As you know, the authors of numerous games about survival often either refuse the plot altogether, or reduce it only in the form of a background and only for the sake of quests in the spirit of "collect 10 saliva opossum and fortify them bathhouse." In Smoke and Sacrifice, similar tasks are also enough, but the history and the atmosphere go far beyond the background, but, on the contrary, cement what is happening. Still - the game begins with the fact that the main character, a woman named Sati, sacrifices her first-born ...
Yes, Smoke and Sacrifice paints a gloomy world in which superstitions, cults and priests reign over people. But this is not a realistic Middle Ages, but an exclusively invented world with shades of dark surrealism and grotesque. The Satie community lives on a tiny stretch of fertile land in the middle of an icy wasteland. The sun was extinguished, a deadly dark blue fog lay around, and only through the glowing Sun Tree, which replaced the light of the dead sun, the community survives. But in the exchange of the Tree it is necessary to sacrifice every first-born who is born to someone in the community, as the priests who actually control people say.
Actually, Sati did this when her turn came. Later, she accidentally overheard the conversation of the priests, from which it followed that her son might be alive - he was sent to a certain lower world. Seven years later, she has a chance to go there herself and try to find her son. Naturally, along the way, she will reveal a terrible secret, hidden behind the grace of the priests. The fact that they are clearly not all clean and people in hoodies and masks are hiding something, it becomes clear from the very beginning, but the more interesting it is to find out the solution!
The worshipers of the cult of the Sun Tree were, of course, much surprised and annoyed by the fact that Sati somehow went through a sealed portal and discovered the Lower World. But to kill her, in any case at once, did not, but offered the most to figure out everything and try to survive.
It is not easy to do this. Deadly smoke and fog are even more deadly here, and at every step there come across various freakish animals and monsters that crave our blood: these are painful stinging bees, and some slugs and polyps resembling a walking cold, and a pig's cub (pigs shooting needles from their wool), and terrible flying mice, and, of course, huge "bosses". And many more. Interestingly, the world around lives its own life - you can often see how some bees attack a huge pig. And then collect the trophies from his corpse and pass the quest for his murder in the nearest village.
However, this, of course, is an exception. You have to survive yourself, not really relying on someone's help. For this, as usual, you need to collect resources and make useful items. It's not just weapons, armor, different kinds of bombs, dishes and potions, but also less trivial things, like a flower lantern that dispels deadly smoke, or a net to catch flying beetles and fireflies (they are used in many recipes and drawings).
To create some advanced items you need a workbench, for cooking potions and pork chops or life-giving soups that restore health and increase protection - a cauldron. But many things allow you to make things on the go, and for repair and improvement of equipment the workbench is not needed.
The main thing for Sati is always to have a flashlight to disperse the deadly smoke. If not, you can use a special light energy to illuminate the path, but it quickly ends and is generally designed to use special skills like a shield that completely blocks damage. Many of the drawings are written on stones - in order to show and remember them, you need to use a special liquid.
Actually, this mechanics of survival in Smoke and Sacrifice ends. Sati does not need a dream, she does not starve (food only gives temporary strengths or restores health), does not suffer from thirst, does not fall ill if she eats or drinks something wrong, does not go crazy in the dark, like the heroes Don't Starve , which is often compared Smoke and Sacrifice. The protagonist does not need to build and strengthen a shelter and to reflect at night the attack of monsters. Dependence on air temperature and natural conditions is also realized simply: if, for example, a girl finds herself in an icy wasteland, she will not be able to walk until the player makes and wears special warm shoes.
Assignments and quests are sustained in the tradition of games about collecting, but this is logical, given the genre focus of Smoke and Sacrifice . The logic is approximately the following. To find out a new piece of information about the son, you need to talk with such and such a person in such and such a village, and to get to it, you need to overcome such obstacles - for this you need ice bombs. Now go and collect the ingredients to create them. And bring me a couple of bombs at the same time ...
And yet, despite the primitiveness of mechanics (in comparison with some other representatives of the same genre), it's interesting. Too stylishly the game looks like, too interesting grotesque world invented by the authors. And most importantly, the story of priests and a son, once lost for a long time, enthralls you - even with simple quests, you want to follow Sati's adventures until the end, until you know the whole truth.
In addition, the lack of dependence on sleep and food or the need to build a shelter does not mean that it is easy to play and survive here. Sati - the girl is very fragile, kill her quickly enough. And not only enemies, but also marshes, snow or red-hot poles from working furnaces. The combat system is simple, but effective and largely based on evasions. There are many drawings, but the ingredients and materials are always missing for something - like special tokens, for which you can activate teleports to move between locations and buy useful potions. The outfit quickly becomes unusable, the ingredients are spoiled. All this is enough for the game to challenge you and keep you on your toes.
Rate: 9/10
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