Paper Cut Mansion game review (PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch)

Alone in a haunted house, do you like it?… so it’s done!

Thank you Space Lizard Studio and Thunderful Publishing who gave us a free copy of the game for media coverage and testing. Therefore, the publisher/developer allows us to distribute and/or use excerpts from the game for our production needs and does not interfere in any way with the awarding of the final grade. #Article13Free

Let’s go to the ghost house

Paper Cut Mansion of Space Lizard Studio, is curious to say the least. Paper, cardboard and glue will accompany you on this incredible adventure. Despite its crazy side it offers a roguelike quite interesting for the end of the year. It’s up to you to enter this faded and scary mansion that hides a mystery. As a police officer, you love these mysteries, and as an avid gamer you want this vibe that will remind you, who knows, of fire and wonder: “Alone in the dark”.

But here there is no revolutionary 3D. Let’s be content with an environment a la ” Cluedo », a very stimulating top view, where the opening of every door serves our hearts! In fact, everything is possible in this mansion, from the imaginable to the unimaginable.

A cardboard universe

This Victorian cardboard building is full of rooms to explore to pick up here and there many things that will serve you in many ways. Furniture, walls, floors and different environments are varied enough not to create boredom. Technically correct overall, these visuals put you right in the middle of the action. At night with a lantern or armed with a gun for a ghost hunt, in both cases, the visual rendering, with its light and color effects, is universally believable.

It should be remembered that the Space Lizard studio, which manages the development, consists only of a small number of Italians, certainly more or less ” lit up » ?. It should be noted that transalpine studios are not stingy with imagination lately, especially with games like The Darkest Tales recently tried.

Let’s go back to the devil’s den… or maybe our conscience… The graphics are presented through various cinematics that show the history of our character. A story that comes in one drop. Also good, they are also accompanied by inspired music.

A terrifying musical universe

On the sound side, it is, in general, rather satisfactory. The music is chillingor stimulating according to each), they screamers scary and the voices, in the background, also perform their role well. Maybe we can remember a 7th Guest with this dark narrative voice interposed from beyond the grave!

The Italians succeeded in their mission of sinking this hideous nest, after all. But that was not enough for us to explore this mansion, which is beautifully built. Then, the transalpine saw some tracks of gameplay.

good lead

First of all, the manor is explored in two other dimensions. Each of them redesigns elements of the environment and it will often be mandatory to move from one dimension to another to find items and progress in the adventure, while surviving each while protecting the dedicated life bar .

The first, the darkest, is the reptilian dimension. Places become landmarks of ghosts of all kinds to get rid of and survive in such a place will not be easy. But nevertheless it is important to enter these combat zones to return the clues to reality. Rifle in hand, you have to exterminate various evil creatures that obviously have a grudge against you. The difficulty can be complicated in the battle stages. Ghosts come from everywhere and will harass you until you leave these evil places.

The second is a cold and dark place: the limbex. Death is there too, but bites you slowly, or rather slowly. Your life bar, independent of other dimensions, will gradually decrease to a demonic cold. Also, this countdown will force you not to drag to discover the solution to an enigma or something to return to a character. This tension manages to give a real dynamic to the title.

Quests, unique characters

Also, these quests, these puzzles are offered by different characters, all more or less unique. The demands of the inhabitants of the manor were however not all obliged. Although these are optional, however, they are highly recommended. And this is another positive point of the game. These successful quests improve characters in four areas: attack, defense (for the fight), the reflection (open breasts) and stamina to power up your character, a bit numb to the controller at first.

All this offers an entertaining panorama and crossing the worlds, the famous talking doors, is done pleasantly but also with increasing difficulty. From world to world, the quests become more complex, forcing you to go back and forth more and more in more and more vast areas. Maybe somewhere a little stuck.

Some shortcomings though

In fact, these comings and goings end up weighing on gameplay and spoils the fun. From the success of a mission to validation, you have to run through all the mazes, and this is done in long minutes to finally return the object to the requesting character. Do you really need to complete a quest?

These long journeys are also accompanied by a laborious play at times and especially in bad times. Let’s take the fights: it’s not always easy to focus the controller on zombies and other ghosts because the targeting is slow. As a result, the frustration is more felt during the hours of play, generated by an unnecessary difficulty related to the gameplay. shame

Another point, the bugs. There, too, there was some frustration during the trial; several visual issues were noted, including freezing, even black screen. Sins of youth.

Mission accomplished

Apart from these minor curses, the feeling of a great discovery still prevails after a few hours of play. It’s entertaining, fun, challenging roguelike offers a lot gameplay, several possible endings, all in an overtly successful dark environment. A recommended game.

Judgment

Game Test - Score 7.5

What we really want