Unholy

With the exception of the rich environmental detail to be found in its sinister underworld setting, Unholy otherwise offers precious little to praise. It’s not scary enough to succeed as a horror story, its controls are too clumsy to provide a satisfying stealth experience, and its enemy and puzzle variety are too limited to make any part of the journey feel truly distinct. What begins as an intriguing incursion into a cult-ruled realm soon unravels into a repetitive slog stuck in the shoes of an unlikeable lead character. Unholy is never quite unplayable, but it’s certainly uninspired, unwieldy, and unlikely to hold your interest all the way to its completion.

Unholy is a wasted opportunity. A work that could have been a good and memorable indie title. But due to fundamental problems such as a weak story, shallow characterization, and repetitive gameplay; along with a multitude of bugs and severe technical problems, it will create an unpleasant experience for the player. The only positive points of Unholy that make the experience bearable to some extent are its eye-catching atmosphere and resonant music. If you are looking for an indie experience in the horror, survival, and adventure genre, it is better to look for other similar titles.

In the realm of gaming where the lines between reality and fantasy blur, "Unholy" stands out as a compelling and eerie journey developed by the innovative minds at Duality Games. This psychological thriller invites players to step into an immersive dual-world experience as they embark on a quest to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of a beloved child.

Unholy has some good moments, but it's let down with some odd gameplay choices and some janky cutscenes and poor acting.

I didn’t end up finishing the game due to too many crashes and poor optimization. However, I reached chapter seven, although it was a gruelling journey. Unholy’s story isn’t very complex and is easy to understand. Notes you find tend to repeat the same gibberish. I liked the concept of your ammo being emotions, but I wish they played a bigger part in the overall game. For example, affecting the moods of creatures or having elemental effects to use in the environment. I was genuinely surprised emotions did not play a bigger part in general, since the game itself says emotions can warp/change the world.

To me, Unholy is definitely not a horror game. Although the setting looks great, neither the story nor the atmosphere managed to draw me into the plot. The main character is kind of bland, and on top of that, there’s the glitchy environment, cutscenes, stealth mechanics, poor optimization, and more. The game could have great potential if it were polished to the same degree as its environment.

It’s hard to recommend Unholy. Outside of the environmental design, the mechanics don’t do much to scare or otherwise engage the player, the story is flat and uninteresting, and the characters are about as wooden as their animations.

Unholy has a good foundation for a horror game, but little is followed through to a successful conclusion to rate the game as fun. Stealth doesn't work, the story doesn't draw you in, the atmosphere doesn't capture you, the main character doesn't interest you at all and it seems unnatural.

Unholy is a mish-mash of interesting but underdeveloped ideas, with an intriguing aesthetic style. There are scares to be had but they’re often undermined by clunky design and a somewhat goofy dramatic delivery. Unholy is one of those games that I’m painfully ambivalent about; I love and hate parts of it. I can see the promise of a brilliant horror game here, but like the Prophet’s false promise of an eternal paradise, it’s one that goes unfulfilled.

Unholy’s ending is yet another disappointment. The plot is simple, with a predictable ending in terms of story. The characters aren’t really likable enough to feel a sense of great sadness at any of their fates, and the whole ending section of the game is beyond disappointing. Not because, as it would be safe to assume, the combat is too weak to handle an end-game boss, but instead because the whole of the ending of the game is one uninterruptible cutscene with no input from the player.