Fans ofclassic PS2-era horrorgot an unexpected treat in 2021 with the release of Dual Effect’s Tormented Souls. It wasn’t a perfect game since it did, in fact, bring back a lot of mechanics that have, often for good reason, fallen to the wayside as the horror genre advanced. Still, the combination of solid puzzle-oriented gameplay and very well-used classic features made it a gem all the same, earning it enough of a following to warrant the upcoming Tormented Souls II, which just gota trailer featuring more than twenty minutes of gameplay footage.
Review: Tormented Souls
There’s no doubt that any fan of classic survival horror titles needs to pick up Tormented Souls.
While watching through the trailer, fans will notice that Tormented Souls II appears to be being developed as a traditional sequel. This isn’t a sidestory or something only marginally related to the first game with a new lead character and different gameplay. No, Caroline Walker is back; it’s only been six months since the story of Tormented Souls concluded, and, most importantly, the puzzle-focused gameplay and classic horror game elements like fixed camera angles are all back.
Caroline Walker is back; it’s only been six months since the story of Tormented Souls concluded, and, most importantly, the puzzle-focused gameplay and classic horror game elements like fixed camera angles are all back.
Looking at this footage, it seems that the only real difference between Tormented Souls II and the first game is that it’s more expansive and looks better. The visual difference comes from a change in engine from Unity to Unreal Engine 5. The visuals are currently a bit rough considering the game is still pretty far from release, but one can already see a big difference in elements like lighting, shadows and the overall level of detail in the environment. Once Dual Effect gets around to polishing it up, Tormented Souls II has the potential to end up looking quite fantastic.
Not only is Caroline not getting a break, but she has multiple horrific places to deal with this time.
According to materials released by PQube and Dual Effect so far, Tormented Souls II will offer an experience that’s three times the size of the first game and has players guiding Caroline through several locations instead of just one big one. As for why she’s there at all, it seems her sister has been taken by someone, and it’s up to her to find her and bring her back home using nothing but her wits.
Going back to the video, fans will likely notice two gameplay advancements when it comes to puzzles and enemies. The first is that the puzzles appear to be more numerous and a bit more complex on average than those from the last game. While not looking difficult per se, the solutions aren’t immediately obvious, meaning that players will likely be asked to put a bit of thought into the challenges they’re confronted with.
Makeshift weapons like Caroline’s trusty nail gun are making a return too, which is also exciting to see!
As for the enemies, Tormented Souls always broadcast their presence with a change in music. It was always immediately clear upon entering a room if an enemy was there. This still remains, but it looks like now it’s a proximity trigger, leaving more room for players to be surprised. It also looks like the music won’talwayschange when a monster shows up too.
This should be fine though, as the game’s new quick-equip feature should help players avoid being caught completely off guard. Finally, it seems all animations are motion captured now, having just been keyframed before.
Tormented Souls II is set to release sometime in 2025 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
