Excellent apocalypse RPG World of Horror has just received a sizeable free update, As Below So Above, adding no less than two Old Godly invasions for you to identify and thwart. One of these additional cosmic disasters involves four cults summoning their fave abominations at the same time. I picture them forming a shaky barbershop quartet on the skyline, while stamping the streets to mush. Damn it, Ath-Yolazsth – you’re leading again!
Also in As Below So Above: more “enemies, mysteries, characters, items, spells, curses, and injuries”, together with “a large batch of quality-of-life features and bug fixes”. I can only applaud the vicious disconnect of listing “injuries” alongside “quality-of-life”. These will be the most polished and ergonomic grievous wounds you’ve ever had! The experience will flow like your gushing blood!
This is the Junji Ito-inspired game’s largest update yet, according to developers panstasz and publishers Ysbryd. It makes the game 20% bigger, though surely no mere percentage can ever encapsulate the creatures and forces that slumber on the other side of the mortal veil.
“Two never-before-seen manifestations of the Old Gods raise the stakes,” explains the press release. “IKT-YOSIS, THE FIRST NIGHTMARE, sleeps in a gargantuan chamber beneath the mountains. With each ritual performed to wake him, the world above slowly reshapes itself and brings strange weather with it.” You’ll need to keep tabs on forecasts, if you want to get ahead of the elements. As for “THE WAR FOR SHIOKAWA”, this “adds an extra level of terror, with four cults summoning their eldritch masters simultaneously to plunge the town into pure evil.”
It’s just as well there are three new puny human protagonists to continue the battle against these cyclopean trouble-makers: Kiriko, who knows her way around a Tarot deck, Satoshi, a seasoned hiker, and Makoto, a school AV club member. You’ll also be able to enlist 10 additional allies and learn about them care of a reworked conversation system, which trips at random between investigations.
There’s a new location, the Mountains, alongside 60 extra events, 19 enemies, three challenges, and 30 items. And let’s not forget the Scenario Mode, which plays host to self-contained yarns set before the main game. The first of these Worldlets of Horror is a hunt for three students lost in the woods, with a variety of endings.
Lots of numbers! And while much of this may break your mind, none of it will break your mods. There’s a new modding system that’s backwards compatible with everything made for the 1.0 version.
Unfamiliar with World of Horror? Here is Alice Bee’s review (RPS in peace): “Repetitive combat in World Of Horror can’t entirely mar a unique, stylish and layered horror adventure that makes you want to play more the more that you play.”