Wake up, Josef Petrescu…
You assume the role of Josef Petrescu, who wakes up with no memories in what I can only describe as a hybrid between an abandoned mental asylum and a WWII prison — but worse. You must move around in this dark dungeon and find out what happened, through clues in your environment and through memories of the past.
This is where the parallel timelines come in. Josef has been through something horrible, it seems, because his face and body are hideously corrupted. When he takes a look at himself in a mirror — which you can find in several rooms — he reflects on a memory, which you get to play. After going through each memory, Josef smashes the mirror with a cry of agony.
In past memories, Josef is making his way to the city of San Reno, to try and meet his brother Vlad — which is where the Vlad Circus gets its name from. But Josef already knows his older brother wouldn’t be so keen on meeting him, nor would the “freak show” circus performers. They all seem to honestly hate Josef. But he insists on going on his journey, which will eventually lead him to the horrible present timeline, but we don’t know how… yet.
The story so far is definitely a hook for the hideous works of demons and men alike. The clues about religious fanatics hiding within and under San Reno, and a possessing demon named Asmodeus, are plotlines I want to explore more of. The demo doesn’t reveal the full story, obviously, but the way to San Reno and the horrifying dungeon crawling that it offers made me curious enough.
Suspension of Pixelief
I’ve mentioned I’m not doing good with horror, right? Well, it’s not that Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus saves the player from any dreadful imagery — but the game does that through meticulously crafted pixel art.
First of all, the design is impressive. The color grading and frame design are well worth a mention, both from a gameplay and art point of view. Gameplay-wise, the frame is always clear and showcases what could and couldn’t be done — it’s not a guess-where-to-click game, it’s a think-of-a-solution game. And art-wise, the color usage and framing, particularly in the present timeline, are scarily good — you can feel Josef’s claustrophobia just from staring at a bunch of pixels on the screen, essentially.
Secondly, pixel art as a style is really the key factor in the psychological gymnastics I play on myself to be able to go through a horror story. A suspension of disbelief for my suspension of disbelief, if you will. If the art style of Vlad Circus had been 3D-realistic, I would jump right off like I did with Ethan Carter. But if the pixel art had been that of RPG Maker, the dread would never have hit the same.
It’s just enough to help people like me get through the story despite my queasy nature, without sacrificing the game’s core atmosphere.
More of the Madness
So what’s on the horizon? The full release for Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus is yet to be announced, but I’m definitely on the edge of my seat until it happens. In the meantime, you can wishlist it on Steam and wait for the TBD to turn into a concrete date.
But I’m not simply waiting for the full game to be the same. For example, some gameplay mechanics didn’t fully shine through in the demo, but seem to be a preview for something more — like the exploding gas chamber that you cannot get through (for now); or the item-combining mechanics that I can only assume will yield more interesting results later on in the game.
If the full release is as interesting as the demo, then I’ll be the first to recommend it. I’m genuinely curious for more of Vlad Circus, and see where this macabre story leads. As of now, I might as well move back (or forward) to Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness. At least until Curse of Asmodeus is released in its full, fearsome, grotesque form.
