Mysterious events are taking place on Godstone Island. In the past, this place was full of life and merriment. Now it is inhabited by ghosts. Paranormal investigator Alan Rebels sets out to make sense of the devilry, and at the same time to find traces of his missing father, who is connected to the supernatural events on Godstone.
No living people remain on the island. As if repeating the fate of the city of Pompeii, the residents met a swift and terrible end. Their bodies remained on mattresses, at tables, and at their workplaces. During his search, Alan frequently and grandiloquently comments on the events that took place.
Alan uses a pendulum that allows him to study the supernatural. With the pendulum, he can see hidden symbols and secrets and materialize objects. Later on, he will be able to manipulate time and animals. The latter help reach distant objects and defend him.
During the playthrough, it repeatedly turns out that one of the locals has scattered important items around the area. You need to explore the entire location and find everything necessary. At the same time, you will have to solve puzzles. In most cases, the solution is nearby.
- Important items are gathered in one place. If you collect them, you need to use the pendulum.
- To open locks, you need to read notes and inscriptions and figure out a code in the form of a name or number.
- From time to time, you will have to draw symbols. I got stuck at the moment where you have to apply makeup to a corpse — the game refused to accept my artwork.
Alan writes the names and numbers he sees into a journal, which is very convenient. He also beautifully sketches elements of the environment.
Solving puzzles opens up new locations typical of horror games: an abandoned house, a hospital, an orphanage, a circus, a cemetery. The playthrough is linear and does not take much time. Still, you can enjoy the scenery and the challenges: in the house, you will have to witness a family drama; in the hospital, mix reagents; and in the circus, make cotton candy and run from dolls. The animations for interacting with objects help you immerse yourself more deeply in the game.
The locations are inhabited by ghosts, which are divided into friendly and hostile ones. The friendly ghosts give hints about what needs to be done and found in order to move on to the next location. If you fulfill their request, they will share items. In conversation, the ghosts dump a ton of useless information on you.
Hostile ghosts patrol a small area or stand in place. The idea is that you are supposed to hide from them — the main character does not know how to fight. In practice, most enemies are easy to run around. If a spirit catches up with you, your health quickly recovers after the attack. In the circus, there is a clown who is actually hard to provoke into aggression.
Exploding and respawning dolls run around the orphanage and the circus. It is easy to run away from them and hide, but it is even simpler to activate them and step aside — before exploding, the dolls stand still. Later, they will help remove obstacles.
Boss fights boil down to dodging attacks and repeating monotonous actions. They pose minimal threat, and it is difficult to lose these battles.
Diagnosis
The Occultist resembles a classic horror game in which you need to explore creepy places. The game is beautiful and full of memorable details, which makes it interesting to spend time in, using the pendulum to search for hidden details and manipulate the environment.
The main character is likable. It is nice to see an openly kind character who sincerely wants to help the living and the dead. But the plot itself is hard to praise.
The fate of the island's residents evokes no emotion, and the story is presented terribly — it starts to feel as if events "just happen" without any logical connection. The puzzles are interesting and simple, but they quickly become tiresome. The game is too linear to devote that much time to solving little tasks.
I am very afraid of horror games — especially those where you cannot defend yourself. And I am grateful that The Occultist is not very scary — it frightens you in strictly designated places. In other horror games, I would have had to be constantly afraid and do everything in a rush!