was like, "Okay, I'll pick it up"- then it sat on my desktop for like 3 weeks collecting dust. When I finally tried it out, I discovered that this game is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ EXCELLENT. Dark af, genuinely feels good to play while simultaneously emulating an Atari vibe, and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ does it ever come at you with cool cut scenes, jumpscares, and does not hold back on the blood.
I honestly didn't really know what to expect exactly when I fired this one up, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ I'm glad I did. I am now debating playing through again (at least Chapter I), and definitely anticipating a sequel some day. Also, the lore goes ridiculously deep compared to what I thought I was going to experience. I have found myself reading about the characters and demons on the FaithWiki in the late evening, its that bad lol

11/10
Remember: Gary loves you

It's okay, basically the Exorcist, the Movie, the Game, albeit with a much more complicated story involving cults and the bringing of the blah, blah, blah. I wish the story was more ambiguous as this was the direction I thought it might take, but once you collect most of the notes you're basically in the know, and it's all very straightforward.

As for the fear factor, I just can't take it seriously, man. The villain's named Gary. C'mon. Gary? Really? And I know what the twist is. I watched Wendigoon's video. But still... Gary? I just can't take him seriously as the villain, man. I wouldn't even need to exorcise him. I'd just laugh my a$$ off at him and he'd run back to hell in shame all by himself.

Next to that, there's a lot of (un)intentional comedy. The falling down the stairs sequence with its comical sound effects is a riot. Again, I'm not sure what the intent is here, so I'm not going to make a value judgement any further than I have the right to. However, as mentioned before, all of this goes in the way of the fear factor, at least to me personally. Horror games don't scare me at all, but some of them make me feel uneasy, and the only two sequences that did that in FAITH were the one involving a note, and another involving a boss with a hundred or so crawling infants. Babies just creep me out in real life, so of course that particular boss encounter would as well.

Presentation wise, somehow it oddly works out, especially the rotoscoping, which is by far the best this game has to offer. Music wise it's good too, except for the odd choice of the Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in Chapter 1. It just feels so out of place next to the rest of the game.

Gameplay wise FAITH has to be commended, as you have a very limited amount of inputs. All you can do is move up, down, left and right, and use a single action, that typically, but not always being your cross to ward off the hellspawn. You can't even move diagonally in this game. The enemies can however, and are in general are allowed so much more freedom than yourself. Next to John's limp, he moves extremely slowly. Again, the bosses are very "soulsy", I felt like I needed a dodge roll whole game long. But enemies are all beatable without it, albeit you'll die quite a bit, as John dies in one hit for most of the game. I even had the die 100+ times achievement. But just as Dark Souls and the like, if you persevere you'll be fine, as it's as always about memorizing the patterns and reacting to them accordingly.

Anyway, an easy recommendation on sale, especially if you're into the Christian mythos. As for me, I suppose it's a nice change of pace from the Lovecraftian one, as that one's getting old unfortunately. I might go back some time and finish Chapter 3 on the true ending, as I missed the very last hidden boss.

Hijo de su chingada madre llamen a dios.