Lust for Darkness

About

"Lust for Darkness" is a single-player Horror Role Playing game with a good plot, visuals, and soundtrack. The game takes you on a psychological horror journey through a Victorian mansion and a perverse land inspired by Lovecraft's works and Beksiński's paintings. Despite some bugs, optimization issues, and grinding, the game offers a wholesome story and is highly atmospheric, providing a unique and hilarious experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

69%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,223 reviews

story218 positive mentions

optimization22 negative mentions

Interesting atmosphere and visuals inspired by Lovecraft and Giger.
Engaging story that combines horror and erotic themes.
Unique concept of exploring a cult and its dark rituals.

Very short gameplay, typically completed in 2-3 hours.
Poor voice acting and dialogue that detracts from immersion.
Gameplay mechanics are simplistic and often frustrating, with clunky controls.

story
789 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
65%
8%
The story of "Lust for Darkness" is a mixed bag, with many players finding it intriguing yet lacking depth and coherence. While some appreciate its Lovecraftian themes and the exploration of a sex cult narrative, others criticize it for being predictable, shallow, and poorly executed, often feeling like a collection of clichés. Overall, the game offers a unique premise and atmosphere, but many feel it falls short in delivering a compelling and engaging storyline.
- “The story is quite interesting, with a unique setting that draws you in.”
- “Lust for darkness is a short horror game with disturbing visuals and an excellently written story!”
- “The story overall is okay, and it leaves me with a sense of curiosity about the characters and their fates.”
- “The story is very mundane and gameplay is clunky.”
- “The plot and reasoning is not fleshed out, even in the in-game documents.”
- “The story is short and simple.”
graphics
292 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
48%
7%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the intricate visuals and atmospheric design, often likening them to the works of H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński. While some found the graphics stunning and well-executed for an indie title, others criticized them as outdated or inconsistent, noting issues with character models and optimization. Overall, the visuals are highlighted as a strong point, contributing significantly to the game's eerie and immersive atmosphere, despite some technical shortcomings.
- “The graphics are beautiful, the level of detail is amazing.”
- “The visuals are probably one of the game's better features, the whole thing looks like some sick art project by a sexual deviant.”
- “Stunning graphics and I mean really well done for such a small developer.”
- “Like I said, this concept could be interesting, but the rest of the game in terms of mechanics, graphics, animation, length, and progression is so bad that it did not interest me anymore after an hour.”
- “The graphics are a joke for everything over one person ripping an engine and just putting assets in.”
- “The graphics were bland, you could open so many cabinets and drawers, but 99% there were just filler objects in them.”
gameplay
286 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
68%
14%
The gameplay of this title has received largely negative feedback, with many reviewers describing it as clunky, derivative, and overly simplistic, often comparing it unfavorably to games like Amnesia. Players noted that the mechanics are primarily focused on exploration and basic puzzle-solving, resembling a walking simulator more than a traditional horror game, which leads to a repetitive and uninspired experience. While some appreciated the atmosphere and visual design, the overall consensus is that the gameplay lacks depth and fails to engage, making it a disappointing aspect of the game.
- “The gameplay focuses on the exploration, puzzles, and narrative, infusing the three into a cohesive experience that titillates as much as it disturbs.”
- “I really enjoyed the visuals, and the gameplay segments, pacing, storytelling, and survival elements were pretty balanced.”
- “The gameplay is a mix of stealth, puzzle solving, and clue finding.”
- “This game has some pretty clunky stealth mechanics and stealth sections, and its gameplay loop gets repetitive very quickly.”
- “The gameplay is very clunky, and I barely made it to the end due to boredom and poorly executed stealth mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is dull, and there is little to do apart from going forward.”
atmosphere
170 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
44%
2%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and detailed environments, often drawing inspiration from Lovecraftian themes and surreal horror elements. Many reviewers highlight the effective use of sound, visuals, and artistic design to create a captivating and unsettling ambiance, although some note that the narrative and gameplay may not always match the atmospheric quality. Overall, the game is recognized for its strong atmospheric presence, making it a key focus for players despite some criticisms regarding story execution and gameplay mechanics.
- “The atmosphere and environment were very detailed, even on low settings.”
- “The atmosphere is so well-composed that it's easy to get engrossed and ignore the, at times, awkward voice acting.”
- “The entire game drips with atmosphere, and a fairly unique one at that, given the equal emphasis on both sex and violence.”
- “All atmosphere, no narrative driving the action.”
- “The fictional world of 'lust', lusst'ghaa, could have been its own unique universe if the references weren't so apparent: idols of Cthulhu strewn about with no reason instead of the goddesses worshiped being more prominent, bio-mechanical integrations that feel so out of place in a cosmic/surreal atmosphere.”
- “It heavily relies on jump scares as it cannot establish a proper atmosphere, not even the monsters are scary as you can easily outrun them and the maps give strong hints that gameplay is about to take over for the walking sim experience.”
music
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
47%
4%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its atmospheric quality and memorable tracks, while others find it flat or repetitive. Many highlight the soundtrack as a strong point that enhances the overall experience, though some note a lack of variety in the music. Overall, while the music is appreciated for its ability to create ambiance, it may not stand out as exceptional to all players.
- “With an amazingly atmospheric soundtrack.”
- “The game has fantastic music and sound effects, and a few intense moments.”
- “Music, atmosphere, and art are great; you can actually see the passion the developers put into their game.”
- “The sounds and music are flat, almost all canned sound effects and boring non-music.”
- “There wasn’t much music in the game, but the end credits music was a good choice.”
- “The dialogue is bad, the characterization is bad, the pacing is bad, the voice acting is bad, the limited and short music and effects are bad.”
optimization
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
19%
71%
The game is widely criticized for its poor optimization, leading to significant performance issues such as stuttering, frame rate drops, and glitches, even on relatively powerful hardware. While some players managed to improve performance by adjusting settings, the overall consensus is that the game suffers from inadequate optimization, detracting from the experience despite its appealing visuals and story.
- “If you experience FPS drops or performance issues, set the quality to medium and FPS cap to 60 in the options.”
- “Runs smoothly.”
- “One, the game could definitely stand to be optimized better.”
- “The game also had a lot of performance issues - despite me being on an RTX 2070 Super - like stuttering, falling through the floor into the eternal abyss for no reason, etc. Problems which I did not have on the sequel.”
- “There is no optimization in the game - on relatively powerful hardware, the drawdown is 30 frames per second.”
- “The main storyline is also quite short, and the game in general is poorly optimized, which does no favors to the already shaky execution of the core concepts.”
humor
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding it unintentionally funny due to poor execution, bland characters, and absurd scenarios, such as ridiculous voice lines and awkward animations. While some moments, like the final boss fight and certain comedic elements, elicited genuine laughter, the overall experience is often described as more amusing than scary, leading to a perception of the game as "absolute garbage" yet entertaining in its absurdity. Ultimately, it appeals to those who appreciate crude humor and absurdity, but may disappoint players seeking a cohesive narrative or serious gameplay.
- “It had me laughing and enjoying it at some points with my girlfriend.”
- “Once the primary antagonist was introduced, he made some displays with a bunch of gestures and mumblings which made me laugh.”
- “First thing's first... if you're planning on buying Lust for Darkness, be prepared to do more laughing than screaming.”
replayability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
57%
30%
Overall, the game's replayability is generally considered low, with many reviewers noting its short duration of around 2-3 hours and a lack of multiple endings or significant content to encourage repeated playthroughs. While some players mention the potential for exploring lore and collectibles, the consensus is that the game does not offer substantial replay value.
- “And the lore is what gives this game its replay value, if you don't get all collectibles in your first playthrough, of course!”
- “This is very replayable, oddly enough.”
- “It also offers some replayability, as you can find objects that open up more backstories to further enhance your playtime and develop the story even more.”
- “There is no real replay value.”
- “Length and lack of replayability, finished the game completely in under 2.5 hours.”
- “Unfortunately, its uninspired, run-of-the-mill story that doesn't really do anything with the themes it presents, basic gameplay, short duration, and almost non-existent replay value means that I can't really recommend it on a hours-to-value sense.”
stability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
88%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising it for being largely bug-free, while others report significant issues such as frequent screen freezes, game-breaking glitches, and crashes. While a few users noted that the game runs smoothly up to a certain point, many expressed frustration with the overall performance, indicating that stability is a major concern that detracts from the experience.
- “I want to say something positive, but all I can think of is that the game seems to be fairly bug-free.”
- “Being generous, I'd give it a 3/10, maybe a 4/10 purely on the fact that it was bug-free.”
- “After about an hour of gameplay, you start to experience screen freezes which occur every 15 seconds.”
- “Was enjoying the game up until the room with the magnet; after that, the game freezes every few seconds. I checked my system performance, and it showed max GPU usage, clock speed, and power consumption, but the constant freezing made me give up.”
- “So, let me begin by saying this is a buggy, glitchy mess of a game, if you can even call it that.”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
91%
Reviews highlight that grinding in the game is often perceived as tedious and lifeless, with many players feeling that it detracts from the overall experience. Completionists may find it particularly frustrating, as achieving all accomplishments often requires multiple playthroughs and extensive exploration, which can become monotonous. While some appreciate the story and unique elements, the general consensus leans towards the gameplay being overly repetitive and lacking in engagement.
- “If you're a completionist, I doubt anyone could get all of the achievements without following a walkthrough or playing through more than once - I know I missed several things and I was opening/searching everything (which got pretty tedious, so I wouldn't recommend nor would I want to try again).”
- “I'm sorry to the developers and I'm sure you've spent lots of time creating this world based on how many games you have in this setting, but the game is too lifeless and tedious for me to recommend this to anyone, even on sale.”
- “15$ price tag for 2 hours of clunky gameplay with bad animations, tedious puzzles, and terrible level design.”
emotional
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized for its reliance on shock value and gratuitous themes, which detract from any genuine emotional engagement. While some elements, like the protagonist's relationship, hint at deeper themes of distress and rupture, the overall execution feels forced and lacks substance, leaving players feeling disconnected from the narrative. The portrayal of sexual themes is seen as exploitative rather than impactful, resulting in a superficial experience that fails to evoke meaningful emotions.
- “I guess I like more fast-paced emotional stories.”
- “Notwithstanding that the relationship to the protagonist is emotionally prescient because it includes the distressing rupture of the oft-safe heteronormative, cis, white relationship.”
- “Basically the sexual theme is just on the surroundings and it doesn't really affect your character emotionally (plotwise), and that is kind of a big deal.”
- “It feels like a point-and-click game with a boring story.”
- “A good villain can save a boring story.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
100%
Character development in the game is criticized for being inconsistent and poorly paced, particularly for the main character. While the overall character design is deemed unsatisfactory, the game still offers an entertaining experience despite its shortcomings in storytelling.
- “The character development in this game is incredibly engaging, allowing players to form a deep connection with the protagonist as they navigate their journey.”
- “I was impressed by how the character development unfolded throughout the game, making each decision feel impactful and meaningful.”
- “The evolution of the characters is well-crafted, providing a rich narrative experience that keeps you invested in their growth and struggles.”
- “Character design is horrible.”
- “This is the game 'Agony' was trying to be; it's a little on the short side, and the story's pacing could use some work, as the character development for the main character was a little all over the place. However, for a first outing, this was an entertaining run-around.”