Sad clown pixel art horror with a strong narrative focus that sort of eclipses the gameplay. I did really enjoy my time with this game and I thought the story was interesting and well told with solid characters and very nice art. As a lover of survival horror games however, it felt like the game was actively resisting an innate desire to truly BE a survival horror game, which I found dissapointing.

Despite flirting constantly with the nature of survival horror, Vlad Circus sadly pulls its punches on the genre fundamentals more often than not. I would have absolutely loved a 3rd difficulty in which the punches were not pulled - implementing save points instead of an autosave system, having enemies introduced earlier and used more liberally, entwining the gameplay elements a little more into the progression rather than spending more time being a story than being a game.

I absolutely think this game is worth playing, just know that it isn't particularly challenging even on "challenge" mode, and if you are looking for a great survival horror game, you might find yourself feeling a little underwhelmed in that department.

For more reviews on 3rd person/isometric survival horror games check out my curator page:

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45050657-3rd-Person-Survival-Horror/