Tormented Souls 2
Developer: Dual Effect
Publisher: PQube
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X (Reviewed)
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $29.99 – Available Here
Overview
The love for horror games and films has always remained high, especially around this time of year with Halloween’s last gasps still lingering in the chill air. That means that the survival horror genre as a whole has often survived with signature franchises seeing either full remakes or continuous sequels in recent years, even if some of them have moved a bit away from the survival aspect. This had led to many indie developers making their own mark on the genre that hearken back to the more classic elements of survival horror and in 2021 Dual Effect and PQube made one of the most direct homages to classics like Resident Evil possible with Tormented Souls. Utilizing nearly every gameplay element to let fans relive the genre at the time, the horror game quickly became a hidden gem and now the developers are back to continue Caroline’s journey with Tormented Souls 2. The question is, has Dual Effect managed to strike gold twice or is this one simply retreading old ground?
Story
Tormented Souls 2 positions itself as a bit of a strange entry for both those who played the original as well as those who didn’t touch it at all. Considering the first game had three different endings, it chooses to follow the “best” ending route and make it canonical to the story of the first in order to continue Caroline and Anna Walker’s journey after surviving the events at Wildberger Hospital. That being said, it does not elaborate at all for newcomers what the relationship actually is between these two sisters despite describing them both as twins and adoptive sisters, meaning newcomers will be completely lost as to what their real dynamic from the original game was and how twisted it happens to be. It is worth noting that despite this strange way of handling the story continuity, the plot itself is mostly self-contained so players jumping in at this point won’t have to worry too much about losing the narrative.
Anyways, a few months have passed since Caroline and Anna managed to walk out of their nightmarish reunion but these two still bare the scars of what happened there, with Caroline still missing her eye and Anna suffering from hallucinatory bouts where she seems to sketch horrific things in a trance-like state. In an attempt to try and find a group that may be able to diagnose and help Anna with these issues, the sisters have made their way down to Chile where a mysterious clinic in the town of Villa Hess claims that they can help Caroline with her problems. Upon arriving at the remote location, Caroline and Anna are greeted by the nuns that run the convent that the clinic is based in, but it only takes a few moments of rest to see their moment of peace shattered once again as Caroline awakens to find the nuns have taken Anna for a mysterious ritual, meaning that it is up to Caroline to brave the horrors once more to save her sister, even if it means facing off against untold nightmares and once again traversing through the “other realm” to do so.
Tormented Souls 2 manages to deliver a chilling atmosphere throughout the player’s time in Villa Hess’s different locations, as this sequel expands the length and scope of the title significantly compared to the original, making it nearly twice as long as the first, but it is unfortunate that the story itself is still rather half-baked despite the larger scale. Don’t get things wrong, as mentioned earlier the title delivers chills through its atmosphere and designs alone as players will be finding themselves navigating tight narrow corridors, dimly lit or only lit by a lighter rooms where danger could be lurking just one step further into the darkness, and it is here where it manages to tell its atmospheric storytelling the best, but it’s just a shame that the general story lacks such impact and a large portion of the environment itself is simply effective windowdressing.
The title once again features plenty of little twists and supernatural encounters as Caroline tries to save her sister, but Caroline herself, let alone the array of people she encounters along the way, don’t really have much in the way of personality here. There are plenty of notes that players can find that help provide some extra context behind the twisted zealots that run the town but the title desperately needed to expand upon the Walker sisters a bit more, especially Caroline’s unique abilities, or at the very least make her more of an interesting protagonist as she simply falls flat here, with only a few fairly cheesy interactions being some of the better highlights through the minimal cutscenes scattered here and there. It is also worth noting that the title does feature two separate endings and players will most likely stumble into the first one first before realizing the far more in-depth steps required to obtain the more fulfilling “good” ending..
Gameplay
As one would expect from a game looking to be a tribute to the classics, this sequel retains many of the elements that survival horror thrives on, except for an inventory limit of course. Instead what remains is the same as in the first game, fixed camera angles that shift as players move through locations, tank controls to navigate, and some clunky weapon handling for both firearms and melee weapons. The few things that have changed are the ability to turn off tank controls and allow for easier movement, though considering the nature and location of enemies and traps as well as how moving too quickly through some locations can mess with the player’s movements thanks to the aforementioned fixed camera angles can make this a bit challenging.
In fact, there are a few elements players can try to mitigate if they want a somewhat easier experience, including a difficulty option that makes enemies weaker and autosaves frequently, but those looking for the true experience will stick with the standard difficulty where “tapes” must be used to save the game, limiting how many saves a player can make, limiting the ammo and healing items they can find, and of course making enemies as dangerous as possible. It is also worth noting that Caroline is still deathly afraid of the dark to the point that being within total darkness, or near complete darkness, will freeze her up until players move into the light or open up her lighter and if they linger too long in the dark, she’ll die outright.
This adds another layer to the already challenging nature of surviving the halls of the convent and other areas players will need to navigate through in Tormented Souls 2 as players will often find themselves needing to creep forward into the darkness with only a lighter, hoping to find a candle to light or a breaker box to flip and turn on the lights, usually running into an enemy along the way that they’ll need to either try to avoid or run away from back to where it is safe to actually confront them.
Combat is as straightforward as it was in the last game with little change, though players can swap between equipable items quickly using the right analog stick, as Caroline must stand and aim at enemies and fire away with one of her make-shift weapons or use a melee weapon in close proximity, though this isn’t really recommended unless players are finishing off an already fallen foe to try and save ammo. Ironically, on the Xbox version at the moment, the displayed buttons for using weapons are not correct which can lead to some initial confusion but isn’t much of an issue. Enemies move quickly and attack fairly quickly as well, with some having long-range attacks as well so players will likely need to their best to avoid enemies when they can, though this is easier said than done as the “dodge” mechanic that allows Caroline to back-step away from an attack is only usable when she has a weapon aimed. This means that it is impossible to “dodge” an attack while running other than hoping the enemy will miss their often cheap feeling attacks.
It is worth noting that while many survival horror games will see players needing to balance what enemies they dispatch and what ones they avoid, Tormented Souls 2 seems to focus mostly on eliminating foes when possible. This is primarily thanks to their annoying persistence and ability to hunt players down the second they walk into a room, even down lengthy hallways, as well as the fact that dispatched enemies stay gone forever and there is a lot of backtracking to be done throughout the game, in fact the backtracking is almost a bit too excessive even when compared to the first entry. This is thanks to the many puzzles players come across, doors that can be unlocked for shortcuts, and more. Also, if players are aiming correctly and using melee to finish off downed foes, then they’ll generally want to trade ammo for safety as health items tend to be few and far between, though they do come in three different sizes to fit Caroline’s health status which is nice and, again since there is no inventory limit, trying to stock up is useful.
The puzzles throughout Tormented Souls 2 remain as delightfully challenging as ever, with some being as straightforward as properly hunting down the correct items and using them the right ways, such as finding pieces of a hacksaw to put together and sawing off a frozen hand, only to then have to cook said hand on a stove to free a cylinder held within. These multi-step puzzles start simple but can grow to be quite complicated, especially when a few then involve having to decipher various clues through texts players have read or key items they have picked up. Even some optional areas once again see players needing to pay attention to their environment to either get clues on how to properly complete a puzzle or simply brute force it, but more often than not it requires some out of the box thinking and some real tough head-scratchers that will leave players a bit puzzled if they haven’t been paying attention. It is interesting to note that not every puzzle is required, though the optional ones offer incredibly useful rewards, such as upgrades to the players weaponry or an entirely new weapon in and of itself.
As said earlier, a lot of these puzzles do require backtracking despite players not having an inventory limit and this is usually because the most recently obtained puzzle piece or solution requires traveling all the way back to a previous area and finally open up a door or break through a lock/wall that was barring the way and required a highly specific item to access. This is alleviated a bit by unlocking various doors but it doesn’t stop the problem. It is also interesting to note that while the map (when acquired for a location) does show where puzzles remain unsolved, it does not feature quality of life aspects such as color coding rooms where items or enemies remain like other survival horror games have recently done.
Audio & Visuals
Easily one of the best parts of Tormented Souls 2 happens to be its level design and how detailed the tightly packed atmospheric hallways and paths can feel as Caroline navigates through the game. The fixed camera angles make sure that players are able to see only so much at a time, keeping up the creepy feeling especially when trying to navigate through with the dim light of a single flame, not knowing when an enemy or horrific part of the environment might be unveiled. Unfortunately, the same cannot quite be said about the actual character models or the enemies themselves. While bosses have a unique aesthetic, generic enemies that players encounter feel less interesting than the last game which at least had a theme compared to this time and Caroline’s model, as well as most other character models, are surprisingly low quality despite the detailed backgrounds.
As far as the voice work is concerned, the same voice actresses for Caroline and Anna return but unfortunately their voice work is still rather subpar and not even bad enough to qualify as cheesy. The rest of the cast’s voice work is similarly poor and cutscenes feel oddly paced sometimes. Thankfully the game is wonderful as far as atmospheric sounds go, be it the wandering of an enemy, the whisperings of nightmares when traveling through a dark area, or just the tense slight silence broken up with comforting save room music, the soundtrack for the game is exceptional.
Overall
Tormented Souls 2 is a delightfully creepy game that pulls together so many of the classic survival horror elements and makes them feel fresh again all while giving players a few options to modernize if they so wish. This sequel expands greatly upon the scope of the original while offering so many challenging puzzles that push players to think out of the box most of the time and combat that, while a bit stiff and unwieldy at times, feels challenging since players will want to make every bullet, or nail, count. That being said, it does feel like the developers chose to play it safe in regards to the storyline and many of the weapons that Caroline obtains, retreading old ground as often as players will need to backtrack through the game itself, making this atmospheric horror game one that might feel a bit too familiar at times despite its new story and setting.
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