Recently, I picked up Withering Rooms on Steam, a weird 2.5D horror game that reminded me a lot of Little Nightmares, a similar-looking horror game, from the description and artwork. I went in expecting a 2-3 hour forgettable horror game but ended up spending the next 30ish hours (currently 50) on one of the most unique souls-like games I've ever played.
The best way to describe it is a combination of Dark Souls 1 and Luigi's Mansion.
The plot centers around Nightingale, the girl you play as (no character creation—this isn't a blank slate game), trying to escape from a dream world full of undead that she gets trapped in after being put in an asylum at 14. The dream world consists of the Mostyn mansion, as well as some other large buildings, an underground section, and a few other outdoor areas. Naturally, there's a ton of lore to be found in notes, item descriptions, and dialogue.
The story actually engaged me throughout the whole four chapters of the game, which is impressive considering that the souls-like genre isn't exactly renowned for its storytelling.
Atmospherically, it's perfect, from the OST to the colors and character design. The vibe is really similar to Luigi's Mansion or cartoon horror, wherein you're more cozy and comfortable than scared.
Gameplay-wise, there are three basic builds you can spec into: melee, ranged, and magic. I've only done melee and magic playthroughs, but magic is obviously by far the best option. Since this is a horror game, there are also stealth mechanics, which I almost never used. The game encourages you to kill enemies, and past the first chapter, you won't be running into too many monsters you can't beat unless you keep dying and don't have enough items stashed up.
I did die a ton in the first chapter and a bit into the second chapter, so if this is your first 2D souls-like game, or souls game in general, I could see you needing to stealth more to avoid getting frustrated by losing all your stuff. The house's rooms also shuffle around upon respawning, but this is more of a way to keep the game's relatively small world feeling fresh rather than to confuse you.
I mention stashing items because upon death, you'll not only lose all your coins but also all your items. You can't recover them by going back to where you died either. This sounds pretty brutal on the surface, but once you get into the game, there are more than enough ways to hold onto important items. All armor is permanent, and once a weapon is upgraded, it becomes permanent.
Earlier, I described the gameplay as being most like Dark Souls 1, but because this is an indie game made by just one dev, the jankiness of the combat leads to some less-than-satisfying encounters. Bosses, while all cool-looking, feel more like you're just trying to DPS them while dodging one or two attacks every once in a while, and they never really get that difficult (at least in regular new game; New Game Plus is a whole different story). Regular enemy encounters are all good/great, though. There's a decent balance between trash mobs and things that can take you out quickly.
New Game Plus is actually worth exploring once you clear the main game. It's rare in this genre for New Game Plus to offer anything more than increased enemy health while you keep your items and skills.
In Withering Rooms, New Game Plus extends the main game's story, adds several new enemy types, at least one new boss that I've seen so far, and a few other things I won't spoil. Within NG+, you can find an item that activates hard mode, where enemies are insanely strong and a genuine challenge to take down. Beating one of these enemies/bosses gives you items to continue the story, which I've yet to finish after 50 hours.
Overall, it's an easy 9/10 game, and you should pick it up rn (right now).
