Summary
Horror Tales: The Beggar lets you control your environment to fight off a dangerous pursuer. The actions are innovative and the horror from the enemy is real. The environments are well-designed and feel post-apocalyptic. But the story isn’t the best and the horror isn’t as engaging as it could be.
Developer – CarlosGameDev
Publisher – CarlosGameDev
Platforms – PC (reviewed), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Review copy given by publisher
When a dangerous force of your own making is chasing you, how will you act? That’s the question Horror Tales: The Beggar asks of you as you explore a ruined world. You are chased by a spectral being that you create from your consciousness. Using powers that slowly reveal themselves to you, you solve puzzles and fight against the being. You can’t stay still and must keep moving, trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world that moved on without you.
After a disaster that ruined the world’s landscape, a robot searches the ruins for certain bottles of alcohol. Decades pass until they stumble across a barely-alive beggar who can benefit their organization. Believing that the titular beggar needs a test before they bring them on, the robot patches them up. Discovering that the beggar has a subconscious being attacking them only reinforces the need for a test.
The story isn’t clear in the beginning and the set-up is sparse. Apart from getting attacked early on, you aren’t entirely sure what’s happening. As you explore the ruined world, pieces of the story slowly fall into place but it’s still unclear. Later on, you must make choices that determine how the game ultimately ends, but they aren’t immediately obvious. You are a blank slate for better or for worse, with the only constant being the entity that attacks you.
If you were looking for a horror game with a gripping tale, this isn’t the game for you. The main draw is the ability to use various abilities to solve puzzles in a post-apocalyptic world. There are horror elements and the fear creeps in at several points. But apart from the obvious conclusion about what you do with the entity going forward, there’s not much to learn. You are chosen because you are alive and must deal with the entity before you are truly rescued.
As you regain your bearings, you learn about your latent psychic abilities. This allows you to use telekinesis to grab objects and even light up dark areas. Every ability has its use as you must navigate puzzles to progress. The world is ruined and buildings have crumbled. Basic infrastructure turns into dangerous platforms because surface area is a luxury. Going to the next area is a fun challenge because you must think.
The puzzles aren’t easy to solve but it’s not just because the solution is out of reach. Interactable objects aren’t easy to see, forcing you to pay close attention or edit your brightness settings. It is frustrating when you can’t easily identify what to do. Some objects such as fuses are also small and easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention. Fortunately, failure is almost impossible and the game gives you several opportunities.
Directions aren’t easy to follow because part of the game is letting you explore the world. Thankfully, even death is a slap on the wrist and you respawn if anything happens. This makes it less frustrating when you fail because you can pick up where you left off. The game’s autosaves are frequent, letting you retry as many times as you like. This is helpful if you think you made the wrong decision or get pushed off a ledge during a battle. You can always try again and there’s no situation you can’t come back from.
The post-apocalyptic world is riveting and disturbing to walk through. The design is wonderful and haunting, making you wonder how the world got into this mess. Every broken building, every dark corner, every remnant of nature is beautiful and frightening. While the entity appearing out of nowhere is certainly frightening, it never leaves your mind how bad things are. This reinforces the goal of mastering your powers and defeating the entity quickly.
Unlike FPS games, you are usually using your environment and powers to defeat the entity. Sometimes it’s as easy as throwing objects with telekinesis and other times you must watch out for forces of nature. The puzzle nature of the game keeps you on your toes and makes you look out for anything you can use. Creativity is rewarded even though the fundamental path to victory stays the same. It makes the entity encounters fun while keeping their threat level high.
Horror Tales: The Beggar doesn’t hold back with the scares thanks to the entity and haunting environment. Using your wits to succeed and working with the environment is truly fun to work with. It’s not the easiest story to get into and navigation could be greatly improved. But if you are looking for a more tactical horror game, this is the game for you.
