There are plenty of spooky games out there for the fall/Halloween season. A lot of them rely on huge jump scares, gore, and psychological horror to jump their way to the top of everyone’s top ten. HorrorVale: Deadluxe Edition has made its way on to my list for much different reasons. It’s a great time that brings together horror, humor, and RPG elements in such a way that kept me wanting to see what would happen next.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this when I first jumped in, but I came away enjoying this game way more than I anticipated. The spooky atmosphere, the gameplay, and the absolute charm of it all, HorrorVale made sure I wanted to keep playing. So what made HorrorVale so special?

Straight Up From The Underground

HorrorVale takes place in the land beneath our feet, otherwise known as The Underworld. You play as Alice, a young girl, er, skeleton girl, who currently studies at HorrorVale High School. Alice has a good doggo named Scruffy who gets kidnapped and it is our job to investigate, find, and rescue Scruffy.

Through our adventure, we learn of “Creepies.” These are terrifying monsters who are taking over the town and creating a bloodbath everywhere they go. Like any good RPG protagonist, Alice is going to have to take care of the disaster herself.

Not without help, though! HorrorVale will have you recruiting 30 friends to your party. These characters are so much fun to recruit. From finding a character’s version of a GameBoy and revealing his hilarious secret, to fighting a Frankenrobot and then having him protecting us, there are plenty of party members to acquire and befriend.

The NPCs that fill the world also make for a good time. Interacting with them has given me some good laughs as the dialogue varies from funny to bizarre (in a good way). I made it a point to go up and speak to each new character that popped up on screen because I was interested in what they had to say.

The same is to be said about the majority of HorrorVale. The game makes the Underworld so enjoyable with its humor/horror blend. From pop culture references and parodies, to some pretty scary moments, I feel this game really nailed what I’d want out of a Halloween-themed RPG.

Combat The Dead

One of the things I liked the most about HorrorVale was the combat. Most encounters feel different than the last. It’s completely turn-based so there is no hack and slash to it here. You’ll pick from basic attacks, abilities, or items as your means to disposing foes. Whether you are using Heal on a zombie to do damage, or finding a specific item to banish a ghost, most fights are fresh.

The party members you recruit all have different abilities, attacks, and stats as well. When I recruited Jekyll, his ability was to turn into Chad, a hulked up version of himself who dealt a ton of physical damage to enemies. This brought in new strategy and options for my fights ahead.

HorrorVale makes sure you are free to mix and match to your liking and that alone gives you the option to switch things up if you’d like. I often found myself making sure I snagged up extra characters at any opportunity and tried them out immediately just in case I found a new favorite.

I really enjoyed this aspect since a lot of RPGs try to introduce interesting mechanics only to get stuck in a “mash attack to win” sort of situation. HorrorVale will make you think and act accordingly.

While some fights may be a little more difficult than others, I never felt that there was a tremendous spike in difficulty. I also never thought it was too easy, either. I definitely lost a few battles and I’ve also steamrolled a few. There was a pretty good balance.

Pick Me

Outside of fights, you’ll explore the world. Completing puzzles and quests along the way. A lot of the previously mentioned characters you can recruit offer up side quests to finish before they tag along.

Some offer up a simple fetch quest, and others will require some thinking skills. One of the main quests had me crawling through a maze-like vent system like Metal Gear Solid to find certain keys that unlocked new pathways through a police station. All of this was happening while I was being chased by a Creepy that threatened to have me start all over if he caught me.

This quest culminated in finding a quick way to help survivors out of the station and saving them all so we could access the rest of the map to help find our dog.

It sounds wacky and it is. But that is what I loved about it. While you will run into a few quests that may be a simple “talk to this guy and the quest is over” type missions, they kept me clearing the 60+ total because the conversations, dialogue and writing was so interesting and humorous.

Nostalgia Is Magic

HorrorVale is clearly inspired by the likes of old school RPGs like EarthBound. I think this is what initially made me want to play this game. There is something about the 90s RPGs that often feel like magic. The graphics, the music, the simplistic nature of it all. It’s all here in HorrorVale.

When you look at the game, you feel like you’re playing on a SNES. Or even something from Newgrounds (an older website full of some stellar games). The entire time I played, I kept wanting to play more, and I really feel that is all that matters.

While the nostalgia is certainly part of the appeal and charm, it’s by far not the only reason to play HorrorVale. With a fun combat system, a nice horror/comedy writing style, and music surely to get stuck on your head, HorrorVale offers up a refreshing and rewarding RPG experience. It is an absolute must play for fans of old-school RPGs.

What’s New in the Deadluxe Edition?

For those who may have played HorrorVale when it originally was released on PC, the Deadluxe Edition brings some welcome additions. The console release (I played on PlayStation 5) features some revised artwork, new battles, and some quality of life improvements. While the adventure remains mostly the same, these additions are a great opportunity for newcomers like myself to jump in and experience it. I really like seeing smaller indie games like this get this sort of attention when making their way to consoles.

Final Thoughts

HorrorVale: Deadluxe Edition is a wonderful, strange, charming, and entertaining RPG that deserves some attention. If you’re looking for a spooky adventure that doesn’t take itself TOO seriously but allows some depth, this is worth checking out.