I can’t resist the tried-and-true combination of disturbing horror matched with retro-style pixel art – to me, there’s just something inherently fascinating about expressing the most horrific aspects of the human mind with tiny little pixel men. Now, if you’re still with me after that opening sentence, let’s talk about Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus, the latest adventure game from developer Indiesruption. You may know them from such titles as 2020’s Nine Witches: Family Disruption, as well as 2023’s Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness, the previous entry in the Vlad series.
As someone who’s entirely new to said series, I went into Curse of Asmodeus completely blind, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed myself in this brief demo build. The game wastes absolutely no time in terms of diving head-first into the real juicy bits: our unfortunate protagonist, Josef, wakes up deformed and disfigured, robbed of his memories and his dignity. What’s more, the demo then explores events in a non-linear fashion: as you try to find your way around a dilapidated facility in the present, you occasionally unlock interactive flashback sequences that, I can only assume, will explain how Josef ended up in the sorry state he’s currently in. Essentially, you’re playing through two parallel storylines at the same time – one for the past, and another for the present.
Needless to say, the overall plot holds promise, and I liked the brief glimpses I’ve seen of it so far: the ominous whispers of a demon-parasite called Asmodeus, along with the horrific things happening behind closed doors at the facility, all seem to paint the picture of a deliciously nightmarish narrative that probably won’t have a happy ending. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping for. The flashback scenes of the demo were slightly less exciting, regrettably, but I suspect these will also get gradually weirder and weirder as you progress further in the story. Figuring out how the seemingly “normal” past finally links up with the tragic present certainly promises to be an interesting journey.
In terms of interaction, gameplay and puzzles, it’s difficult to draw a definite conclusion, but the sheer amount of items I picked up in the demo alone, as well as the ability to potentially combine said items, make me hopeful that I’ll have plenty to sink my teeth into in the final release as well.
All in all, I find myself feeling fairly optimistic about the game based on what I’ve seen thus far; its utilization of non-linear storytelling and solid pixel art, as well as the deeply haunting atmosphere it creates have left me more than eager to go all the way down its infernal rabbit hole.
Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus will be coming to PC and consoles later this year.
