Problems with the game may arise even when launching it. A group of players, including me, encountered a black screen, and pressing any key would close the game. Don't believe the advice to move the game to an SSD drive. It helped in my case, but later it turned out that it was enough to wait five minutes for the black screen to load — overall, this is very much in the spirit of Eclipsium. You'll understand why later.
The madness begins in the hospital, where the main character is being operated on. Anesthesia or shock forced the hero's mind to wander in distorted memories. And the player will witness the life of a person who will refuse to run even under the threat of death – throughout the entire playthrough, he walks slowly.
To progress, the hero will have to sacrifice important body parts. He'll cut off his tongue, tear out his heart or eye – thankfully, it doesn't make him any slower. The reward for diligence is the ability to change his hand into the necessary tool.
A total of three mutations are available:
- Turning the hand into a blade allows you to destroy obstacles in your path – a simple and understandable tool;
- Early on, the player is allowed to use a stigmata that points to hidden elements. The problem is that you have to use it immediately after receiving it, and then only towards the end. By that time, you've already forgotten about its existence;
- Igniting the hand allows you to dispel darkness, light objects, and scare away... worms?
There are no scary monsters or hidden traps in the game. You can die if you fall from a height or get tangled in giant worms – then the progress will be slightly rolled back. You'll have to stop to solve simple puzzles. In most cases, a hand with a blade will help, but sometimes you'll have to look for items like keys to open locks. Or move paintings to enter other worlds through them. Fortunately, the area for exploration is extremely small, so everything you need can be found quickly.
Time free from solving puzzles is devoted to admiring the views. Graphically, the game mimics the era of Play Station 1, where large pixels depict moments from the main character's life. The player will visit places where he fished, slaughtered pigs, and served on a submarine – life has tossed the man around.
Everything that happens is seasoned with a generous dose of schizophrenia. The protagonist's habit of tearing pieces from his own body is already causing bewilderment, and the overall massiveness and irrationality of the visited structures is confusing. Periodically, all sorts of devilry occur, when fanatics burn a witch, or a giant woman watches you. The atmosphere of madness is complemented by appropriate sounds and music.
The game positions itself as a psychological horror. It tries in every way to scare with the help of visual elements such as bloody rain or giant meat outgrowths. However, in such moments you just feel disgusting. It really becomes scary when you realize that after solving the puzzle, you will have to return from where you came. The walk will take very little time, but the slow speed of the protagonist makes the process extremely tedious.
Diagnosis
The main advantage of the game is its unique visual style and the fact that it doesn't have time to get boring. Even taking into account the hero's slow gait and solving rare puzzles — you can complete it in about two hours. This time is enough to enjoy the crazy views and start building theories about what is happening.
If you want to find something similar after completing it, but with more gameplay, then we advise Psychopomp GOLD. It perfectly reveals the theme of schizophrenia, and you can hit all sorts of enemies with a hammer. And the main character simply exudes charisma!