The Mortuary Assistant Review (Wombar)
TL;DR: Worth it at full price.
I find this to be an absolutely phenomenal horror game. The premise is straight forward, and I found the gameplay oddly satisfying.The embalming process is fairly repetitive, but throughout you have a puzzle to solve based on a multitude of clues and goals. The scares range from straight up jump scares to subtle, to feeling like there's something right over your shoulder and the hairs on your neck are standing up. The game gets an A+ for atmosphere and presentation. I also found the story very well done. It may be repetitive, but the journey through the seemingly monotonous job is where things tend to go off the rails. There is a demo that gives you the basics of what the game is.
GAMEPLAY:
As stated above the core gameplay is straight forward and repetitive. The goal of the game is to solve a puzzle based on surrounding clues. There is more to the game that you have to find on your own. I will say there's enough there to keep you going, and there's enough endings that fill the whole story and world up very well. The act of embalming the bodies is satisfying on its own, and once you get 2 or 3 done, you'll remember the steps to do it. Finding clues to further your goals also adds some variety to the presentation. Go in blind, and have fun!
There is a mode where you just embalm bodies as well. A nice added feature.
CONTROLS:
The game controls fine. Some of the embalming actions can feel a little janky, but it's easy enough to get used to. Otherwise your typical controls.
SOUND:
Honestly they did an amazing job with this. It always feels eerie. They set the silence and most minute sounds in all the right places that really add to the eerieness. The silence is also quiet enough that when things happen, it will make you want to look over your shoulder in real life.
GRAPHICS:
Overall the graphics are fine. Not bad by any means, but they won't blow your mind. The design of things that happen throughout the game are unsettling...at worst.
-Is that body smiling? Ohhh no it's just the angle that I'm pus......ohh.....
ATMOSPHERE/ENVIRONMENT
As stated above, they nailed atmosphere almost perfectly for what they set out to do. Working in the mortuary already feels off, the visual aesthetic of the mortuary is already off-putting without having any scares done. Once you start your shift, you will start to notice a variety of things.
-What was that by that cabinet?! Oh a shado-......ohhhh no no no no no no
There are occasional jump scares, but the way everything is placed is pretty much perfect. Eventually the events may become repetitive and you know what to expect, but I still felt the hairs on my neck standing up on end while playing the game.
STORY:
I really like how they handled the story here. You have to do some work to put everything together nicely, but when you do I feel it pays off majorly. This is one where everything is given to you once you find it. There are connections you have to make, but everything is there and very apparent once you get the information. I really like what they did, and adding the FREE definitive edition upgrade made it even better than it already was. The main character and anybody else involved in the story kept my interest the whole time.
IN CLOSING:
I think this game is very much worth your time, and very much worth it even at full price. The game may take about 5-6 hours to get everything, but I enjoyed every minute I spent in this game. I've even completed it twice now. If you're still unsure try the demo, it will give you basically what you're going to be doing, but with so much more involved. I could tell the developers definitely wanted to make something special here, and they did a fantastic job. I look forward to see what they do with this little universe they've created, and where the story goes from here.