Slitterhead review: a refreshing curiosity that’s not without its hurdles

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Slitterhead is a weird horror game. The combat is simply a spot stiff, it reuses environments (and sometimes missions), and lacks sound acting extracurricular of nan occasional fully-voiced scene. Yet it’s astir apt nan astir refreshing crippled I’ve played successful a while, and is acold much than nan sum of its parts. Behind that veneer of rust and ungraded is simply a compelling storyline that uses its scary elements to trade a superb enigma that had maine rethinking nan full communicative constantly.

You play arsenic Hyoki: a mislaid tone successful nan fictitious municipality of Kowlong pinch nan expertise to person quality beings (as good arsenic nan occasional dog). However, Kowlong is plagued pinch Slitterheads: monsters who presume nan shape of quality beings successful bid to provender connected them. Among these humans are Rarities, beings who person a unsocial relationship pinch nan tone and are capable to clasp their consciousness while possessed, while having their ain combat abilities to boot.

Visions of an impending apocalypse lead Hyoki to squad up pinch a young female named Julee and a mysterious man named Alex to destruct nan Slitterhead populace to alteration their fate. However, nan tone discovers it is capable to spell backmost successful clip while retaining memories; however, this reveals different layer, arsenic each clip they spell back, things aren’t arsenic they erstwhile were. One facet I loved astir this communicative is that it tackles nan hypocrisy of a tone that takes complete nan consciousness of people, battling evil beings that return complete nan consciousness of people. This led to maine getting invested successful nan lives of those connected some sides of nan story.

Head for illustration a haunted house

Despite being directed by scary royalty Keiichiro Toyama (creator of Silent Hill and Siren), scary is much of a backdrop successful Slitterhead, arsenic nan crippled plays retired for illustration a detective story. You’ll beryllium trying to fig retired conscionable what is happening successful Kowlong while simultaneously figuring retired who successful nan crowded metropolis is secretly a monster. The main gameplay loop is heading into a mission, investigating, earlier moving into a Slitterhead who you’ll request to return out.

As nan escapade progresses, you’ll tally into much and much Rarities who subordinate your cause. Between missions, you’ll beryllium capable to chat pinch them a la Persona’s societal links and study much astir each of them. These scope from group of each walks of life, doctors, a precocious schoolhouse student, nan homeless, and moreover an aged woman. Despite immoderate having much surface clip than others (the communicative is chiefly focused connected Julee and Alex), I loved learning astir nan characters I was taking into battle.

The regular humans person a nine and 2 unsocial skills (as good arsenic 2 slots for your rarities prize skills), while you tin bring 2 Rarities retired connected a ngo pinch you, who person their ain unsocial accomplishment sets based connected their personalities. Edo – who lived arsenic a boxer earlier being forced to unrecorded connected nan streets – is simply a fast-paced, hard-hitting characteristic pinch a moveset designed astir getting successful nan opponent's look and wearing them down. Meanwhile, Julee – who is compassionate and has reservations complete quality lives being utilized by Hyoki successful work of Slitterhead destruction, has abilities to debar damaging non-player characters (NPCs) and reviving a number astatine once.

Combat isn’t nan astir in-depth successful position of combos. You person a modular combo and a dense onslaught alongside 4 unsocial skills depending connected which Rarity combo you return into nan field. But wherever nan combat really shines is successful nan possession mechanic; switching astir from big to big is near-mandatory and adds an other furniture of strategy to what could’ve been a barebones hit 'em up. This is complemented by a For Honor-esque parry system, which tin nonstop you into a slow-mo authorities to really while connected your enemies.

Who tin it beryllium now?

The biggest rumor nan crippled faces is besides successful portion owed to nan clip loop mechanic. The missions mostly return spot successful nan aforesaid fewer metropolis blocks, which tin lead to a spot of repetition, and while nan mandatory ngo replays will person caller tricks, you are still replaying parts. This becomes an rumor later successful nan crippled arsenic you’ll play nan aforesaid 2 missions aggregate times successful a statement to advancement nan story.

The different problem is that sometimes nan nonsubjective of nan crippled is unclear. It’s easy to get mislaid successful nan city, and without a representation system, it’s a spot of a symptom to navigate erstwhile location are nary waypoint markers. This gets particularly unsmooth astatine a constituent successful nan mediate wherever you request to find 2 hidden Rarities to progress, wherever I combed done nan aforesaid missions a fewer times earlier cracking it.

Visually, nan crippled is simply a spot of a mixed bag; nan neon-soaked streets of Kowlong are gorgeous, and nan characteristic models for nan main characters look great, but nan quality fodder characters is simply a spot little polished, which really stands retired if you return them into a cutscene. Meanwhile, nan animal creation from Siren designer Miki Takahashi is thing short of phenomenal. The different breeds of Slitterhead are disgusting and awesome bits of assemblage scary to boot. While nan crippled isn’t excessively scary, these monsters are unsettling, particularly erstwhile you spot them transform.

Slitterhead also reunites Toyama pinch Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka – which is each I should request to show you to fto you cognize nan euphony and sound creation are fantastic. The soundtrack ranges from nan oppressive business sounds Yamaoka is famed for to immoderate bully lo-fi thumps that make nan menus a joyousness to navigate. And nan titular monsters sound conscionable arsenic gross arsenic they look.

Still, Slitterhead is not without its problems, but these are mostly relegated to nan gameplay. While nan combat is nosy and engaging, it could do pinch a spot much combo variety. Meanwhile, nan reused missions and environments don’t needfully consciousness for illustration padding, but they tin beryllium grating astatine definite points. However, it’s much than worthy moving past those flaws to find 1 of nan astir unsocial and absorbing scary experiences successful a agelong time.

Should you play Slitterhead?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

The accessibility features successful Slitterhead need immoderate work. While nan action to afloat rebind your controls is simply a invited addition, extracurricular of aggregate connection options, subtitles (without closed captioning), and trouble options, there’s not overmuch other to talk astir present unfortunately.

How I reviewed Slitterhead

I played Slitterhead for astir 18 hours completing nan game’s main storyline (including nan existent ending) and unlocking each of nan rarities and a mostly of nan costumes. In my playthrough, I played connected Hard trouble for nan mostly earlier switching to Medium erstwhile nan level replays were introduced.

I played nan crippled connected my PlayStation 5 Slim connected a DualSense wireless controller (although it felt incorrect to play pinch nan Astro Bot Controller). For my screen, I utilized a Samsung Q65T 50-inch QLED 4K TV, and for my audio, I switched betwixt nan PlayStation Pulse 3D Wireless headset and a Samsung HW-T450 Soundbar.

First reappraisal November 2024