Horror will always have a grip of me. Crisol: Theater of Idols from Vermila Studios in Spain is no different. Blumhouse Games’ latest after the recent Sleep Awake, Crisol takes you on a unique journey among deities in Hispania. While it may not offer a lot of new experiences to a seasoned horror veteran, it has a fantastic story, which is honestly its best selling point.
Not a Vampire
As a horror game, Crisol sits at a nice medium between Bioshock and the newer Resident Evil games. Though, I’d say it takes more from the later in terms of mechanics. It’s an action horror game with some additional elements thrown in for good measure.
You take the role of Gabriel, a devout follower of the sun god. You have been tasked with banishing the god of the sea from Tormentosa which, naturally, requires the blood of the most important people on the island. Upon arrival to the desolate island, you realize things are not as they appear. Ghastly streets void of people now have creepy, porcelain-like dolls that antagonize and pursue you.
As you begin your journey you also realize normal weapons do not affect the followers of the sea. So the sun god blesses your blood, and it becomes the ammo for your weapons. One of Crisol‘s main tricks is it forces you to balance the need to end of engagement with health management, an interesting dynamic that got me in trouble plenty.
Blood, Blood, Blood
When I started my playthrough, I immediately had found a criticism: the combat. In most action-horror, or even survival-horror games, combat mirrors the pacing of the story, and makes the player feel well rewarded for overcoming obstacles. In Crisol, I found something to be missing. It took the entirety of my playthrough but what’s missing is further interactions with the enemy NPCs.
When you shoot an enemy you get an orange marker on the target and a sound cue. It is obvious you are fighting dolls but where are the chips of porcelain from landing a successful shot? Where are the reactionary behaviors from the mindless enemies? When unloading on an enemy there is a single stun behavior you can activate if you do enough damage. But that is the entirety and it happens without any flash or sass. Just put the dot on the doll and pull the trigger.
This makes combat feel more like a chore on a Saturday than draining my fight or flight instincts like it should. Each incursion feels more and more robotic and the fights quickly become repetitive and boring. When it comes to horror games and I think of successful combat systems I think of Dead Space, Resident Evil, etc…Even though everyone knows those games, they all bear the joy of interaction when it comes to dismembering the dead or pumping a lycan full of buckshot.
At least the premise of Gabriel’s abilities is gnarly to witness and a nice touch to make Crisol unique. Being able to take old bodies, animal or human, then convert the blood into health is a satisfying mechanic that I never got tired of. Witnessing Gabriel turn a normal weapon into a sun-blessed weapon never really gets old either, and seeing the contemporary design is thrilling.
Tormentosa to Torment You
The art direction and setting are visionary and help to drive immersion in Crisol. They are without a doubt some of its best elements and its where I found the most Bioshock influences. The way the creatures move and behave, to the noir, steampunk setting, I found my experience in Tormentosa to be filled with rich and accurate-looking landscapes alongside vibrant storms and rain.
While Tormentosa can be both beautiful and terrifying, I found there to be some large resource distribution issues. In Crisol you can parry enemy movements with a flashy and glamorous knife that has its own health bar and requires gas (a collectible) and a motorbike grinder. I don’t know why the parry exists, as I found the ability to be one that is super niche.
To replenish the knife you are forced to use the grinder. However, any time I was deep into a chapter there was never a grinder to be found. I would make use of this ability, but it had little to no value aside from i-frames and an interruption. Furthermore, if you miss the swing it drains your knife substantially. It’s all risk with little to no reward.
Aside from the rigid combat and confusing level design, I was also confused by the end of the game as I had eight tanks of gas whereas early in the game they were extremely scarce. The balance in these areas seems to need to fine-tuned.
Throughout my time I’d find myself being stuck in certain combat loops with no restoratives. Without them, I found myself having to be perfect. I could not miss a shot. I came, I saw, I conquered, but the amount of time I would spend on these sections was draining, and it made finishing the experience that much harder.
My Dear Dolores
Speaking of Resident Evil, do you remember Lady D? How about Nemesis? Well, Crisol borrows from this concept and creates its own horror figure head. Dolores takes center stage on the cover art and she acts as Crisol‘s version of Nemesis. Ironically, she is also the scariest part of the game. I found myself getting jump scared so vigorously, my apple watch notified me about a high heart rate during some of her engagements.
She is downright creepy, and straight up invincible. Vermila Studios designed her very well, making her quite the villain and a force to be reckoned with. That is, assuming bugs didn’t come into play.
On multiple occasions, I was doing Dolores related activities her audio bugged making her much more terrifying and even slightly aggravating. Save for a few bugs here and there, though, the audio design is impeccable. Crisol has some interesting voices present in the story, but Dolores’ is by far the most fitting for her character and model, making her my favorite part about my trip to Tormentosa.
BAM! BAM! *Click*
Puzzles are by far the most touchy subject I could be asked to critique because, frankly, I loathe most puzzles in horror games. Unfortunately, Crisol has a habit of making an entire chapter about getting a “thing”, but then needing another “thing”, that then needs “things” etc. It becomes extremely exhausting early in the game. And not only are they tiring, but repetitive as well, with many resembling each other.
As the game went on, I became more acclimated to the puzzles and of course completed Crisol, but I can’t help and look back on the earlier chapters with such distaste.
One of my biggest gripes with my playthrough, though, is the level design. By chapter three all issues were ironed out, but in chapters one and two I found myself getting lost often and the map to be confusing. At best.
It became frustrating because of the aforementioned spacing between healing items and safe rooms. At least twice, I found myself stuck with a few enemy encounters and not a drop of a syringe to restore my health. I had to perform flawlessly and under tension, which may have been the intent, but was designed poorly thus making it a mind-numbing experience.
A Big Ball of Burning Gas, Called…the Sun!
Crisol: Theater of Idols doesn’t try to reinvent horror, nor does it bring anything new that seasoned horror fans have not seen. However, the setting is unique, it presents an inventive story, and has some fun scares along the way. Try it, por favor.
Thank you to Blumhouse Games and our PR partners for review access to Crisol: Theater of Idols. You can find Seasoned Gaming’s review policy here.
