Going into what is a genre of gaming that is rarely explored on my end here, World of Horror is a hardcore rogue-like RPG that focuses on solving various supernatural mysteries (many of them derived from the works of H.P Lovecraft that delve into the incomprehensible horrors that lurk in the depths and shadows) through means of investigations, dealing with all manners of events that may help or hinder you along the way. Considering the dark and twisted nature of this game however, it is far more likely to be against you although a smart player who knows the strengths and weaknesses of their character will be able to turn the tide in their favour!

Before even touching upon the gameplay mechanics themselves, I have to give serious respect to what is essentially a one-man team here as panstasz, the sole developer behind World of Horror, has done an incredible job in managing to slowly working upon what is quite the unique horror game and has excellently created an immersive atmosphere delving into Lovecraftian horrors through the use of manga art inspired by the likes of Junji Ito, who has also similar experiences with crafting various supernatural nightmares into his books as well, which only adds to the excellent horror atmosphere of this game!

Now looking at what exactly this game entails here, noting that this game is nearing completion as it is on version 0.9.92e with the latest update 'Dreadful Dreams' adding another patch of intriguing content to the already-impressive library of Lovecraftian-inspired works on here, it centres around one of over 20 characters making investigations into a selection of five out of the total twenty mysteries in order to further discovery the dark secrets around a sinister cult seeking to bring about an unholy god to the planet, of which there is currently 7 to choose from that each brings about different negative effects that will hamper different playstyles. (Four of them are unlocked from the get-go, with the latter three requiring specific 'achievements' to unlock them, more on this later)

Once said game begins, you pursue a mystery by going into your home (a unique screen that can only be accessed inbetween mysteries) and selecting one of them to investigate to hopefully solve as all of them will feature multiple endings, some as little as two and a couple as many as five but most landing between three or four unique endings.

One thing I should note is that more experienced players will know that some mysteries are designed to be harder than others, by that I mean close to half of them are fully 'open-ended' whereby you can choose to pursue the mystery fully or take breaks and do other activities whenever you desire, however several of them will 'lock' you to a specific area(s) in a different map that may have no option for you to buy items, access your item storage or, in severe cases, not even rest to recover lost Stamina (HP) or Reason (Sanity might be an apt description for this one) that could prove fatal for unprepared players as it were!

How you go about solving said mystery, regardless if it is an open-ended scenario or it locks you into a specific map at the start or halfway in, involves investigating the right areas that helps to progress the mystery, each time bringing an event that often has potential negative consequences depending on whether you pass or fail a stat check from a decision that you make in it, as this is where more seasoned veterans of World of Horror can (and often will need to, especially in the higher difficulties!) make the right choices based on their character's stats, although it is still based on chance as rouge-likes often dictate as one wrong choice could spill the end for what could be a good run, albeit this is much more likely on the True Believer and Harbinger of Doom difficulties whilst lower difficulties are more forgiving about mistakes made.

In regards to where the game's RPG elements takes place, this is where the occasional combat encounter takes place, be it as part of the story or as part of a random event, since it is turn-based and focuses on either a physical encounter that deals with the usual weapons encounters or a more 'spiritual' battle when dealing with specific ghosts, whereby you need to get the right combination of bows and claps to banish said spiritual foe. (Although one can just go back to traditional means through using their weapon to 'sever' their connection to the world, which makes the above kind of a moot point in my honest opinion)

Alongside dealing with all of the above, there exists a 'Doom' meter of sorts that indicates how far the cult is progressing in summoning the Eldritch god, as clearing a mystery or choosing a specific choice in some events will help to reduce the Doom% whilst others (usually consequences from poor decision-making) or specific foes that do not harm your character but instead boost the Cult's progression in summoning their deity) will increase, serving as an effective means of a 'time limit' of sorts to keep the pressure on the player as they make the most of what time they have to finish the series of mysteries before it is too late.

Alongside that is the various services that the player may wish to make use of, including multiple stores to purchase various items with the limited funds they do have alongside services that can heal the player's injuries that they, themselves, are unable to fix for a price and places where one can recruit fellow schoolmates that may help or hinder the player depending on what bonuses they offer when recruited, although it should be noted that most of these will raise the Doom meter as time will be needed to make use of these places.

Lastly is the sheer amount of in-game achievements on offer, which help to encourage the player in discovering new events and trying out new playstyles that, when successfully completed, offer all forms of rewards from new items and allies all the way to entirely new characters and horrific gods for the cults to attempt to summon here!

Definitely World of Horror is quite the intriguing game to thoroughly explore, although I will admit that one particular fault it has is that it does have a specific gameplay appeal to it that may not gel well with all horror fans, seeing how usually it is done in the 'first-person' approach to put the player in the character's own shoes for maximum impact and, whilst this game does its best to do just that via the visual cutscenes on the top-left taking up the majority of the screen, this may fail to fully engage some people where they are used to being in full control of said character without any of the RPG side of things to worry about.

Other potential concerns include a few jumpscares (Including the Seamstress Story, a window jumpscare in the School and encountering a specific patient on the fourth night of Worrying Write-Up Of A Wordless Ward, with one particular 'creepy neighbour' who serves as a potential deterrent for those who like to tab out of the game often) as well as finding World of Horror's RPG elements to not be as engaging as more traditional RPGs, in part due to how it impacts the many events your character will face alongside the combat encounters and how part of this, whether you succeed or fail, will be due to sheer luck.

Overall, it is a fairly solid game that makes use of horror in the right way, where it is less about cheap jump scares and more about creating a foreboding and creepy atmosphere, and manages to keep a good gameplay cycle going through its many events and combat encounters that work well together when combined with the scary artwork of the many body horrors and supernatural creatures seen in World of Horror and I would highly encourage anyone who is a fan of the genre to give this a shot here, as you may find yourself genuinely surprised here!