Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel

The puzzles are challenging but satisfying, the spooks are wonderful, and the story draws you in from the very start—Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel has all the right elements, just may need a couple of gameplay tweaks for the console. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a horror game with all the puzzles you could ever need, look no further.

Fobia - St Dinfna Hotel is a great survival horror game, that delivers a mysterious story, fun puzzles and an atmosphere that keeps the player's attention. It's the first game of the brazilian studio Pulsatrix Studio and although it has some technical limitations, it's a nice one for those who enjoy horror experiences.

Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel provides some pretty solid chills. It’s not the sort of game that will wow you unless you’re already a fan of survival horror, but if you are a fan, it serves as a pretty solid reminder of the good things the genre has to offer.

A great horror that packs most of the experience into its clever puzzles.

Phobia - St. Dinfna Hotel is an excellent survival horror, clearly influenced by Resident Evil and Outlast.

A great entry into the survival horror genre, Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel serves up the frights good and proper.

Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel is a really good survival horror title if you like exploration and puzzles. There is combat but it isn't really the focus, with puzzles that require observation and some actual brain work. It's also filled with optional puzzles to really reward thorough players. Highly recommended.

It's not a very scary game, but Fobia makes you feel right at home if you are a fan of classical survival horror.

It's really impressive what this game manages to do with long-time fans of the survival horror genre. Puzzles scattered everywhere, a relentless pursuer, inventory management, track and wonderful sound effects. If you love survival horror, you should try it at least once.

Fobia isn’t perfect, but it’s through those imperfections that I see a game that loves what survival horror was and tries to capture that magic. Even though enemies are quickly dispatched and the dark lighting can be detrimental to the puzzles at times, fans of the genre will enjoy their time rummaging through the halls of the St Dinfna Hotel.

Phobia: St. Dinfna Hotel is an indie horror game that draws its inspiration from previous, successful horror titles of the past while also having some good ideas. Definitely not for everyone, but fans of horror games (see Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Outlast etc.) will appreciate it.

There's a lot of potential in Fobia: St. Dinfna Hotel, and it has some moments of excellence. Unfortunately, the lackluster visuals, weirdly unfriendly UI, and general awkwardness drag it down. It's a fine game to play if you want to scratch the survival-horror itch and you've already gone through a lot of other titles, but it doesn't do enough to distinguish itself. I'd be deeply interested to see a more polished and refined sequel because the potential doesn't shine through as well as it should.

Fobia: St. Dinfna Hotel may not reinvent the wheel when it comes to survival horror, but it's an engrossing thrill ride nonetheless.

Ultimately, how much enjoyment you get out of Fobia depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re just dying for gripping gunplay with myriad monsters to encounter, there’s no denying that you’ll probably be pretty disappointed with what this title has to offer. But if you can look beyond its rougher edges, Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel offers tantalizingly terrifying accommodations for survival horror fans.

Fobia St. Dinfna Hotel does a lot of things right but it falls just a tad short of matching the greatness of many other games in the genre. I loved exploring the Hotel and solving puzzles that are reminiscent of classic titles like Silent Hill and Resident Evil. It's just a shame that combat is not only boring but lacks any real challenge, and the story doesn't provide much resolution or explanation to what's really going on.

We’re giving Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel the benefit of the doubt. It’s flawed for sure. But the ten or twelve-hour playing time is mostly a good time thanks to the effectiveness of the titular guest house as a setting and the oppressive atmosphere it manages to conjure during your stay there.

Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel delivers a great story and innovative concept, but poor combat, cumbersome inventory, and gameplay holds it back from being a great indie horror entry.

Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel is worth playing for patient survival horror fans who want something lighter on combat, and can handle budget-constrained rough edges. Monsters wander around in an effort to raise the stakes, but the focus is on meticulous exploration, just-cryptic-enough puzzle-solving, and mentally mapping out the many, many hotel halls.

There’s not much else I can say about St. Dinfna Hotel. If you’ve played horror games then you know what you’ll be getting from this one. If you haven’t played many horror games in the past then the clumsiness of the combat, and the lack of assistance through the puzzles, makes this a poor entry point to the genre. Indeed, if you’re not familiar with the classic horror titles St. Dinfna is in homage to, the entire experience is almost pointless. I do think the developers have talent and passion for the genre, and I hope that this is successful so they can get a second run at it. If they do, all they need is to have their own voice and the confidence to add to the genre, rather than parrot it, and I do think they have it within them to create something special.

Ultimately, Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel is a bit rough around the edges. Its voice acting isn’t great, which ruins the tension at times, as do its poor enemy animations and sub-par combat. But in an age where new, half-decent survival horror games are few and far between, this isn’t worth writing off completely. Its puzzles are enjoyable, and it does a good job of creating an eerie atmosphere. Particularly if you’re a fan of the classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, it’s worth checking into St. Dinfna Hotel.