Lucah: Born of a Dream (2018)

I can't actually remember where i discovered Lucah: Born of a Dream. That's how buried into my subconscious it is. Maybe a steam dumpster diving session, i don't know. What i do know is that this game touched me in a way that few games do.

I have to admit that i'm often willing to forgive a lot of mechanical ahh...oddities, let's say, for the sake of experiencing a game's story; hell, even willing to go so far as putting the look of a game aside, and nothing can be truer of Lucah. The game does look terrible, admittedly, but not in a way that was a turn off to me. Rather than the art being hand drawn or done pixel by pixel, its literally just scribbles that are animated, but even these aren't simply that. Everything that exists in this world shifts around strangely, even in idle movement. Scribbles that form a person ebb and flow together in a manner that resembles Ed, Edd, and Eddy, that strange surreal sort of "vibration" that everyone in the little cul de sac seems to have. The 9 people who seemed to have played all mention this to varying degrees, but I think it really, really serves the narrative of the game incredibly well.

The game's story is a collection of...well. Truth be told, it is quite difficult to parse, but I think its meant to be. The world that our character finds themselves in is a nightmare, and the creatures he is fighting are beings twisted by hate, self loathing, a whole plethora of negative emotions. We see deep into the psyche of tormented human emotions, which is a theme I really like exploring. This strangely surreal manner in which certain backgrounds shift into new ones, as well as the odd animation, lends even more strength to the idea that the world our character fights in is a nightmare, but not even counting the strange way in which everything shifts, honestly? A lot of the things you're forced to watch people endure are, quite honestly, nightmarish.

The combat is incredibly tight and rewarding. You could even say its "soulsy", whatever it means to say that word. There's a parry system, but its tied into your characters dodge. You don't find weapons in the traditional sense; instead, you're given Paradigms that dictate the amount of damage your attacks do and provide you with certain buffs on breaking an enemy's shield. Its very difficult, but satisfyingly so. If you go into areas without understanding the capabilities of your character or the enemies you fight, you'll just get owned repeatedly. Honestly, I found the mechanics to be the most well done and somehow the least important of all the game, since its simply the means to an end for me personally.

The game is a nightmare, quite literally, but its one worth experiencing. If you're really into darker stories and difficult combat, and unsatisfying endings (i like them quite a bit), i'd recommend playing. Heck, even if you're not into those things i'd still recommend playing. Its something worth experiencing.