Game Review #417: Lust For Darkness (Nintendo Switch)

Reviewer: Steven Green

Developer: Movie Games Lunarium

Publisher: SimFabric

Category: Horror

Release Date: July 12th, 2019 (EU only)

Price (at time of review): £11.69

Buy Lust For Darkness in the EU Nintendo Switch eShop here.

The Dark Descent

Lust For Darkness is a first person horror title that binges on a conglomeration between sex and scares. You have a deep dive into the themes of sex in all of its possible evil iterations, while playing through a horror survival title that will bring you goosebumps. With some serious Amnesia vibes, you have a game that will test your patience and your will as you play as Jonathan Moon, a man who is searching for his lost wife who has somehow gotten caught up with a sex cult, and it is your job to get her back. Horror imagery mixed with pornography is the journey you will have to take in this one as you will see sculptures, paintings, and baddies who embody these themes, and bring out your innermost nightmares.

Hidden Horrors

As is common with titles such as this, a lot of the details are hidden from plain sight. You will have to do some digging and pay attention to environmental and visual cues in order to fully grasp what is going on in this house of mysteries. You will play through a jump-scare-laden mess that doesn’t really bring the depth of scares you would be hoping for as a horror aficionado. Graphics aren’t something that comes to the forefront here (outside of the brilliant cutscenes) and the game doesn’t perform all that well as a whole unfortunately with some quirky controls and issues with triggers and the like. With all of that said I was still scared, as I am not one that handles horror titles well. I am a big, blubbery baby. So, if you are like me you will still get the scare factor you are looking for. Veterans might want to search elsewhere as this title takes from the bottom of the barrel on the majority of its tricks and tribulations.

Amnesia-Lite?

Overall, Lust For Darkness brings a genre to the Switch that is lacking in content and does a decent job at it. Anyone who plays horror titles regularly may be set off by its use of the norm in its gameplay and scares. Matching up with a lot of what Amnesia: The Dark Descent and other similar titles have to offer in overall gameplay makes for a game with a ton of potential, but the H.P. Lovecraft vibes and dive into themes normally restricted from Nintendo consoles don’t make up for the lack of depth, short experience, and overall lacking gameplay. This title is one that can be recommended for anyone who likes a simple jump scare, or who are interested in the arrival of full-on sexual themes to the console but is one that most should probably shy away from.