World of Horror review: Colourful chills in black and white

But It’s also doubtful whether many smaller publishers would be enthralled by the prospect of “randomised manga-inspired mini-mysteries depicted in 1980s-era monochrome graphics”. Yet here is the peculiarly compelling finished product after five years in development, including a period in Early Access.

Rummaging through World of Horror’s press notes tells a familiar tale – a solo creator ambitiously expecting in 2018 to release the full game a year later, only for the final version to take him much, much longer.

Polish developer Pawel Kozminski aims for a point somewhere between a rogue-lite visual novel and an old-fashioned dice-rolling RPG. He has deliberately set himself limitations by using the venerable MS Paint to draw the stark, quaintly retro visuals to illustrate his tales of a Japanese town under threat from a malevolent god.

The result is eerily evocative, albeit couched in an interface that is at best messy and at worst deeply confusing. The Early Access phase presumably taught Kozminski the need for the tutorial episode that introduces the convoluted concepts at play in the full game, where the player attempts to resolve several supernatural mysteries, such as a haunted school.

After you pick a starting character, World of Horror throws you into a semi-random series of events with titles such as Tragic Tale of the Thaumaturgy Teacher or Eerie Episode of Evolving Eels (Kozminski adores alliteration). They largely play out the same way – semi-automated exploration of a few creepy locations around the town, making a handful of choices (pick up this object, ignore that weirdo) and finally a confrontation with a grotesque ghoul.

This is where World of Horror starts to unravel a little. Up to now, a disturbing atmosphere drips from every pore of the narrative skin – from the sinisterly gloomy scenery and judicious use of jump scares to the well-honed prose. Even the freakish opponents – all sharp knives, mutated limbs and distorted faces – look the part.

But combat with these enemies – a turn-based system based on action points – rarely feels satisfying. You can choose from melee, spells and dodges, with, for instance, heavy blows consuming more of your limited points. However, most fights degenerate into a war of attrition involving repetition. Like many other parts of the game, luck plays too great a role, sometimes damning your chances of progress.

Every run of World of Horror takes no more than an hour or two, confining your experience each time to just five of the two dozen stories available. Each tale also contains minor variations based on your choices, with the overall idea being that it will take you many repeated runs to see the full complement.

You may well have tired of Kozminski’s shtick by then, having been initially captivated by the idiosyncratic style and sheer quirkiness. But even if the bewildering interface and frustrating randomisation eventually wears you down, you will have visited a place quite unlike any other in gaming.