Slitterhead

Part sci-fi body horror, part thrilling detective yarn, Slitterhead is a story of humanity versus monstrosity in a city where both are plentiful. Bokeh's debut release bravely takes strides to manipulate, challenge, and evolve how we play horror games, and while some of these risks do not pay off as well as others, Slitterhead's sheer creative ambition is impossible to ignore.

Slitterhead is a fascinating game, with an over-the-top plot, routed in strangely grounded characters. The combat is good, with some genuine new additions to the character action genre. However, it goes on for just a bit too long.

In some regards Slitterhead is fantastic. It offers an engaging story told through the perspective of several characters, a simple yet fun combat system that excels through the ability to possess different people at any moment and super cool monster design in the Slitterheads. Unfortunately a lot of the other aspects feel very underbaked. Stealth isn’t engaging at all and sometimes kills all the momentum the game had going, the controls are always snappy enough for what you want to do and some aspects of the presentation feel very oldschool. As a package the game is a lot of fun though and offers a glimpse into what the developers at Bokeh Game Studio are able to do in the future. That is certainly bright and hopefully brings more somewhat unique titles like Slitterhead certainly is.

Slitterhead is a refreshingly different experience with its unique blend of B-movie horror, inventive mechanics, and world-building.

Slitterhead delivers a wild, exotic horror-action experience with quirks that both thrill and perplex. While the story and gameplay have rough edges, those who look past them will find twisted combat, eerie monsters, and an unforgettable cult-classic vibe from Bokeh Game Studio.

Slitterhead is unique. That is the biggest compliment I can give it. There are things here that I love. The mood of the game, the music, and the concepts. It just doesn’t mesh well into a cohesive experience.

Brothership’s problems will look familiar to anyone who found themselves disappointed by games like Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam or Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Nintendo has seemingly convinced itself that every Mario RPG needs to have bespoke gimmicks. It’s not enough to give players a well-written story and iterate on a solid combat foundation; there always has to be a twist, or two, or three. Those layers drag Brothership down the longer the adventure goes on, making even its intriguing climax feel exhausting by the end.