I bought HorrorVale a couple months ago expecting a small, cutesy RPG, but what I got instead was so, so much more than that. You play as Alice, a young skeleton witch, on her quest to find her dog that just scampered off into town. However, as more and more hurdles are thrown your way, the story has you travelling all around the region, making numerous friends, fighting fearsome foes, investigating mysteries, and learning information about the world a high schooler probably shouldn't be entrusted with.

HorrorVale is, on the surface, just your average RPGMaker game with a couple of unique mechanics sprinkled on it. One thing that quickly becomes apparent as you play the game is the sheer amount of references to memes, creepypastas, horror games/movies and so much more scattered all throughout, making the story that much more entertaining. The game itself is very light-hearted, both in its writing and its art direction, but still manages to throw some genuinely unsettling situations at you just to keep you on your toes.

The main story is probably around 8 hours long, but you are strongly encouraged to embark on the many side quests that become available as you play; these are your main way of recruiting new party members, which are absolutely one of the highlights of this game. Classmates, bounty hunters, wanted criminals, eldritch abominations - you'll be hard pressed to get through the game without finding at least a couple party members you grow to love, and with about 30 of them in total, there is a lot of room for experimentation in combat. And it's not just party members: the shopkeepers, supporting cast, villains and even many of your run-of-the-mill NPCs are also a treat to interact with.

The combat mechanics in HorrorVale aren't anything revolutionary, but they are more than serviceable: an element system, not unlike Pokemon's types, gives things a bit of depth, meshing well with the large amount of skills at your disposal given the plethora of available party members. What I found most enjoyable during combat, aside from reacting to what I'm going up against, is something I haven't touched on yet: the soundtrack. There is so much soul in this game's soundtrack, which is, without a doubt, at its best during boss fights, and I cannot praise the music team enough for their work.

As for the story itself, which is divided into five acts (give or take): while it is very good overall, I will admit that the first two acts are (understandably) a bit lacking compared to the rest of the game, and the final act, not including the final boss, feels kind of underwhelming. This isn't to say the game isn't as enjoyable during these though, make no mistake. Some other things I didn't enjoy quite as much while playing: the side quests rely heavily on backtracking which gets tiring at times, some areas the game has you visit feel somewhat painful to navigate, the overworld art style sometimes feels a bit rough around the edges and, shockingly, I experienced frame drops during some of the latter parts of the game. These are, thankfully, all minor nitpicks that rarely detract from how enjoyable the game is.

It took me a little over 50 hours to 100% the game, including the side quests and secret bosses (which do get challenging), and at no point did I feel like what I was doing felt not worth it and/or like a chore, so considering the game is only 16 bucks, I would call that a good deal even without waiting for a sale. I don't usually write reviews on Steam, but seeing such a labor of love get so little attention is honestly a bit sad. If you're on the fence about buying HorrorVale and you're reading this, then I'd heavily encourage you to give it a chance. If you've already played HorrorVale and you liked it as much as I did, spread the word around. I know I will.