World of Horror (PC) review "A newish one that acts like a Great Old One"

Good horror games possess an element of surprise that's equally exciting and exhausting. For instance, you never know what nightmare may come waddling after you from the darkness of a long hallway in a Silent Hill title, nor are you ever prepared for a nasty jump scare lurking behind a seemingly innocuous corner in a first-person job. However, few categories give you a sense of dread like procedurally generated titles, especially when their mechanics imitate the experience of flipping cards on a board game. You know, the type where sweat drips from your forehead as you hope the other side contains something innocent that bolsters your character's sanity and not a hellbeast with an unpronounceable name or a grievous chance encounter that drops your hit points.

So it goes in World of Horror...

In this one, you don't know if the writhing black mass you stumble upon in the school swimming pool will turn out to be plain water or a pit full of innards. You never know if a random person stopping you convinces you to sign up for a helpful bonus or if they're going to drop one of your statistics by mumbling about an ancient deity from deep space. And really, that sensation is both the game's gift and curse. You almost want to go poking around in places you know you shouldn't, just in case there's an unexpected boon to be had. However, some sick part of you also wants to see the dreaded half of a situation so you can witness creeping parasites slither out of someone's eye or find a doll covered in pustules. If you're like me, then you're a depraved bastard who loves running headlong into scary stuff, even if it costs you your virtual life...

World operates a bit like an old 2-bit graphic adventure seen on ancient computers from a long ago era called “The '80s.” Unlike those dusty pieces, here you don't type in commands and pray that you're using the correct verbiage to advance. Yes, I've been stuck way too many times in titles way back because I didn't word a phrase correctly, and the game decided to be a pedantic ass about it. Yes, I'm still sore But I digress... At first glance, you might be ready to run screaming from the screen, and not because it legitimately scares you. Instead, it's because a mess of pictures, menus, and commands greet you upon entry, and it's all confusing. Sure, it's got a tutorial, but there's so much ground to cover with mechanics and rule systems that it only scratches the surface.




You're not sure at first how to start a new playthrough. There are several options, and none of them actually looks like a “main campaign” selection. The thing is they all take you to the campaign, but each version changes things up slightly. One gives you a demo run, providing some insight into mechanics and how mysteries work. Another provides a quick game with a breezier difficulty rating. The next randomizes everything from your protagonist's design to the main antagonist you face.

A typical session starts off with a general passage talking about the Japanese city in which you live going bonkers. After that, it introduces an elder god and its constraint. One of them, for instance, is a massive spider being that spins a ghostly web, preventing you from escaping combat altogether. On top of that, a timer of sorts called “doom” builds up after various events or any time you visit a helpful place like a hospital or schoolyard. If doom reaches 100%, your journey ends. Further constraints crop up as you advance, including ones that raise the prices of items at shops, increase the amount of doom you incur through various events, or prevent you from taking a bath.

All of that sounds odd for a straightforward graphics adventure, right? As it turns out, World isn't just a randomized GA, but an RPG. You begin with rolled stats that assist you in battle, aid you situations that require intelligence or graceful movement, or just help you be plain lucky. This is key to your survival because although the experience is randomized, there are precautions you can take to sway the odds in your favor. Winning battles and solving mysteries nets you further experience, which you use build your investigator into either a seasoned warrior or the kind of supernatural detective who makes Carl Kolchak and Harry Dresden proud.



Sadly, battles leave something to be desired, though they aren't entirely a drag. Mainly, they become repetitive once you figure out how to best deal with physical or non-corporeal threats. A typical tactic consists of spamming buffs to increase hit rate, followed by hefty strikes to get the job done. Each time you take a turn, though, your opponent strips away some of your life or sanity, or brings you closer to the end of times...

You start a playthrough by entering your apartment complex and navigating another batch of options that seem confusing at first. Some of them do little except expand atmosphere, such as watching TV or looking out your peephole. You could also change your clothing to bump up your charisma or take a bath to sooth your stamina (hit points) or reason (also hit points, but dressed up to look like a sanity meter). After you've wasted time, you take a gander at the newspaper clippings in your room and embark on a mystery, all of which are required to access the final area: a lighthouse with a connection to your chosen villain.

Now we're getting somewhere. Each mystery takes you through a short story based on Japanese urban legends and folklore. You might encounter the slit-mouthed woman who asks you if you think she's pretty, or even a strange ramen shop that mysteriously appears in a random alley whose secret ingredient may nor may not be its patrons. However, each event you go through doesn't necessarily tie in to the tale. Though you might be hunting a vengeful samurai waiting in an abandoned restroom or checking out aberrant eels in some dude's apartment, you sometimes run afoul of unrelated things like robed cultists you can recruit as allies or bloody package on a subway with your name on it. Though these strange events feel disconnected from the current story, they add an element of surprise to the affair and provide helpful loot. In one case, I talked a frazzled worshiper out of stabbing herself with a ritual knife and ended up obtaining a weapon that carried me to the end of the campaign.



The thing is you need to be mindful of everything, but you also must be fortunate to survive. Poor choices increase doom, but so does having the misfortune of running into a terrifying, unavoidable situation. Sometimes you can sidestep the negative impact of a particular event, but only if you have the right perk for the job. You obtain perks by leveling up, but even then you've got to hope the game does you a solid and provides the perk you want or need.

The experience proves fittingly maddening and appropriately absurd. You might run into a random encounter against a time traveler or a parasitic sponge attached to a human body, or find a pulsating package of fetid meat in an alley. It's not just that World is unpredictable, but that some of the situations you face are down-right nasty, weird, freaky, or creative. The game feels every bit like the byproduct of Junji Ito and HP Lovecraft devising a parlor game in an opium den, and I'm in love with it.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (October 29, 2025) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.