Enigma of Fear Review – Indie Game Reviewer – The Best Indie Games
In Enigma of Fear from developer Dumativa, Mia is a detective who’s no stranger to the paranormal. She grew up with a father who did that exact type of research himself as part of a paranormal research group known as Ordo Realitas. But something has gone wrong.
Mia’s father has traveled to a mysterious place and has gone missing. It’s up to Mia, with the help of her dog Lupi, to find her father and learn more about this mysterious place known as the Perimeter.
From the start, Enigma of Fear draws you into its unfolding narrative, inviting you to uncover the history of this mysterious place and the secrets of the Ordo Realitas research team. Beyond traditional cutscenes and dialogue, the story unfolds through atmospheric tools like found audio recordings, scattered notes, and environmental storytelling.
These elements are woven together by the developers, to encourage the aforementioned keen detective-work needed to piece together the events that have shaped the world. The worldbuilding is amplified by its cast of characters and the detailed history, creating an immersive experience.
A Perfect Circle
The Perimeter is an intriguing place to explore, featuring a mix of locations like a castle, a maze-like graveyard, an underground facility, and a crystal cave. These varied settings help keep the experience from becoming stale, with enough variety to maintain interest.
Each area feels distinct, avoiding a repetitious slog and providing a solid foundation for the game’s paranormal investigation themes.
The large, nonlinear open map stands grants you the freedom to explore areas in whatever order your curiosity drives you. The ambitious design choice is handled well, offering a liberating exploratory spirit throughout the game.
Doorways to Adventure
The game manages a nice balance of puzzle-solving, exploration, and combat. Its exploration feels akin to an old PC adventure game. Puzzles involve figuring out door codes and matching symbols to get past otherworldly devices. They’re relatively easy but tricky enough that they may require you to grab a pen and paper.
Combat feels similar to a survival horror game: It’s straightforward enough to complete the job. Attack with a crowbar or shoot your enemies with a pistol. If anything it leans towards feeling too stiff and, above anything else, requires proper positioning to succeed. Since movement is also pretty stiff, it makes juking enemies and dodging big boss attacks less fun than it could be.
The Medium
Thankfully, the game has a helpful locking system, which allows for a manageable experience. And although serviceable, the combat is the weakest aspect of the game, only because everything else is much stronger.
Since it’s a horror-style game, you might assume things would get difficult. Thankfully, the game is forgiving regarding saves, as it saves checkpoints frequently. The experience feels more about uncovering its weaving narrative than creating a survival horror-style punishment.
I did run into a couple of bugs when playing. There was a bug where my dog Lupi would get stuck on geometry. I had another bug where I’d disappear and have to quit to the main menu to reload it. But thanks to the aforementioned forgiving save system, there bugs weren’t a big deal.
They happened often enough to where they’re hard to ignore. That being said, it was never anything game-breaking. And for an ambitious game as this, bugs are to totally surprising. As of writing this review, thankfully, the developers are actively patching the game to iron out the bugs.
The game features some nicely detailed environments with superb lighting effects. It’s atmospheric in the best ways. For the spooky game genre, atmosphere is always important. And this game nails its vibe perfectly.
Using an isometric camera adds this close but far enough viewpoint to appreciate all the small details everywhere. From pictures on the wall of a tarnished room to human bones in a musty cave. It all adds so much to the world’s setting.
The game implements a cool, haunting use of pianos, violins, cellos, and moody synths for its music. This unnerving, fitting space feels like you’re falling into an endless void in slow motion. It’s so evocative and makes for an eerie but sometimes calming experience.
The Verdict
Enigma of Fear is an ambitious action puzzle game that will entertain you throughout. It’s not perfect because of some bugs and a basic combat system. But its atmospheric world is fun to explore thanks to its mystery-filled narrative. For puzzle fans and horror enthusiasts, check this one out.
Enigma of Fear is available via Steam.
Check out the official trailer for Enigma of Fear below:
