8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure Pax Online 2020 Preview

September 12, 2020 at 4:58pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a dive through purgatory where a girl has voluntarily entered the realm of the afterlife in search of her father’s soul. It’s a battle through eight doors of purgatory to solve mysteries, battle various creatures and to try to survive. This was made available through Pax Online meaning a demo presentation was made available.

This is a 2D action platforming game with a Metroidvania style. There’s a light bit of freedom as you explore various areas finding hidden secrets, defeating enemies or even taking on the odd boss. The boss I came across was particularly interesting to battle, being rather tough and honestly it seemed as though they could have done more to show damage.

When battling smaller enemies you have a clear sense of decay when impacting them whereas the boss didn’t seem to be affected until a midway hurt point showed up which could have been presented better.

An example of the decay is the circular like rocks crack apart slowly as you slash into them with the badass scythe. I should also mention sometimes you need to move blocks, and you can shift onto a massive frog creature which is cool.

This is a title with some light platforming, a number of deadly traps to evade and many chests to gather from along the way. You’ll find health potions and some coin too that will help with purchasing additions. I loved the visual aesthetic of the game, it’s quite charming. It’s really grim, but has a unique drawn style to it that really shines through.

It focuses only on three colors with that being white, black and red. This really does make a neat visual design. The enemies are very creepy, and again the sense of atmosphere here does feel grim which makes perfect sense. The full experience is supposed to feature eight different areas to visit which makes sense with the title of the game.

More than thirty species of specters and twelve species of boss specters that have unique patterns will make up the enemies you face. It’s also neat that this is based on a Korean traditional folk tale. Definitely something different to see, and it featured controller support which was appreciated. Be sure to check out our Pax Online 2020 hub for additional coverage from the event in regards to the games, previews and interviews we’ll be showcasing.

Read our Alien Hominid Invasion Preview
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