Sad horror? Misery?
If youāre like me, you enjoy your horror best when itās sad. Video games canāt really scare me anymore, but gosh, they sure can get me depressed. Not that itās difficult. A happy memory can depress me.
Anyway, a portion of Mortal Meal was featured on the Haunted PS1 Demo Disc: Spectral Mall compilation that was released back in 2022. The Haunted PS1 Demo Disc is sort of a nexus for experimental, lo-fi horror, and somehow Iām not on their mailing list. Thankfully, it usually passes my radar eventually.
Mortal Meal is perhaps a direct take on the genre, being largely a walking simulator. Itās also not terribly scary, but then, how would I know? Itās more focused on telling a melancholic narrative while weaving in a bit of levity and some fantastic horror imagery.
Sounds gay. I’m in.
Youāre dead. A good boy is running around with your disembodied heart, and your ghost rises from that. A big part of Mortal Meal is figuring out who you were and why youāre dead. To do so, you start off by following the trail of blood back to your corpse.
Iām not really sure how much to give away in terms of the plot. The headline provided to me was a āgay romance story wrapped up in a horror game,ā so I can at least say that. Which is nice. Gay romance is rarely approached in the same way as, say, lesbian romance, so itās nice to see the orientation approached in the way of Mortal Meal. The gay part isnāt as central as the romance. Itās just romance with two dudes, is what Iām saying.
Where Mortal Meal succeeds best is presenting a mystery. Much of the game is figuring out first who you are, who this other guy is, and what all this has to do with your death.
Reuse of Assets
Mortal Meal makes great use of its lo-fi aesthetic. The world frequently shifts into a more surreal, nightmarish version of itself. Not only does this add some light gameplay that moves a bit outside the walking simulator framework, but it shows off some great ā and I canāt believe Iām saying this ā reuse of assets. Look, the asset pipeline is usually a bottleneck for indie games, and seeing one that can make cool-looking levels by reusing existing assets in interesting ways; itās kind of exciting to me for some reason. It feels like the soul of small development. You always hear stories about how, like, the deku stick texture in Ocarina of Time is Linkās hair texture stretched out, and thatās just neat.
But the nightmarish transformations the world takes are also pretty cool. One part that stuck out to me was the full moon turning into an eyeball that glances around. Spooky. Youāre also frequently pursued by a monster that eats ghosts. It has this patchwork texture over a skeleton on it, and thatās lo-fi gold right there.
Mortal Meal does stumble a bit with the pacing. The mystery gets solved quite a ways before the end, and the rest is a little flat. Youāre given three objectives to get through at the end, and one of them is breaking into a grocery store. It gives you a series of five puzzles ā about three puzzles too many ā and then the spirit attacks you. Then the next two objectives are mainly accomplished by going and getting something.
It does, however, have a moment where you cook soup, and Iām not kidding when I say thatās fantastic.
Soup’s on
Another unfortunate downside to Mortal Meal is that itās $14. Thatās not a huge number, but the game clocks in at about an hour long. There are other comparable lo-fi horror games that are longer and cost around the same amount. Maybe a few dollars isnāt worth getting upset about, but itās worth noting.
On the other hand, Mortal Meal has weird additional replay value through unlockable modifiers that are speckled throughout the world. Again, worth keeping in mind.
Cost aside, however, Mortal Meal is a worthwhile little experience. Itās most successful when it comes to aesthetics, but its narrative and gameplay are perfectly serviceable. I think Goblin Council is a developer that could benefit from a budget because even with this relatively small production, theyāve shown off considerable chops.
Published: Mar 29, 2023 04:00 pm