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Layers of Fear, Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae bring horror, Japanese schoolgirls to Xbox One

3 min. read

Published onFebruary 16, 2016

published onFebruary 16, 2016

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Two new indie efforts are coming to the Xbox One, and from the looks of it, they are bringing some different tastes to gamers tired of AAA games and the usual retro indie.

The first is Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae, from Japanese developerZENITH BLUE. A 3-D pure hack-and-slash, the game stars Japanese high school student Misa –  the titular “Mitsurugi”, or katana-weilding demon-slaying swordswoman – fighting against waves of humanoid demons while chasing and occasionally clashing with another high school girl and main antagonist Suzuka.

The game is a throwback to the Japanese arcade game philosophy: heavily skill-based, levelling system and scarcely any story. Using Misa’s overwhelming sword techniques, players will slice, dice and dodge waves after wave of enemies to gather points that can be spent to upgrade the character’s abilities, allowing for even more slicing and dicing, and so on.

The key draw for the game is in its satisfying combat system and fancy move sets; it is also rather gory for such cutesy main characters (you can decapitate enemies, who will go down in fountains of gushing blood). While it may get repetitive after prolonged play, for the price of $11.99, Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae should still be a good time-waster of an action game, and a nice break from other brain-heavy titles.

GetMitsurugi Kamui Hikae for the Xbox One

The second title is Layers of Fear, from developerBloober Team. Layers of Fear is a first-person horror game with a unique, psychology-inspired setting. The player takes control of a mad painter as he drive into his insane mind palace resembling a Victorian-era mansion filled with surreal artworks, strange visions and manifestation of his fears, in order to uncover the secrets of his madness, and finish his ultimate Masterpiece of Fear. The game is often compared with P.T., another psychedelic horror game that served as a tease for the ill-fated new Silent Hill.

The gameplay is typical of narrative-driven walking simulator, and is mostly about experiencing the creepy atmosphere, horrifying visuals, unique settings and unsettling storyline. Interestingly, the developer has also provided a demo version of the game for free – atypical for a game of this genre, seeing how the allure of the story is usually lost after a play-through. Those who like the game enough can get the full version for $12.99. With raving reviews and overwhelming positive reactions on Steam, the game looks set to be a horrifying experience you won’t soon forget.

GetLayers of Fear for the Xbox One.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

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