Andrii Vintsevych - Witch Hunt (2018)
Developer: Andrii Vintsevych
Console: Steam
Game Release Date: 2018-09-03
So we got a soundtrack post and a meta post. The best way to complete the trio is with a non-soundtracked game. So we have Witch Hunt!
Once in a while I will see a LP of a game that I will have to stop watching because I need to play the game myself. At the start of this year that happened when I saw VargSkelethor play Witch Hunt. The game looked like a unity mess but it looked good. There was just something about it that drew me in. So, I said screw it and bought the game. And then beat it a week later.
Witch Hunt is a first-person survival horror game where you play as a witch hunter. There is some kind of being haunting a random pioneer town, killing people and slaughtering livestock. It is up to you to stop it. So with a flintlock pistol, musket rifle and sword you enter the nearby forest and find the creature. Throughout the game you walk around the forest just trying to find the target. It's like a big hide-n-seek game. There are also tons of enemies waiting around corners to either kill or disorient you. Zombies, ghosts, feral dogs and strange skeleton creatures are all over the place. The game starts off very hard. You aren't used to the shooting mechanics; enemies will charge you until you manage to hit them and you die fast. I died in the forest many times until I was able to get a hold on the controls and have a proper save point. And in those many deaths none of them were caused the actual monster. It was all random creatures. There was one skeleton in particular that ran like a spider that would bite at your feet. Even going into the second phase of the game that enemy continued to give me trouble. I eventually became a better shot, got the roar and developed a strategy to jump on the nearest rock and try and shoot him.
The map also has lots of secrets from teleporters to caves filled with treasure, an entire side quest involving a cannon, a spider miniboss, helpful ghosts, and more. Like, initially the first part of my run was just exploring a lot. I would die and when I respawned I would note the path I took. You have to get familiar with it. Off the bat you get an ability to see through the target's eyes for a few seconds so eventually if you want to find it (and not have it find you) you need to start memorizing the layout.
The first phase of the game has you fight a werewolf. There are 3 other phases after the wolf that have you hunting down more powerful creatures after that. If you don't want spoilers on the other phases then just skip to the album section. With the werewolf it's a mutual hide and seek game. If you see the werewolf you better start shooting because the second he sees you he will charge you. Once hit he will run away and the game repeats in another part of the forest. He's pretty peaceful looking when he doesn't see you, just strutting around casually. It will take a few hits to bring him down and near the end of his phase you should be able to get two hits on him before he can fully run away.
After killing him you find out that a witch was behind him and now the only way to save the village is to kill her. But before we can do that we need to take out her tree which is the source of her power. This was the most confusing phase for me. When you look through its eyes it appears like it is flying. Then when you get close it just stops. It took me a few tries just to figure out what I was even looking for. It's a huge anthro tree. It's being followed by a semi-invisible humanoid figure that screams when you get close. It will also instakill you if it gets too close. I at first thought it was some new enemy but no it's part of the boss. Whenever you get close he would stop moving. I was scanning the skies constantly for a flying witch but I would have to give up when the screamer showed up. I had a "eureka" moment when I finally figured out the tree. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the scenery but I had no idea what it was the first time. I saw it randomly posing near the hill by the beach and was wondering wtf was that. When you hit it once it starts slowly chasing you, shooting acid balls at you. Between dodging the acid balls and the ghost following you can only get a few shots until you need to run away. However, I got really lucky in the final showdown with him. I led the ghost to the top right of the map then jumped into the hole. This brings you to the bottom left of the map. She is already moving towards me but due to the sheer size of the map won't be here for a while. I got lucky because the tree was in the vicinity. The tree and I had an uninterrupted showdown which led to me finally slaying him.
That's when the third phase begins. You versus the witch. Like the start of the other two phases I played it safe. I have no idea what I am going up against and need to stay safe. But then I saw the intro with the witch. Light distorts and the shadows of trees warp. Then she starts firing her own spells. At this point it's not hide and seek but both of us shooting on sight. It was intense because as soon as I saw her or the trees warp I knew it was time to fight. She's good. She has a many spells she will throw at you, can instakill you when close and is fast. This was by far my favourite phase. Every showdown was the JJBA: Stardust Crusaders image of Jojo approaching Dio.
I'll leave the last phase and final boss alone because I don't want this to be too long but I will write this. Phase 4 is where the game legitimately started getting to me. Thankfully by this point you should have a firm grasp on where everything is but due to the way I played and sticked to the cabin and main path I stayed as safe as I could. I did not go anywhere near the extreme areas. Then we got the final boss. I was not expecting something like that to appear in this game but damn, what an intense and epic fight to conclude the game. For a few months in the year this was GOTY. It has since been beat out by others but damn if it wasn't one of the best horror games I have played in recent memory. This will do down as a personal favourite for me.
The developer announced Skinwalker Hunt, a modern sequel set in the southern USA and as of right now it is currently in early access. But when the game gets fully released you can bet I am going to play it.
Now the game barely has a soundtrack. It's mostly just ambience of the forest but there really wasn't any music. At the time I had a dungeon synth album saved in my queue and dungeon synth is a very dreary genre so I threw it on while I played. After that point I couldn't do a run without having some kind of DS in the background. Fortunately I have a lot of dungeon synth albums. Here are the best ones I listened to.
Snørte - Mort Lente
The opening track of this may as well be the opening theme for the game. The ominous piano playing, lo-fi buzz and occasional growls fit perfectly with the dark forest and evil creatures. Hell I listened to the opening track a lot while in the mountainous regions constantly checking for any movement in the forests below. The blue/gray sky The whole thing has this depressive and ominous feel to it that match with the games atmosphere. This album isn't available for purchase as far as I know but it's not that hard to track down a digital copy.
Cernunnos - Τα Ορχυχεία Των Νάνων
Lo-fi, slow, sombre and ominous. The way the bells are in the first track, the way it all blends together and again the almost whispered growling vocals elevate this to match with the game. I was blown away at how well dungeon synth fits and even though this EP is only about 12 minutes I had it on repeat for a while as I wandered through the forest. Even though this game is not a medieval setting the forest goes so well with this hopeless music.
P A T H S & Mythril Spectre - Once Through an Ancient Archway
A bit different from the others as it features vocal chops and some vocaloid sampling (very minimally though, don't get the wrong idea). It's a lot more vibrant and triumphant but still retailing the dense, lonely and mysterious. The highs and lows of this help contrast the games atmosphere and songs like Hallowed Ground of Ancient Queens help give you hope in an otherwise empty and deadly area. This was originally released as one bundle but since that label went down both artists released their parts of the split. I'd recommend listening to both.
Foolish Fire - The Culture of Loss
It's insane how well this fit. The droning hum, the bird sounds which may as well be part of the game and the minimal instrumentation all feel like they were made especially for this game. I had to do some double takes because of how well this fit. The bird sounds threw me off too because I legit thought it was part of the game and now I am worrying if something scared off the birds and gotta check behind me asap.
Well that concludes the triple post 52. I have now completed a years worth of posts. I went ahead and wrote up a bunch more which will be posted at the same time on Mondays up to a point. Once those posts are done I will be on hiatus until the GOTY2021 posts then likely stop there. We shall see.
Comments
Post a Comment