TEOCIDA + ESTIGMA | PS5

Both Teocida, and Estigma come from a creator known for including hints of occult mysticism, religion, and demonology in his works. This intriguing indie game developer known as Vikintor has an art style that definitely seems to draw inspiration from such greats as H.R.Giger, but is original enough to be it's own unique thing. In his games Vikintor pulls all the tricks, and all the stops. From audio/visual distortion to subliminal messaging, body horror, and even occult symbolism you'll find a gaming experience like no other. It is this haunting amalgamation of dark and bizarre imagery along with cryptic storytelling and puzzle elements that brings these Frankensteinian horror delights of Vikintor's to life. Such is the case of the Teocida, and Estigma two for one deal!

Touted as a "Metaphysical Aptitude Test" with a buttload of warnings to boot, "Teocida" comes in hot and heavy. With both a censored and uncut version to choose from at your discretion. All this along with several different visual toggles meant to distort the imagery as much or as little as you prefer. It is in this custom tailored puzzle platforming experience that you'll take control of an enigmatic character whose aim is to bring back the Matriarch through a set of trials and tribulations. These trials, or puzzle sections incorporate a totem summoning mechanic set to a timer, and the ability to interact with switches that change and open up the given stage in various ways. Allowing access past gated pathways to doorways leading to other puzzles, and finally a boss battle. 

As the designated pint sized protagonist you can jump, double jump, summon up to 3 totems at a time, destroy those totems with a held button press, and reset progress via the touchpad if you get stuck. By placing the totems in front of switches or placing them in claw mechanisms you will open up access to doors that will take you to either the next puzzle in line or the boss at the end of a set of puzzles. 

Puzzles themselves grow more elaborate by design as they go, and will include other mechanics such as teleportation based block movement, and reverse gravity. All with a side order of peril in the from of traps, and pitfalls. Getting hit will reset all progress within a given puzzle, but will only set you back half a battle in a boss fight if you make it past one of the transformation sequences. Bosses, like the puzzles, include puzzle elements tied to totem summoning and Metroidvania movement. 

About Estigma ...

Estigma, in Vikintor's own words, is a mash-up between Q-bert and Pac-Man. As a grotesque larvae with a distraught expression on it's face you will speed or inch along a labyrinthine set of pathways as you try and avoid contact with harmful set pieces, and filled in blocks of progression you've doubled back on. The key is to leave a trail of viscous fluids from start to finish without getting trapped by said fluid. This sometimes requires the collections of key power-up items like brains which will allow you to bypass certain instakill roadblocks. 

By successfully looping back to the start through a winding pathway of brickwork you will effectively complete the puzzle in question, and earn a score for doing so. As with 'Teocida' there are also boss fights in 'Estigma' that take into account the given mechanics. Making it more than just a puzzle game. Sadly, there is no deep storytelling with this one and no visualization filter toggles. Only score based puzzles and boss battles.

The Verdict ...

As much as I'd like to say these games were good for what they offer they suffer from a huge glaring issue. That issue is game breaking bugs. The kind of bugs that will error you out of the game at the first boss fight. This is very prevalent in the case of Teocida. You'll find the first boss fight impossble due to an error that will dashboard you to the console menu. On the flipside Estigma also suffers from some game breaking decisions. Namely the inability to instantly reset progress if you get stuck. At least I couldn't figure out how to. 

Outside of that the two games' puzzle elements are very unique and interesting. They are the kind of puzzles that really get you to think outside the box. The plus side beyond that is the boss battles which really show off Vikintor's body horror creativity. It is this artistic take that had me aggressively seeking to review this bundle. As it stands though the games need some love and attention, ASAP!!! That boss error definitely needs to be fixed, and there needs to be a way to reset stalled progress in Estigma if there isn't already. The latter of which I could totally be confused about.