Paper Cut Mansion, when horror is at home | Tried

Paper Cut Mansion

Restless spirits, a house in the woods and strange noises coming from a door that is best left closed. Paper Cut Mansion, developed by Space Lizard Studio, is an independent proposal that we approached during the gamescom event, among many video games that have awakened in us the desire to discover new worlds. With Amber City we traveled to a remote place where we illuminated a city devoid of light, while in Under the Waves we descended into the abyss and beyond, interfacing with a new IP from Quantic Dream, the creators of Detroid: Become Human and others graphic adventures.

It is no coincidence that Paper Cut Mansion, in fact, is among those that impressed us the most, reminding us of Tim Burton's cinematographic works for its context and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events , pseudonym of Daniel Handler, an American writer famous for creating the misadventures of the Baudelaire brothers and the evil Count Olaf. In Paper Cut Mansion, however, the unfortunate events we experience are not at the hands of a single individual, but due to paranormal events that hit an ancient mansion in the middle of a wood.

A some might remember the Baker family house, with a large porch, a garden that houses a vegetable garden and flowers, surrounded by shrubs and coniferous trees, as is typical of Louisiana. No, in Paper Cut Mansion there is none of this: there is a gate, there is a path that leads to the mansion of terror and there is also an introductory song, to better immerse us in this disturbing and restless world. .| ); }
A song that, however catchy, makes us understand where it wants to go, telling us that we are unwanted guests, and that many have already been there, but have never left. And the song ... the song is about something else, there is something hidden between the walls, the corridors and the path itself. But there is more that hides in the woods, dark and sinister, just like the carrion of a crow lying on the door of the mansion, placed there as a harbinger of doom. Attracted by this darkness, we enter inside and discover a story that has everything disturbing. Yes, there are worn walls, a worn and dirty floor, dust everywhere and there is, at the same time, a strange dead silence.

There is a dark presence out there…

Some might think that Paper Cut Mansion is a classic ghost story, with the story that focuses on the stories of restless spirits who are waiting for nothing but to be accompanied towards eternal salvation. During the exploration, however, we noticed that some of them, on the contrary, are happy to be where they are.

We impersonate a character without a name, an individual who, attracted by the darkness and the stories that surround this mansion wants to find out as much as possible about what hides this place that has been forgotten for too long. Got out of the car, we continue slowly along the path. Around us there are noises of all kinds, from the cawing of crows to the pattering of robins, which tear the courts of the trees looking for food. When we reach the gate, which is wide and almost as high as the roof of the house, we go inside. We approach at a brisk pace, our heads bowed and our hearts beating, and now we can't go back. A strange vortex, as dark as the leaden sky above us, takes us to a mysterious area of ​​the house, which seems more alive than ever, despite the fact that there is no one. Or none alive, at least.


The narrative context, which seems excellent to us, revolves around the discovery of the legends within this mysterious house. One wonders who she was from, how long she was there, away from the known world, in a reality that, however intriguing, perfectly defines the fabric of the story that we can't wait to explore in more depth once the production will be published in its entirety. Going into the details of the story, we are faced with various inspirations of modern literature. We refer to Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, writers like Mary Shelley and authors of the horror genre who have made the history of this current. And Paper Cut Mansion seems to capture these atmospheres in a convincing way, reaching the goal with accuracy and passion, offering a context that goes far beyond the classicisms of the genre we are used to, leaving the player at the helm of the adventure, which has entertained us, amused and passionate for almost two hours, an extremely generous time for a demo that takes care to present a disturbing reality, capable of leaving you breathless and fascinating.

This implies, in a blatant way, how attracted we are to 'darkness. As we descend into the darkness, becoming an integral part of the nightmare, we are the protagonists of events that we cannot control. Paper Cut Mansion, proposing an elegant type of approach in telling its singular events, shows an enviable security, which could represent a real proof of love for the whole panorama.

For some time now, thanks to the enviable quality of independent productions, we are facing a maturity of videogame works that represents above all a valuable proof of faith and love for the various currents of the medium. Sometimes, when we think of new proposals, we interface with worlds that we deepen in their entirety only when we are directly involved in them. It is in this way that we understand, in addition to an excellent story, also the events that follow the past and the present of people who live within it.



In Paper Cut Mansion, in fact, we have known several of them. They are the ghosts that dwell in the mansion, probably old guests who, in one way or another, have been inside it for who knows how long, eager to leave and never look back, but they can't do it because a curse prevents them. to escape. This is what we perceived during our trial, in addition to various conflicting feelings towards them, in a mixture of compassion and dismay for their nefarious fate.

The desire to escape of these lost and tried souls, who they find themselves spinning in time as they run away, forgetting their past, they hit us deeply. Broken lives that, hoping to find a happy welcome in this house, have met their death and are now part of the horror we experienced in this first taste, as we explored a context that, although unoriginal, seemed absolutely well defined. and written with care and passion.

Horror with a roguelite soul

Paper Cut Mansion is an isometric roguelite with an exploratory component that could expand further over the course of the experience , thus offering hours and hours of fun. However, compared to other cornerstones of the genre, the independent production does not offer rooms with enemies to beat but puzzles to solve. Obviously, there is no shortage of opponents: everything is centered on the portals we enter, interfacing with creatures of all kinds ready to harm us.



The clashes, in fact, give us the opportunity to shoot with a Christmas candy cane, very useful in excited moments. In fact, it may happen that we find ourselves in front of enemies and creatures generated by the nightmare, which we can beat while staying at a safe distance. Obviously it was a first contact with the combat system, and it could prove far deeper than we imagine. At the moment, we are faced with a noteworthy gameplay, capable of offering hours of fun thanks to this implementation, certainly to be explored in the review.

What surprised us are instead the puzzles, each of them not very complex to solve but still absolutely well implemented. In short, it translates into careful attention to the various puzzles to be approached during the experience. We found ourselves having to decipher a door with strange symbols and looking for what was hidden in the furniture, hoping to find keys to open a chest, but only finding gold coins, very useful to spend with the various merchants who we find during the experience.

Just like in Resident Evil, we can examine objects, rotating and messing them as we please. Some puzzles will be complex to solve, and therefore we will be forced to find clues to solve them and fix things. By helping us with the references we found around, in fact we were able to solve several of them and to proceed at a brisk pace towards the new objectives. On more than one occasion we have been forced to go back, just to look for further references and clues that we found with great difficulty, often repeating some actions and retracing roads and crossroads already traveled, turning far and wide thinking that it was the destination right. It is the best exploration that could actually be added to the production, because it allows you to have an even deeper general picture of the context. We couldn't ask for anything better, in fact, especially if we think about how everything has been treated and refined to make it enjoyable and alive, even if it's all dead (apart from us).



The progression, however, will have to be deepened elsewhere. Meanwhile, we can tell you that, while exploring and achieving main and secondary missions, we can enhance our skills through medals, which improve affinities and approaches throughout the game experience. Increasing intelligence allows, for example, to solve the most intricate puzzles and situations, perhaps by picking locks or opening doors that otherwise we would not be able to unlock. The game design will have to be thoroughly investigated, especially to understand the direction it will take in the context and how it will be managed. In the meantime, we can tell you that the quality level and production values ​​are very high, although the budget used in each compartment is not particularly high.

Exploiting such ideas with little money but a lot of passion is what makes the panorama magnificent. independent, and in this case Space Lizard Studio was able to present to the world a product that appears to us to be cured and well made. It will be to understand if the game design will be able to remain well balanced throughout its longevity. In fact, we hope that it will even allow us to take a step further in the roguelite market, now saturated due to many productions on the market that do not know which direction to go. Paper Cut Mansion, however, could have all the credentials to present itself to the publication as did Cult of the Lamb, a project that we have followed with a lot of attention and interest, which we have talked about recently.

What to expect from Paper Cut Mansion?

At this point, the question arises: what could we expect from this new indie video game? For sure, a ghostly house to explore, with convoluted underneath plots like a skein of electrician's cables and a story of impact, passion and love. A story about lost souls waiting to find their way home, as they try to escape fear and doubt, leaving behind the moldy and suffocating walls of a dark mansion.



There is fear, which we must face with courage. There is death, which is unpredictable as are the paintings that mysteriously slide off the walls. And there is so much love, which should never be lacking. There is also a detailed design, where the polygonal models and objects are made of paper and cardboard, as if the curse inside the house had transformed its guests to humiliate them and to make them forget the features of the past. Paper Cut, at the moment, looks like an ambitious project. And that's why we can't wait to go back to the house.