Homebody Xbox Series X/S Review

To review Homebody, we found it better to mention another game. Last year, we saw the launch of the admirable game Signalis, which was able to be inspired by old horror masterpieces to be an utterly nostalgic product, which also maintained modern game standards to a large extent. When I first saw a trailer for Homebody, I felt like I was in for a similar experience. But even though this game claims to be similar to classics like Silent Hill, it’s not. However, indeed, the simple and pixelated 3D graphics of the game are not dissimilar to retro PS1 games.

Homebody is about a group of young people who want to get together in a house outside the city and watch a meteor shower. But they are locked in a mysterious house and a serial killer hunts them. In this sense, the game has an atmosphere similar to slasher movies. But it does not tend to such movies too much. Such movies are mostly associated with stupid decisions of the characters and very violent scenes of slaying. But here, the game relies more on atmospheric fear than on disturbing scenes. In fact, the killer is not that scary at all and death is somehow necessary. Because when the protagonist is killed, you usually see cutscenes that explain more about the story.

We must say that this game relies a lot on the story, but it is hard to understand. The first thing that makes it difficult to comprehend the story is the heavy reliance on texts. They are lots of books and clues to read, and there are countless silent and written dialogues between the characters. Since you sometimes have several options to pick for answers, you have to read dialogues carefully. These many readings hurt gameplay pacing and cause long breaks between your tasks.

In general, the developers have been very generous in putting texts in their game, so they even included some hundreds-page books such as Dracula and Frankenstein for those interested to read a novel in a thrilling video game! With all this, the story does not have a clear narrative. So at the end of the game, you may have your own conclusion about the story or you may not have understood anything at all.

Leaving aside the story, the gameplay is acceptable for an independent game. The game takes place in a not-so-big house, the creators have been able to include interesting puzzles in this limited space. Of course, you have seen almost all these puzzles in other games. The game has a roguelike method that makes some puzzles boring. The game has no saving, and whenever the main character is killed, you return to the beginning of the game, but the information you have obtained is saved in a memory log. But for example, if you want to open a particular door, you must enter the code again. So if you are killed several times, you have to do this repetitive task many times. Of course, most of the puzzles are not that repetitive.

Overall, Homebody is suitable for people who enjoy a grim atmosphere or solving interesting puzzles. Contrary to its appearance, this game is not scary at all and can just be a little thrilling at best. Rather than challenging your guts, the game tests your problem-solving skills. Although the game wants to be nostalgic, it cannot revive the memories of the retro Silent Hill or Resident Evil games, but it is a fun experience. You can get this game on various platforms for twenty dollars, which is a good price for an indie game. The game time depends on your skill in solving the puzzles, but it is not a lengthy one.

The review code was provided by the publisher