Call of Cthulhu

Call of Cthulhu is a hard game to pin down. It has puzzle and investigation elements reminiscent of an adventure game, some running and hiding in the vein of a horror game, and some character development like one might find in an RPG. What it does have in spades is the Lovecraft mythos, and it does it very well. It translates well to the Switch, with intuitive controls and decent graphics, crafting a wonderful re-imagining of the awakening of great Cthulhu and the woes that accompany it.

If you are a fan of Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, The Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game (apparently its full title) will hold some appeal to you. While familiarity with the source material is not required, it probably helps, but I can safely recommend this game to any fan of the cosmic horror genre. There are some rough edges, sure, but it’s well worth the journey overall, especially around this time of year.

Call of Cthulhu on Switch is still a good game but with a number of caveats not found in other versions. It’s hard to recommend picking it up on Switch if you have a another console or a decent PC sitting around, unless you really want to play it in handheld mode. But tiny text may put a downer on that for you. If all you have is a Switch though, you’ll certainly get lots of enjoyment out of everything Call of Cthulhu offers. An adventure game with plenty of investigations to be done, only troublesome stealth sections sour the gameplay the little.

If you’re in the market for a first person horror game, you can go much worse than Call of Cthulhu, but be prepared for a lack of any real scares. The game leans heavily on the story and exploration of environments, so much so that when it does attempt the creepy stuff, it mostly comes off underdeveloped and a bit out of place. Go along with it though, and there’s something strangely compelling within.

Throughout Call of Cthulhu’s eight hours it threw up enough mysteries that I still wanted to see what happened at the end—I just no longer cared when I was presented with the game’s final big decision. I enjoyed its surreal moments, and one of the four possible endings is a real spectacle, but even it isn’t worth slogging through the detective busywork.

Visuals, music and sound effect together orchestrate a deeply unsettling spectacle for your senses, as well as for your intellect and soul. And if you allow yourself to plunge completely into this story of cosmic horror and identify with Edward Pierce (which shouldn’t be too difficult for you, considering the immersiveness of the whole experience) you’ll, on occasion, start doubting one and fear for the other.