A house and its past
Although Lunacy: Saint Rhodes was set up in the 1970s, in the demo we tried we came across several text files telling episodes dating back to the beginning of the same century, with events that suggest how much the time span can be quite extended . Among the excerpts of articles published by the local newspaper and old handwritten letters, we learned some strange details of strange cases within the mighty mood in which the game will be set.
Inside the villa there was the strange case of the death of a man who had lived there, found later by a little girl lying on his own blood, with a stuck pentagram and a woman’s name on which it is still not possible to do speculation. In addition to this – and this connects to the cliffhanger of the finale of the demo – it speaks of the disappearance of a promise bride, with her dress as the only object found to witness a never-concurred will.
Although they are certainly the most important elements of the story, there are still pictures, macabre objects and designs that let you guess the presence of an even worse past and an entity that does not give peace and that, in some way, exists and hangs around the house of Saint Rhodes, a town near Angels Falls,
We also know that the protagonist of the adventure is eleven-year-old Elijah Gray, who finds himself alone during a thunderstorm night in the house he owned with his mother Katarina. House which, among other things, is overlooking the church of the village and is immersed on three sides in a dense forest; Yet, despite the total isolation of the area, the offer was considered convenient by the Gray family, who caught the ball by leaps and not knowing that the secrets of the place would be out there shortly.
It’s still early to judge the plot’s effectiveness, and on the other hand, the short demo, which may not match at the beginning of the game, does not leave us unbalanced enough.
It is, however, wondered why there is no scene or section of connection between the past of the house and the events we have witnessed. It seems that Elijah is there for the first time and does not know his own home, but in fact, from the texts found, he understands exactly the opposite.
The house of spirits
Lunacy: Saint Rhodes is a little more than a walking simulator where you need to thoroughly examine the mood and discover the location of the most important objects, such as those that unlock the game portions and the keys that open the doors. Some of these, however, will only open after special events that we do not disclose, and in this sense it is reasonable to expect a good deal of scripts.
About half of the demo started troubles: the entity, whose presence was announced by an inhumane scream and able to freeze blood in the veins, began to torment us several times, preventing us from reading the text files or to explore some rooms calmly . From what emerged from our test, Lunacy: Saint Rhodes will not allow you to hide or face the enemy: you can, on the contrary, run away and crouch away somewhere without having any security on the outcome of your actions.
If the entity closes you in a corner, in fact, you will see the end game screen and you will be warned that you have been caught, having to start all over again.
It is easy to understand, then, how it is not exactly the best gameplay genius to escape, which remains too dry and limited to a question of timing, luck and ability to sneak away before the presence vaporizes its spontaneous will. It is unclear whether the developers (who are only two) will try to stem this obvious and blatant defect, or if after passing the section made available by the demo, they change the cards on the table, providing better insights and weight additions to the system of play. Besides, from the beginning you can equip yourself with a torch,
From a technical point of view, Lunacy still needs some optimization work: there is a certain sense of heaviness during the movements, fluidity is not at the top, the race is really too limited and something more can be also made on texture quality and polygonal modeling.
Consider, however, that the game is under development for less than a year and that it is already good at present, if you consider its independent nature and the amount of work you have already disposed of. More than discrete, it seemed to be the sound, with good effects, however, which are repeating a little too much and could shortly be effective.
