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“Our Father, who art our King. Bereave us of our weakness, lest we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Imbued with the preternatural ability to see beyond the veil of life and reality, Inquisitor Mordimer Madderdin is called to the beleaguered city of Koenigstein to save it from an otherworldly threat. As soon as he disembarks, he is thrust into the bustle of the unassuming city, with the consecrated mission of finding and dispatching a vampire. Matters are, of course, quickly complicated by a series of ritual murders, dodgy political machinations, and the ominous appearances of apocalyptic portends.
Inspired by a series of books by Jacek Piekara, The Inquisitor is an alternative religious history, set in a darkly fantastical world where Christ did not die for our sins, but rather, descended from the Cross in a fit of rage, and ordered his followers to destroy the non-believers. It follows, then, that The Inquisitor is one of the strangest, yet most confidently unique and striking games I have played in quite some time. The combat is unassuming and arguably underwhelming, but the worldbuilding, atmosphere, and unraveling mystery propel it forward. It is a relatively short game, but one filled with moral dilemmas that carry considerable weight. Indeed, the game’s relative brevity belies the importance of its choices; you can play a merciless inquisitor or one who lets his humanity get the best of him, and your ending will change. The drama of flushing out a vampire, contending with apocalyptic cults, dealing with an increasingly skittish and terrified city, and minding a mysterious orphan girl adds a sense of urgency to Mordimer’s mission.

TL;DR

If you are looking for an exceptionally refined gaming experience – read: if you are used to 3A games and their overly polished combat, and use those as your baseline – then you will find very little to enjoy with The Inquisitor. Combat is a supplement, and not the starring role. It's not 'janky,' but far from polished. The game is, rather, a confident hodgepodge of genres and techniques; a masterful mess that creates an unforgettable experience.
The game does itself a disservice by having its most unimpressive bit be at the very beginning; the first 90 or so minutes feel like somewhat of a chore, but after a certain point, the story takes off, and compels you to keep playing. Investigating through prayer, exploring, and interrogating breathe a novel life into the game. Flipping through Mordimer’s journal, full of names, faces, clues and sundry observations makes the world feel immediate and immersive, and truly gives the impression that the fate of the city – and perhaps of all Christendom – is in your hands.
PROS
+ The game is incredibly atmospheric. Alongside its story and the character of Madderdin, I argue that this is one of the game’s strongest suits.
+ The Inquisitor takes risks. It is singular and remarkable.
+ The city feels alive and dynamic. While exploration isn’t the game’s main focus, there is certainly some encouragement to go off the beaten path and look around, in the form of minor side quests, collectables, and missable shrines.
+ Certain areas of the world are breathtakingly realized.
+ The story is interspersed with hand drawn cutscenes, offering exposition.
+ The important NPCs have remarkable character design. The Executioner is a very jarring and uncanny enemy.
+ Exploration and investigation are diverse, yet simple enough; solutions can be found through paying attention to your surroundings, consulting your journal, or simply solving puzzles.
+ Madderdin’s journal itself is an interactive piece of lore, filled with drawings, observations, and clues that help the player in their investigation.
+ The Unworld itself changes from level to level, and scales in its difficulty, granting you access to different boons, banes, and abilities as the game goes on. It is visually stunning, as well; there are vibrant wildflowers set against a churning grey eternity, and wells of light contrasted to quasi-Lovecraftian horrors.
+ There are several endings, and quests can resolve in various ways, depending on your speed, observational skills, or dialogue choices. I was surprised how differently my second playthrough went than my first.
+ Very accommodating and flexible options for just about every style of gamer. You can enable or disable puzzles and QTE, and make the combat an absolute breeze, which is definitely helpful if you’re going for a speedrun.
CONS
- There are NO manual saves, but rather automatic/checkpoint saves. This is, in my opinion, the game’s largest drawback, especially if you’re going for a 100% playthrough. Going into your documents and creating manual backups is recommended, if so.
- Some of the QTE were not responsive.
- Optimization is lackluster. Graphics can tear and leave impressions, and it eats up a ton of VRAM.
- Lip sync is, at best, barely passable.
- Combat is far from the game’s strong suit. While not difficult by any stretch of the imagination, it is slow and underwhelming.
- Some of the voice acting for NPCs is unconvincing and campy, though Mordimer’s VA does an excellent job in selling and portraying his character.
- Pretty consistent audio glitches.

Reflections

The sui generis nature of The Inquisitor is an incredible strength. There is nothing remarkable or groundbreaking about how the game itself is played, but the sum of all its parts creates a memorable and dynamic experience. Your first hour or so will almost certainly be disorientating or even, perhaps, discouraging, but if you lean into its eccentricity and allow the story to unfold on its own terms – and already have a predilection for lower-budget, so-called ‘Euro-jank’ games – then you will, most likely, enjoy it. The story and its exceptionally unique circumstances carry the game, and that aforementioned masterful mess of different gaming mechanics – combat, investigation, exploration, dialogue – work well enough together to carry the story in an engaging and fun manner, with some genuinely shocking moments throughout.
It is quite obvious from playing The Inquisitor that they had an ambitious idea in mind, but a less-than-accommodating budget. This, for me, is hardly a reason to deride the developers, but rather an impetus to praise them. Ambition being denounced as trying too hard or even skillessness is something that’s becoming more and more prevalent as the gaming industry becomes more saturated with generic, archetypical, and tropey titles. Games that proudly and clearly stand out against such a current are easy targets, and their unconventionality becomes a scarlet letter, alongside any mechanical hiccups. Undoubtedly, The Inquisitor would have done well with a higher budget, a larger team, and more time in development, but in no way is it a bad game.
While there are numerous endings, the replay value is relatively low due to the fact that there is no way to manually save your game. The biggest choice comes in the last third of the game, meaning that you will have to replay approximately five to seven hours of the game to just unlock those endings and their achievements.

Final Verdict

Overall Rating ★★★★☆
Story ★★★★★
Gameplay ★★★☆☆
Graphics ★★★★☆
Sound Design ★★★★⯪
Replay Value ★★⯪☆☆
Difficulty ★★☆☆☆
PC Requirements ★★★★☆
Game Length ★★★★⯪

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