Tormented Souls 2 Review – Bigger, better and shinier… but it could still use a stronger plot

The original Tormented Souls was a bit of a mixed bag of a game in my opinion – though visually striking, with a handful of interesting puzzles, it somehow didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. And that, I believe, was in large part due to the fact that both the setting and the storyline of the game lost a considerable amount of steam by the time you reached the finale. So, how does the sequel fare by comparison? Much better, I’m happy to report. It still has issues, mind you, but it’s clear as day that developer Dual Effect understood the assignment – make a game that’s bigger, better, and more engaging than its predecessor, all the while continuing to pay homage to the genre classics they were so evidently inspired by.

Once more unto the breach

Tormented Souls 2 picks up more or less where the original left off, and begins with protagonist Caroline Walker and her freshly-rescued sister Anna riding a train to the town of Villa Hess for some much-needed answers. However, when things inevitably spiral out of control (because of course they do), and the forces of the otherworld begin to encroach upon reality once more, Caroline has no choice but to dust off her trusty nailgun and get her answers the hard way – while also trying to rescue her sister.

I’ll be honest: I was getting a lot of déja vu going into Tormented Souls 2. The opening area, a convent filled with lavish paintings and gorgeous architecture, was highly reminiscent of the original’s primary location, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, I feared the game would mostly end up being a retread of familiar territory – except with admittedly prettier graphics. But then, after only a few hours, you leave the convent… and that’s when it hit me. This was no longer a game set exclusively inside a large mansion. It’s quite possibly the biggest advantage Tormented Souls 2 has over its predecessor: it embraces variety, allows you to breathe, and lets you thoroughly explore the town of Villa Hess while offering – no doubt intentionally – locations that feel both new and nostalgic. I mean, think about it. A school building with several floors and cryptic puzzles? A shopping mall hiding dreadful secrets? The parallels with Silent Hill are nothing if not evident, but Tormented Souls 2 does, of course, put its own spin on things, and I found myself thoroughly delighted by this change in direction after the first outing’s somewhat monotonous pace and aesthetic samey-ness. The game’s also quite good at building tension and surprising the player with well-placed scares and interesting ideas that will most certainly keep you on your toes, even when you think you’re safe; in that sense, I was once again reminded of the original Silent Hill trilogy, which is probably the highest praise I can offer to a horror game of this kind.

They don’t make ‘em like they used to

Another commendable aspect of Tormented Souls 2 is its rich and complex offering of puzzles. The tried-and-true old-school formula applies here as well, so if you’ve been frustrated by modern horror games and their rather simplistic “here’s X, now use it on the thing clearly labeled with X” approach to puzzle design, TS2 will likely be right up your alley. It was honestly refreshing to have to actually rack my brain over puzzles that genuinely deserve to be called brain-teasers. They don’t offer up their solutions on a silver platter, nor are they afraid of indulging in some healthy vagueness bordering on the cryptic – sure, you may get stuck here and there, but that’s part of the game’s charm.

And while we’re on the topic of things that are pleasantly retro, ammo conservation is on that list as well. Tormented Souls 2, especially during the early stretches of its storyline, wants you to make every bullet count. I’m not even kidding: I almost ran out of ammo during the first boss fight, and had to rely on melee combat to finish it. Things do get a touch less stressful later down the line as you begin picking up different new weapons and ammo becomes slightly more plentiful, but as a general rule of thumb, if it’s not absolutely necessary to take down an enemy, it’s best to just run away. During the finale, I just barely had enough resources to finish the final boss, which simply tells me that the developers did an excellent job balancing ammo availability. Long story short, Tormented Souls 2 takes the “survival” part of survival horror quite seriously, and very much wants you to respect its rules – sure, you might suffer here and there, but as long as you play by said rules, you’ll have enough resources to help you through the game. Which also means that you’re very much expected to use melee attacks whenever an opportunity arises (like when an enemy is downed and temporarily immobile), or save ammo by being cost effective – for example, by taking out two or even three zombies at once with a single shotgun shell, as opposed to wasting dozens of precious nailgun ammo on them. TL;DR: Being strategic and self-conscious about your resource management is something the game expects of you, and I loved that.

Old-school to a fault

Nothing is perfect, of course, save for maybe peanut butter on freshly baked bread, so unfortunately Tormented Souls 2 comes with its own set of shortcomings as well. Some are probably more intentional than others, mind you. The most immediate one is the combat system, which emulates the old classics a bit too faithfully, perhaps – it can get clunky, unresponsive and slow, with animations that either come out too late or take entirely too much time to finish. Hitboxes can be wonky, enemies may not get staggered by certain hits that really should stagger them, and Caroline’s backstep/dodge is woefully sluggish, just to name some of the issues. Being able to instantly switch between several weapons via dedicated shortcut buttons is a welcome feature, but it doesn’t make all the problems go away, leaving Tormented Souls 2’s combat system very much stuck in the early 2000s, for better or worse. But at least the game doesn’t force you to use tank controls and includes a “modern” movement scheme as well, so there’s that.

The other semi-misfire for me was the story, because it really is just yet another “crazy people try to resurrect an ancient evil to take over the world” type of scenario. Caroline, her sister and the handful of supportive characters that show up (including Generic Guy whose name I can’t even recall at this point) are similarly forgettable and don’t particularly add much to the overall narrative. What I did, however, enjoy… was the world-building and the background lore, as they both get pleasantly Lovecraftian in the game’s second half. I quite enjoyed reading every horrifying newspaper clipping or journal entry about Villa Hess and its tragic past, although I’m not quite sure what that says about me as a person. Oh well.

Closing thoughts

All in all, Tormented Souls 2 is an excellent example of how a sequel can improve upon a game without altering the core identity that made the original so special – it sports some genuinely breathtaking environmental design, a sufficiently varied roster of locations to explore, and maintains the holy triumvirate of puzzles, exploration and resource management as the core pillars of its survival horror gameplay. What’s more, it’s absolutely steeped in atmosphere, managing to consistently scare and unsettle, while also being a fairly meaty adventure that can take up to 15-20 hours to complete for those hoping to thoroughly explore its every terrifying nook and cranny. The storyline never evolving into anything worthwhile or memorable is a bit of a bummer, and so is the combat system’s unapologetic clunkiness, but it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the game too much. I just wished something interesting would’ve been done with the plot. That said, I can very much say this: even if, like me, you weren’t entirely blown away by the first game, I’d still give Tormented Souls 2 a chance. You just might be pleasantly surprised by how much more engaging, complete and content-rich of an experience you’ll be getting with this sequel, especially when compared to the original.

Tormented Souls 2 is available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5 and Xbox. It will also be arriving to GOG at a later date.