Home Sweet Home Review
Home Sweet Home
Publisher: Yggdrazil Group Co. Ltd
Developer: Yggdrazil Group Co. Ltd
Genre:
PEGI:
Comments:
Home Sweet Home is a first-person indie-horror game inspired by Thai myths and beliefs that was recently released on PS4 and Xbox One from Thai developer Yggdrazil. Yggdrazil is not known for game creation, as it boasts projects in VFX, Animation, Art Design and Online-Editing categories, with very little focus on games. For a company with such a diverse portfolio, it would be an understatement to say I was surprised with the overall quality of Home Sweet Home.
Why am I playing this? I must have asked myself this question dozens of times in my journey through Home Sweet Home. But I wasn’t asking for the usual reasons. It wasn’t that I disliked it, I was actually quite enjoying myself. The reason I kept questioning my decision to play this game was that it was doing a really good job of providing that eerie, creepy-crawly, hair-standing-on-the-back-of-your-neck feeling. Too good of a job.
Home Sweet Home puts you in the shoes of a man named Tim, whose wife has vanished mysteriously. On top of that, he awakes one morning to find himself in a strange building filled with blood, gore and murderous spirits along with a new secret of his own. As you progress in this game you will attempt to uncover this secret as well as solve the mystery of your wife’s disappearance while in constant fear of being discovered by these unforgiving creatures.
I have heard opinions from some that the horror experience in this game drops off and becomes stale after a while, and I respectfully disagree. I’m almost certain that I did not blink or breathe once during my time in Home Sweet Home (ok, that’s an exaggeration but you get my point). With a fantastic blend of hide & seek stealth gameplay and Thai mythology and folklore, Home Sweet Home strikes a pleasant (albeit terrifying) balance of horror, challenge and storyline.
One of the best aspects of the game is how fully immersive it is. With every step, I was completely engaged with my character. It is therefore no surprise that Home Sweet Home is available on PS VR, and I salute anyone who is brave enough to try that out. The spirits that are taken authentically from Thai mythology and folklore truly make for a more intriguing game, especially for someone like myself who is admittedly ignorant of most mythology and therefore had no idea what to expect.
This game is also quite challenging, so prepare yourself to replay certain areas numerous times before solving the puzzle ahead. Again, I cannot stress enough how good of a balance there is between challenging puzzles, stealth gameplay and culturally-accurate horror in Home Sweet Home. That combination truly is what made this game enjoyable for me. Combine that trifecta with the realistic, immersive and horrifying graphics and scenes that unfold before your eyes and you have yourself a horror gaming experience that you won’t soon forget.
Yggdrazil promises that Home Sweet Home is the first in a series of first-person horror games that will be coming out of the studio in the next few years, and I cannot wait to pick up a sequel that hopefully maintains the same balance of features that this first title boasts.
Even though there is much good to be said about the game, I would also like to note that it is not for the faint of heart. There are some disturbing scenes that certainly make this game not fit for everyone and I highly recommend those who may be sensitive to gore and other disturbing images to either do some research first or steer clear of the game entirely.
While I reviewed the game on Xbox One, it is available on PC, PS4 and PS VR as well. Visit www.homesweethomegame.com to try the free demo today!