Game Review: Self-Delusion

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (Steam)

We're a bit out of the spooky season, but we still have some cool horror titles to take a look at. Releasing on PC back in 2022, Self-Delusion is a game that features elements of Slavic folklore within its story. It recently came to consoles by way of publisher Sometimes You, and we're going to be taking a look at the Switch version today. Will this game be the unique horror experience I hope it is? Let's dive in and find out!

Self-Delusion places you into the shoes of an unnamed protagonist entering a deserted village in search of their mother who recently disappeared. His mother isn't alone though, as the entire village seems to be deserted. It doesn't take long for strange things to start happening, and you find yourself whisked away to a spooky school. From there you return to the village where you must hide out in one of the cabins. What are you hiding from? Well, creatures, spirits, and possessed items of a sort that are too numerous to explain here. You face off against the likes of the Kolobok, the Leshy, and the Boggart. I wish I could tell you more about them, but I'm a bit unsure of their backgrounds even now. Even though this game does deliver on its promise of providing elements of Slavic folklore and fairy tales, I'd be lying if I said any of it really stuck. I've played many games that are steeped in the cultures of people and places unfamiliar to those in the US, but this one seemed to not really deliver on that front. While I liked learning the rough outlines of Slavic fairy tales and myths, they ultimately were simply that: rough outlines. The plot itself is rather thin, and unfolds in a way where you never feel the stakes get very high. There aren't any other true characters in the game, nor are there cutscenes or spoken dialogue either. The story is mainly told through atmospheric clues, and writings left via notes, signs, or chalkboards. I spent much of the game not really knowing what was going on, and I actually had to restart the game for this review since I'd forgotten that the main character was even looking for his mother in the first place. The fact that the story is so thin in a game that seems to market itself on some of its plot elements might not be a good sign for it overall, but I guess we'll just move on for now.

Even though I'd classify Self-Delusion as a survival horror title, it takes a different approach to gameplay. Rather than provide the player with a set of puzzles to solve, which are placed within a large environment, you instead get a game of hide-and-seek. Imagine something similar to Five Night at Freddy's, except this time you have full control over your character. If that comparison didn't give it away, your main goal here is to survive through encounters with various the game's various creatures and spirits (I'm honestly at a loss as to how to refer to them collectively by the way...), and each encounter is separated into stages. Each of the stages/nights do contain some of their own unique mechanics, but they most revolve around simply staying alive until you run out the clock. Staying alive is done by constantly feeding items to a very hungry (and very alive) furnace, keeping areas bright and lit through the use of candles, and avoiding those aforementioned creatures hell bent on killing you. Avoiding said creatures can be as simple as running into a different room and hoping for the best, or getting to the nearest hiding spot. Hiding spots include things like chests and closets, and this bit of gameplay reminded me a lot of the Clock Tower series, or maybe even Haunting Ground. If you survive the night you're transported to a different area to learn what you'll be up against next. From there the cycle continues until you clear the game. A pretty simple premise all things considered.

Though I personally found the gameplay to be fun for the most part, there were many points where it also became quite annoying. It won't take players very long to learn that repetition is the name of the game here, and constantly revisiting the same locations, and doing the same tasks over and over again, gets old rather quickly. This wouldn't be quite so bad if the game had some sort of checkpoint system during the night missions, but you're actually forced to redo the entire stage if you die. I guess this also makes it like Five Nights at Freddy's, but there's nothing more annoying than being seconds away from victory and having to start all over again due to a small mistake. I very nearly gave up on this game within the first thirty minutes due to this fact, and it was only for the sake of this review that I pushed past the game's opening sections. I don't want to imply that the game is particularly hard either, just that it takes a bit of time to realize that you only need to handle a few simple tasks to win. Keep the furnace happy, keep out of the sight of whatever cryptid or whatever is currently chasing you, and you'll be fine. You can almost turn your brain off after a while and just treat it like busywork until you beat it. I would've definitely preferred some sort of direct form of offense, but I can understand what the game is going for. Self-Delusion is by no means a broken game, but it doesn't seem to get much right in the gameplay department. I didn't find it particular scary, not did it hold my attention through its puzzles and gameplay, but at least it wrapped itself up before it truly overstayed its welcome. That must count for something right?

I don't like being hard on an indie game's visuals, so I'll try to keep my comments regarding Self-Delusion's graphics brief. You get your standard first-person horror game setup here, and I have to wonder how many of the game's assets used were actually created by the development team. I don't just mean this in the fact that a lot of the everyday objects look generic, but also because they often look out of place, blurry, or just off in some way. The locations themselves aren't exactly the most creative either. We've all seen haunted/spooky cabins and schools before, and this game brings nothing new to these formulas. The creature designs are the most unique aspect of the game, but you'll only ever see them if you're doing badly at the game. I guess that's a note for these types of experiences in general, but it makes the lack of cutscenes stand out all the more, since it's there you probably would've seen the creatures without fear of getting a game over for doing so. That said, there's nothing particularly bad about the visuals. There are no graphical glitches worth mentioning, draw-in is kept to a minimum, and it ran perfectly fine on the Nintendo Switch at all times. It may be a low bar, but Self-Delusion isn't bad.

Things fare about the same as far as the game's sound design goes, but there are a few obvious caveats that should be mentioned still. Going over the positives first, I did find the music to be decently atmospheric and creepy, and it did help set the spooky vibes better than the visuals did. I once again have to wonder if the music was created specifically for this game, but that's just how I look at indie games I guess. The soundtrack doesn't stand out as being excellent, but it's definitely a cut above generic. Sound effects are decent too, and there are some nice jump scare stings and the like. There were a few times where I felt that some actions seemed to be missing sound effects, but thankfully those were few and far between. The big minus when it comes to sound would have to be the overall lack of voice acting. I can't stress how much better the presentation would've been if we had some sort of narration or internal monologue, but we're stuck with only text instead. The world of Self-Delusion feels like it's only halfway built, and part of that is due to the fact that it plays out mostly in silence. I know it would've been asking for way too much, but voice acting would've been nice considering the game took a couple years to come to consoles in the first place.

If you're able to get past the rather unforgiving level design, Self-Delusion is a game that probably will only take you 2-3 hours to beat your first time through. It's a relatively small game, but that's mainly due to it moving along at a brisk pace. There may be some grounds for replayability here, but I unfortunately found that I didn't find myself wanting to pick it up again after clearing it. There's not enough variety in the gameplay to warrant repeat runs, and the atmospheric storytelling doesn't lend well to revisiting it as something akin to rewatching a favorite horror movie. It's not a bad game, but I found this to be a sort of one-and-done type experience. That normally isn't an issue for me, but I'm not exactly sure that the amount of content is worth its current $14.99 price tag. It may sound like I'm picking on the game a bit, and perhaps I am, but Self-Delusion has $9.99 written all over it. I would still be a bit hard pressed to recommend it at even that price point, and anything higher just feels wrong. All of that is of course a matter of preference, but this is my review after all.

At the end of the day I'm at a bit of a loss as to whether or not I recommend picking up Self-Delusion. It was a journey I don't regret going on, but I can't help but feel that there are much better horror experiences out there. I probably would've given it a few bonus points for bringing forth Slavic traditions and plot elements, but I found those to be surprisingly thin in the end. I guess this will appeal to the diehard survival horror fans out there, especially those fond of games like Five Nights at Freddy's, Clock Tower, or maybe even Haunting Ground. With that in mind, I don't think this is a fit for the casual gamer. Despite those thoughts, I do hope that the developers give this one a follow-up, as the core concepts seem strong. Anyway, that's all I got for you this time. See you in the next one!

Check Out Self-Delusion on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/self-delusion-switch/

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Story: C
Gameplay: C
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: B-

Overall: C+

Pros:
+ A fun take on the Five Nights at Freddy's gameplay formula. It even mixes in gameplay elements reminiscent of Clock Tower and Haunting Ground.
+ Seeing Slavic cryptids and creatures throughout the game is a cool concept.
+ The music does a good job at setting up the atmosphere, and the creature designs are great too.
+ Falling into the gameplay loops makes the game easy to clear if you know what you're doing, and the game moves along rather briskly due to this.

Cons:
- The Slavic folklore elements seem very thin. I probably learned more about these creatures looking them up while writing this review than I did from playing the game.
- Splitting the game into stages was an odd choice. Odder still was making players clear them with no mid-level checkpoints.
- The lack of voice acting hurts the overall presentation. This game really needed a narration or internal monologue.
- Is rather short and doesn't offer a lot of replay value.
- Its current $14.99 price tag feels a bit too high.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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I'll do better next time!

#SelfDelusionOnConsoles