Under-rated gem, appreciated by those who love to dig for a deep dark challenge.

Withing Rooms =
75% Dark Souls levelling system, weapons, armour, and general difficulty
15% Silent Hill designed enemies, atmosphere and art direction
10% Castlevania music, sound effects, and 2D level design
100% AwesomeSauce.

Positives:
+ The story was easy to follow and interesting, original, game has multiple endings
+ Grand sense of exploration and wonder. Playing at 3am in the dark, absolutely lost in a forest with zombie horses and bloody body bags chasing you when you have a sliver of life, never felt so tense and good.
+ Sound effects are creepy and on point. From the clanging crystal sounds of the outdoor cage area to the general creepy sounds when you are cursed status gave me goosebumps
+ The music is haunting and beautiful, eerie piano playing throughout, weird smooth jazz, unfitting drum and bass, always fresh and original
+ There are 89 monsters in the game, and the game was constantly introducing new creeps during my whole 20 hours of playing. Nothing ever felt stale. The enemies are superbly designed, gorey, gooey, slimy, spiky, disgusting and morbid this game has it all.
+ A plethora of different builds and hundreds of items and ways to outfit your character. My build was built on poise and violence, heavy attacks with with bloody pipe with a heavy gold suit of armour.
+ A plethora of interesting morbid characters to meet with an abundance of fun side quests
+ Secrets aplenty

Negatives:
- Some quests in the first half of the game are not explained too well, the directions are not 100% clear. I managed to get through by exploring every nook and cranny of the entire play area. The game is fun though, so I didn't mind. Some people might get frustrated.
- Might be too difficult for some players. You have to upgrade your character properly and stick with a certain build or you will become lunch meat quick.
- The combat could be a little more interesting, with more moves such as jumping, sliding, etc

I obtained all 54 achievements and would still play more if my backlog wasn't so huge.
Lets hope for a sequel Withering Rooms 2 soon!
9.5 / 10

Talk about finishing off 2024 with a bang!
In this game you play both in a modern horror game setting with excellent modern graphics, as well as also play a retro horror game in the "in game" computer within your modern "in game" bedroom.
Survival horror inception style.
After several hours of gameplay the lines between the two worlds become blurred and a super dark disturbing story emerges out of the whole ordeal.

+ The way the whole story comes together is perfection. The design of the enemies, I don't want to spoil anything but it all comes together in a eureka! moment when the credits fall.

+ The voice acting was well done, clear and with emotion. The sound effects were morbid, several enemies have eerie screams and noises that are super creepy. There are slithering slimy and wet sounds near the end of the game that got on my nerves, in a good way. Excellent use of sound effects throughout to creep you out.

+ The level design and generally the whole game design as it comes together is masterclass.

+ Genuinely scary moments at times, a few jumpscares, hair raising goosbumps material, as you explore the retro mansion and in your house. Super immersive and atmospheric.

+ The boss fights were intense and well designed.

+/- In true survival horror fashion you really need to manage your bullets and learn how to block attacks with your baton. The whole game was tense, I was constantly scrambling for health on bullets about to die. I suggest playing on easy mode for most people if you want to save yourself a bit of frustration at times.

Up there with the best of horror in 2024.
9.5 / 10