Review: World of Horror

destructoid.com:

I was introduced to the work of Junji Ito quite some time ago with “The Enigma of Amigara Fault.” That particular story haunted me for a while before I finally dove into his work proper, and I’m still waiting to see if there’s a bottom to it. He often tells stories that start with grounded simplicity before quickly dropping them into a vat of inexplicable and undefined horror. He does a great job of starting off with a world that is uncomfortably off before pushing it to incomprehensible extremes. It’s not an uncommon approach to horror, but it’s one that his personal flourish aids so well.

I explain this because World of Horror is impossible to untangle from its inspiration. It feels very much like if Junji Ito had designed a monochromatic NEC PC-88 adventure title. The art style and storytelling both take cues from Ito-san’s works. And that’s a good starting point, sure, but the important part is what’s done with it.

World of Horror has been in Early Access since 2020. I knew from the beginning that it was something that interested me, but I held off on trying it. I wanted to review it, so the moment I was given access to its 1.0 candidate, I dove in. It has been living in my brain ever since.

World of Horror (PC [Reviewed], Switch, PS4, PS5)
Developer: Panstasz
Publisher: Ysbryd Games, Playism
Released: October 19, 2023
MSRP: $19.99

You could say that World of Horror is a cross between a roguelite and a classic adventure title and not be far off. You choose a character (or have the game choose one for you), select from a few modifiers, and then are dropped into a world on the precipice of destruction. The town of Shiokawa (salt river?) has been seeing some unexplainable phenomenon, and you’re dished five (sometimes four)