Kevurah Horror Tale Review

Unveiling the Kevurah Ritual

Kevurah Horror Tale throws you headfirst into a chilling and surreal experience.  The title itself (which is the Hebrew word for “burial”) sets the tone for a dark and unsettling journey.  Does this indie psychological horror orchestrate a chilling symphony of fear that lingers long after the credits roll, or will the white noise of forgetfulness drown out its scares?

A Descent into Mourning Madness

Kevurah Horror Tale is a solo experience that offers a unique blend of exploration and puzzle-solving within a first-person perspective.

The game starts inside a mortuary, with a defeated-looking doctor standing over a covered corpse and with the sound of somebody crying uncontrollably nearby.  As you explore, you discover the source of the crying: a woman waiting outside.  Then, the story suddenly begins as you are snapped into the next scene.

You take on the role of an unnamed protagonist tasked with preparing for a funeral at a funeral parlour, which is set in a dark forest.  The narrative unfolds through a series of cryptic messages and environmental details, leaving you to piece together the story and your role within it.

The gameplay revolves around you retrieving various objects from your van – such as drinks, toilet paper, boxes, bins and framed posters – and placing them in the designated places within the funeral parlour.  It’s not always clear what goes where, so you have to look around occasionally, but using common sense and logic never failed when I was uncertain.

You will have several bizarre encounters along the way in the form of auditory and visual apparitions and will be required to solve a handful of puzzles to progress.  Deciphering the cryptic messages and figuring out where to place things becomes a core gameplay element as you work your way through the tasks at hand.

On occasion, you will be teleported to a seemingly random location and required to solve a puzzle to continue with the game.  Whilst each individual “teleportation” works well as its own minigame, they are all disjointed from the main theme, with no discernible reason for having gone to any particular place.  It could be that these locations were perhaps included for the developer(s) to demonstrate their varied skill set(s) in game development.  I am merely speculating, however, as these elements add nothing to the overall story other than offering a change of scenery.

The Burden of Preparation

Kevurah Horror Tale relies heavily on atmosphere and exploration.  The focus is not on combat or complex puzzles, but rather on building tension and a sense of unease.  This is achieved by several auditory cues as well as several occasions where, as I have already mentioned, you seemingly teleport somewhere totally random, which can only be escaped by solving a puzzle (in the form of working out a code).

The main gameplay mechanic adopts a pick-up-and-place system, whereby you take individual items from your van, walk to the funeral parlour and place them in the designated place once you find them.

It is not possible to save your progress, nor is it possible to exit the game via a dedicated menu option.  The ability to save and exit your game are usually standard features across almost all games and appear to have been overlooked altogether, which is a shame.  I had to restart my playthrough completely because I needed to stop unexpectedly during my initial playthrough.  When I returned, there was no option to resume – only to start a new game completely.

As there is no exit option, there can then only be one way to exit Kevurah Horror Tale.  I had to force the game to close, which isn’t ideal and not something that everybody knows how to do.

I can only imagine these two omissions were an oversight because it is bizarre not to have either option present in a game.  It would be great if the developer(s) would include a save and an exit feature because it would make for a much better, more rounded quality-of-life experience when playing.

A Single, Haunting Experience

Given its short playtime and linear narrative, Kevurah Horror Tale offers almost no replay value.  Once you’ve completed the game and pieced together the story, there’s little incentive to revisit it.  However, the experience is so concise and impactful that it can indeed be a rewarding single playthrough for horror enthusiasts.

A Blend of Stark Visuals and Eerie Soundscapes

Kevurah Horror Tale employs a unique retro VHS aesthetic, creating a distorted and unsettling visual style.  While not boasting cutting-edge graphics, the visual style effectively complements the game’s grim atmosphere.

The sound design, however, is the star of the show (which I think is best experienced with headphones).  A haunting and minimalist soundtrack punctuated by bursts of unsettling noise creates a constant feeling of unease and pending doom.  Environmental sounds like rustling leaves and creaking branches further immerse players in the unnerving world whilst whispers coming from random directions around you make for a truly unsettling experience in the best possible way!  There were even a couple of occasions that caused me to jump – namely something sprinting through the grass at my van whilst I was busy getting something out of the back!

Conclusion

Kevurah Horror Tale is a unique and unsettling horror experience.  While short in length, it manages to pack a punch with its oppressive atmosphere, cryptic narrative and stellar sound design.  The retro VHS aesthetic and minimalist sound design further enhance the experience, creating a truly unsettling world to explore.  Not having a save or exit option detracts from the overall experience, while the lack of replay value and depth might disappoint some players.  Overall, Kevurah Horror Tale provides a potent dose of psychological horror in a condensed format.

Grade: 6.5/10