With Halloween just around the corner, today’s review roundup takes a trip into the darker, stranger, and occasionally downright ridiculous corners of the gaming world. From a delivery company run by Satan and a psychological investigation into a sinister mystery to a lengthy RPG adventure populated by classic horror creatures and an interactive vampire rom-com, there’s plenty of supernatural mischief to explore. Whether players prefer their Halloween entertainment filled with challenging platforming, unsettling mysteries, turn-based battles, or over-the-top B-movie antics, these four PlayStation 5 releases offer very different ways to get into the spooky spirit.
Hellbound Inc review (PS5)
HELLBOUND INC takes the familiar frustrations of corporate employment and gives them a suitably infernal twist. Playing as an undead courier employed by a delivery company recently acquired by Satan, the objective is to fulfil increasingly demanding delivery assignments across eight departments of Hell. The premise provides plenty of opportunities for dark humor, with workplace bureaucracy, unreasonable managers and corporate exploitation serving as the foundation for its satire. While there isn’t much of a traditional narrative to follow, the setting gives the game a distinctive personality, and its tongue-in-cheek approach helps make the otherwise straightforward premise entertaining. Some of the humor is decidedly adult, though, and won’t necessarily appeal to everyone.
The actual work involves considerably more than simply picking up parcels and carrying them to their destinations. HELLBOUND INC combines precision platforming with environmental puzzles, requiring players to negotiate spikes, fire hazards, moving machinery and tricky platforms while figuring out how to deliver their packages. Boxes can be thrown, used to reach otherwise inaccessible areas or incorporated into solutions involving switches and conveyor belts. The different mechanics gradually introduce more complicated combinations, giving individual rooms the feel of small escape-room challenges. With 47 handcrafted levels spread across eight themed departments, there is a reasonable amount of content, while hidden collectibles and additional time-based and death-limited challenges provide some replay value. Quick respawns also make experimentation less tedious, although the basic delivery formula can eventually become somewhat repetitive.
The biggest obstacle is the precision required to navigate these environments. Jumping involves charging the input to determine the height and distance, meaning players must carefully judge their starting position and release timing. There is relatively little opportunity to correct mistakes once airborne, while throwing packages adds another layer of coordination to an already demanding control scheme. This creates some satisfying moments when a particularly complicated sequence finally comes together, but the increasingly elaborate level designs can also make the experience unnecessarily frustrating. Some jumps feel unforgiving, and certain environmental obstacles and delivery requirements aren’t always immediately clear. The controls are functional once their mechanics become familiar, but the learning curve is steep, and repeated failures can occasionally feel more irritating than rewarding.
Visually, HELLBOUND INC adopts a colorful, cartoon-inspired art style that suits its exaggerated interpretation of Hell. The different departments help keep the environments varied, while the character designs, animations and environmental details give the game plenty of personality. Its presentation isn’t particularly elaborate, but it does a good job of supporting the humor and keeping obstacles recognizable. The soundtrack complements the frantic pace of the platforming, helping maintain the sense of urgency without becoming the main attraction. HELLBOUND INC has a genuinely entertaining concept and offers a substantial challenge for players who enjoy demanding puzzle-platformers. However, its occasionally awkward precision requirements and increasingly punishing level design prevent the experience from being consistently enjoyable. Those willing to embrace repeated failure will find an interesting twist on the genre, while anyone looking for a more forgiving platforming experience may find this particular workplace rather difficult to tolerate.
Beyond The Evil review (PS5)
Beyond the Evil is a first-person psychological horror adventure that puts players in the shoes of private investigator Gary Nephew. What begins as an investigation into a seemingly straightforward murder gradually develops into something considerably more sinister, involving a mysterious individual named Matthew Juniper and an experiment with potentially catastrophic consequences. The premise provides a reasonable foundation for a suspenseful investigation, and there are secrets to uncover as the story progresses. However, the narrative doesn’t always make the best use of its potential. Gary is not particularly compelling as a protagonist, and the storytelling can feel muddled, making it difficult to become fully invested in the unfolding events. There are some interesting revelations along the way, though, and the possibility of multiple endings gives the investigation a little additional weight.
Gameplay revolves almost entirely around exploration, environmental interaction, and puzzle-solving. With no weapons or meaningful combat mechanics, Gary is largely at the mercy of whatever lurks in the darkness. Players must thoroughly investigate their surroundings, searching drawers, containers, and other objects for keys, documents, and clues. Notes provide hints for numerical codes and other puzzles, while certain objects conceal items needed to progress. This approach occasionally produces some satisfying moments of deduction, particularly when puzzles require a little more thought than simply finding the next key. Unfortunately, the investigative loop becomes repetitive over time. Too much progress depends on locating keys and unlocking the next door, while some puzzles can be unnecessarily complicated and interrupt the narrative flow. The absence of clear guidance also means that searching can occasionally become more tedious than engaging.
The controls and general presentation don’t consistently help matters. Interacting with objects can feel awkward, with inconsistent indicators making it unnecessarily difficult to determine what can actually be examined or collected. This is particularly frustrating in a game that relies so heavily on environmental interaction. Visually, Beyond the Evil has some atmospheric lighting and environments that occasionally establish an appropriately unsettling mood, but the overall presentation is rather uneven. Blurry textures, questionable object placement, and environments that can look strangely artificial undermine the intended atmosphere. The audio has similar inconsistencies: the sound effects occasionally provide an effective jolt, but the voice acting lacks the natural delivery needed to make the characters and their conversations convincing.
Beyond the Evil has the basic ingredients for an interesting horror investigation, and players who enjoy slowly exploring environments and tackling puzzles may find some entertainment in its mystery. Its occasional clever puzzles and underlying premise provide reasons to keep investigating, but the repetitive key-hunting, uneven presentation, awkward interactions, and limited scares make it difficult to recommend without reservations. The absence of combat could have made the vulnerability of the protagonist a particularly effective source of tension, but the game rarely capitalizes on that opportunity. Instead, it often feels more like a somewhat uninspired puzzle adventure with horror elements than a genuinely unsettling psychological thriller.
Horrorvale Deadluxe Edition review (PS5)
Published by Electric Airship and developed by BatWorks Software, HorrorVale: Deadluxe Edition is a quirky RPG adventure that takes players to an unusual version of the afterlife, where zombies, ghosts, skeletons, and all manner of supernatural creatures coexist. The story follows Alice, a young skeleton witch whose zombie dog Scruffy has been kidnapped by a strange new breed of monsters. What follows is a lengthy adventure spanning four acts, filled with bizarre characters, unexpected developments, and plenty of Halloween-inspired humor. Although the central premise is fairly straightforward, the writing and worldbuilding give the adventure considerably more personality than its initial setup might suggest. The game also knows when to put its comedy aside for more serious narrative moments, although some story developments are less convincing than others. Alice’s journey is supported by a surprisingly memorable cast, with character interactions and optional quests often proving just as entertaining as the main storyline.
Combat follows a traditional turn-based RPG structure, but there is more going on beneath its relatively familiar presentation. Players can recruit more than 30 different characters, each bringing their own abilities, combat specialties, and occasionally unusual mechanics to the party. An elemental weakness system adds another layer of strategy, while status effects, buffs, and debuffs encourage experimentation with different combinations. Shared experience points are a particularly welcome inclusion, as they allow players to switch between characters without worrying about maintaining everyone’s level. Unfortunately, the game is not always particularly forthcoming with information about individual abilities, elemental interactions, and status effects, making it unnecessarily difficult to understand certain mechanics. The difficulty can also be inconsistent, with some encounters requiring careful preparation while others become fairly routine affairs. The sheer variety of available characters nevertheless gives players plenty of reasons to experiment, even if the underlying combat system rarely feels revolutionary.
Exploration and questing provide plenty of variety across HorrorVale’s substantial adventure. The numerous sidequests introduce additional characters, expand the world’s mythology, and occasionally take players in unexpected directions, while dungeons incorporate environmental puzzles, unusual encounters, and occasional challenges that depart from conventional turn-based battles. There is an impressive amount of content here, with completing most of the available side activities potentially pushing a playthrough well beyond 50 hours. However, not every gameplay diversion works equally well. Some minigames and movement-based sequences feel awkward, with the limitations of RPG Maker becoming particularly apparent when more demanding mechanics are introduced. Navigation can also become cumbersome in certain sections, while the occasional difficulty spike can catch unprepared players off guard. The controls are generally straightforward within the familiar RPG framework, but some of the more unconventional sequences lack the precision and responsiveness needed to make them consistently enjoyable.
Visually, HorrorVale has a distinctive personality that helps it stand out among RPG Maker productions. Its colorful, cartoon-inspired character designs strike an appealing balance between creepy and adorable, while the environments capture the Halloween atmosphere without relying on conventional horror scares. Combat encounters are particularly lively, with individual characters receiving their own animated attacks that reinforce their personalities. The soundtrack is another major strength, offering an eclectic collection of atmospheric, playful, and energetic compositions that complement the game’s many different locations and encounters. Repeated battles inevitably mean hearing some tracks quite frequently, but the musical variety makes this less of an issue than it could have been. HorrorVale: Deadluxe Edition is not without its mechanical shortcomings, and players looking for particularly sophisticated combat or consistently polished minigames may find some aspects frustrating. Nevertheless, its imaginative world, endearing characters, entertaining writing, and considerable amount of content make this a thoroughly enjoyable adventure. For fans of Halloween, classic horror creatures, and unconventional RPGs, Alice’s journey is well worth experiencing.
Love: Fall in Death review (PS5)
Published by SNR Interactive, Love: Fall in Death presents an intriguing blend of live-action romantic comedy and unexpected B-movie horror on PlayStation 5. The narrative starts grounded in a typical night out at an Istanbul bar, where protagonist Kutay is egged on by his friends to approach a striking patron named Ayşil. However, what begins as an attempt at flirty banter quickly devolves into dynamic chaos, unexpectedly dragging Kutay into a world of supernatural dangers and blood-soaked vampire encounters. While the initial flirting sequence establishes an engaging premise, the overarching story suffers from an uneven execution. Certain major narrative branches feel haphazard or uninspired, and abrupt character deaths can lead to rushed endings that resolve with quick post-game text summaries rather than fully fleshed-out conclusions.
Where the experience tries to stand out from typical interactive movies is in its hybrid gameplay design. Rather than relying solely on simple dialogue picks, the game introduces RPG-lite attributes, timed decisions, Quick Time Events during action scenes, and a dynamic love meter that tracks Ayşil’s affection. A table-top-inspired dice roll mechanic is also included to dictate critical outcomes, adding genuine tension since memorizing dialogue isn’t always enough to succeed. Unfortunately, this dice system can feel somewhat clunky and unintuitive in practice. On the bright side, the developer implemented an expansive interactive story map – backed by the amusing “White Room” afterlife loop – which lets players easily jump back to previous decision forks without having to replay identical sequences, making the hunt for its dozens of distinct endings relatively painless.
From a presentation perspective, Love: Fall in Death delivers high-resolution live-action cinematography filmed on location in Istanbul using real actors, giving it a distinct cinematic look. The performance of the cast leans heavily into campy B-movie charm, accompanied by fitting visual effects that suit the horror-comedy tone, even if the slapstick humor won’t hit the mark for every player. Sound design is largely strong, featuring a solid background soundtrack that adapts well to changing moods on screen. However, audio choice plays a major role in enjoyment: because the film was originally shot with Turkish actors, selecting the English voiceover dub results in jarring lip-sync misalignment that ruins immersion, making original audio with English subtitles the strongly recommended way to play.
Navigating through the experience on PS5 is smooth overall, thanks to intuitive controller options and handy visual features like playback speed control to fast-forward through repeated footage. Some visual upscaling issues are visible in dark scenes, and while the writing isn’t quite tight enough to satisfy players seeking a coherent, high-stakes thriller, Love: Fall in Death still succeeds as a breezy, humorous piece of interactive fiction. It is best enjoyed by FMV enthusiasts and groups looking for an absurd, highly replayable camp fest to laugh through in a couple of evenings.