PC REVIEW | Tormented Souls 2

As someone who enjoyed Tormented Souls, I was surprised to know that a second one was in the works. I say surprised because up until around 2 months before release, I had no idea that it was even a thing. Fast forward to launch, and I was loving what I was seeing. Tormented Souls was a sleeper indie hit for me back when it released in 2021.

It reminded me a lot of Resident Evil 1 Remake on the Gamecube with it’s fully 3D rendered backgrounds, strong Silent Hill inspirations with its otherworld gameplay areas, and unique enemy design.

Given all of that, it was important to me to see Tormented Souls 2 through to the end, and bring the series to a close. But what did I think of the recent addition? Read on to find out more.

Things I liked!

• Survival Horror | Tormented Souls 2 at its core is a Survival Horror game. It takes the experiences from Tormented Souls and perfects its shortcomings. The fixed camera angles are some of the best I have seen in this genre. Cameras switch between moving on a spline giving them very cinematic movement, and capturing all of the detail that the environments ooze, and remaining fixed to focus on specific items or areas that the game needs you to focus your attention on. Cameras aside, the combat makes a more refined return, with the ability to add weapons to shortcuts to your favourite weapons. This makes fighting enemies a lot easier as you can switch out different weapons on the fly, and switch them up as you go. Finally, the makeshift weapons that you can find throughout the game, along with its upgrades, are a lovely new additions that survival horror fans will enjoy. For example, a seemingly simple pipe that could be used for almost anything, can be slotted into the shotgun to turn it into a double-barrelled offering.

• The Music and Sounds | The music in Tormented Souls 2 is fantastic. While music is usually reserved for safe rooms, boss fights, and cutscenes, the music sets the theme well for each of it’s sections. Safe rooms play a mellow, angelic-like track that instantly lets the player know that nothing can hurt them here. Not only this, but people who have played any of the original Resident Evil games will know exactly what I mean by this. Cutscene music provides the level of cinematic quality you would expect to see in a AAA game. It is quite impressive. For the sounds, everything else feels right at home. With the absence of music, you can hear the wind while walking the streets. You can hear the candles flickering in the corridors as you walk by. Even the ambient sounds, such as enemies stomping around in the next room, add a level of additional fear, given the fact that with fixed camera angles, you can’t see what is coming for you.
  
• Multiple Endings | Like with any good horror game, Tormented Souls 2 offers up two different endings. The “default” bad ending is achieved by just completing the game as it is. The good ending, or the “true” ending is achieved by meticulously backtracking from the very end of the game right back to the very beginning. Despite my thoughts on this below, there is no way to overcome that without exploring the main starting section of the game again. That being said, I do appreciate adding the additional endings so that players can freely explore again and experience new content that otherwise is not normally seen on linear single-player games. Achieving the “true” ending is a little complex, and will require you to think about what to do and where to go, and that is if you can even find it in the first place.
  
  
• The Boss Fights | With each main section of the game, Tormented Souls 2 offers a unique boss fight that doesn’t just rely on you gunning them down with ammunition from your guns. Each boss has a unique way to be killed, and as a result, the boss arenas also become something that should be explored, and figured out before wasting ammo. There are five main bosses in the game with the Iron Maiden boss being my favourite (pictured below). While this boss was quite simple to figure out, its design, attack patterns, music, and ending are probably one of the better of the bunch to go up against.
  
• The Environmental Set Pieces | Tormented Souls 2 is a pretty game. Visually, it is very striking with its Gothic Horror vibes taking centre stage through most of the games early and later stages. The otherworld is where it gets very disturbing, but amps up the art direction with flesh, blood, chains, and lots of metal and barbed-wire everywhere. Thankfully these areas are very linear compared to the normal world, with many of their areas sealed off to keep you on track. Here is where you will see some of the best set design in a horror game to date, and also deal with some of the most difficult enemies in the game.
  
• Enemy Design | There are quite a few varieties of enemies in Tormented Souls 2. With each section of the game taking on a different theme, it seems only appropriate to theme the enemy design around it. If we take a specific section of the game such as at the school, you will meet child-like dolls that carry knives, and mannequins that come to life right out of the science class. You know the ones, the humans with half of their skin on, and the other half with their organs exposed so you can learn about the body. It’s a great addition to the detailing of the game, and I wish more games did this instead of reusing enemies over and over again. This was one of the strongest areas in the game’s design. Never knowing what is coming next.

Mixed & disliked!

• Better, but not perfect Puzzles | Let’s be honest. The puzzles in Tormented Souls were the real horror. All joking aside though, Tormented Souls 2 makes better use of environmental storytelling, less cryptic notes, and diary entries to help you solve puzzles. Sure, there were times where I was left scratching my head and really wracking my brain, but a lot of it can be figured out by simply reading the game’s impressive amount of lore. On that point though, you will be reading a lot. Sometimes this can go against the flow of the game, and stopping every 5 minutes to read something can sometimes feel like a chore. Given how much information is stored in these documents littered throughout the game, you will be hard-pressed not to, as some contain very relevant information to the immediate area you might be in. It’s a tough balance, but it’s a better experience with puzzles overall. Just not perfect.

• Backtracking | Tormented Souls 2 is a large game. So much so that because of the secrets, the scale of the environments, and some story elements, you will find yourself backtracking (a lot) when playing through the game. While backtracking isn’t synonymous with survival horror, it does walk the line of almost becoming problematic because it leaves the player feeling like little to no progress has been made. Some stuff is optional, like getting the additional endings if you so wish. But at times, it feels like the story cohesion is knocked back as a result.

CONCLUSION

Score: 85/100

Tormented Souls 2 does a great job at setting itself apart from the first entry in the series by refining much of what made the first game difficult and frustrating. Tormented Souls 2 improves on the combat in almost every single way by offering a wider variety of weapons, much larger environments to explore, great animations, and an increased fear factor. This, coupled with the fact that most of the puzzles make a lot more sense than the insanely obtuse, and often confusing puzzles from Tormented Souls 1, makes Tormented Souls 2 a must-play for any survival horror fan.