The Excavation of Hob's Barrow (2022)

I'd give this a 2-3 for story and a 4-5 for atmosphere. Overall, I enjoyed this game a lot. I'm not a huge horror fan usually, but don't mind it if it's done well - Hob's Barrow managed to intrigue me to the point where I kept playing for longer than I had planned for that day. For any criticism I have, I'm well aware that this was done by a small studio and even feel a bit mean giving the story such a low rating, considering that I enjoyed the experience overall.

However, the ending was a major downside to me. Without spoiling the story, I don't mind the mood or general direction of it, but some parts don't seem to fit the characters or make little sense. The turn it took was happening just a bit too quickly for my tastes, the protagonists motivations suddenly unclear. For a bit, I started wondering whether this was just one possible ending and my choices led me to the worst one. After reading some of the developer's commentaries, I understand what they were going for a bit better, but still feel like these parts of the story could have been expanded on, even if just by one scene or a few lines of dialogue.

For example (spoilers ahead now): The jump from Thomasina being a person of pure logic and reason to just going with the demonic demands in spite of shaking off her visions as 'hogwash' just a few seconds earlier was a bit too sudden. Why did her father make it out the way he did while she doesn't? The goblin just becoming weaker seems a bit... vague. (Also, while I don't mind a horror story having horror tropes, two characters giving a little villain laugh at the end was a bit much, but that's a tiny detail that I could ignore, if it didn't go with the previous issues.)

BUT: Despite my complaints, I would still very much recommend Hob's Barrow. The visuals and music are great and fit the story's atmosphere extremely well. It satisfies my point and click nostalgia without being nostalgia bait, completely stands on its own. It's one of the modern point and click games that improve on the clunkiness older ones often had and shows it's not a dead genre by any means. The puzzles aren't too hard, but just enough so it's an actual game instead of a walking simulator. All in all, I did not step away from the game feeling disappointed - on the contrary.