Review for Maid of Sker. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 28/07/2020
“You may think he's lost his mind, but the bad news doesn't end there. He wants me to sing for him as she already did, for my fame to attract poor innocents to these cursed lands. I beg you, compose a song for me ”. Just like in Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town, the engine of the story of Maid of Sker is a letter sent to the protagonist by a person dear to him and that pushes him to travel to a place steeped in mystery.
In this case, however, the comic and fairytale context in which Willy lives his personal adventure is abandoned to pass into another, horror and dramatic type. The location that the player explores also reflects these two factors as the game developed and published by Wales Interactive is set entirely in the dilapidated and time-worn Sker hotel.
The protagonist plays Thomas Evas, who, prompted by the letter mentioned at the beginning, goes to the Sker Hotel to save his beloved Elisabeth Williams, locked up in the building and protected through the violence of her entire family. All the people present were subjugated by a song produced by the creature locked up under the hotel, which was initially exploited to enrich the family through the lives of innocent people, and which they want to replace with Elisabeth's voice. The goal is to compose a song that breaks this curse, born from the avarice and bloody ambition of Williams.
The game is named after The Maid of Sker, a novel by RD Blackmore which itself is partially based on the Welsh ballad of the same name. Several elements of the stories belonging to British folklore are also included, among which the reference to the legend of the really existing Sker House is certainly explicit. It is said that the ghost of Elizabeth Williams resides in this building, imprisoned by her father to prevent her from escaping with her lover. It is no coincidence that the game is set in the second half of the 1800s, the same period as these tales.
The gameplay, in first person, from an environmental interaction point of view can be summarized as that of a point and click composed of very simple puzzles and a collection of objects, such as a healing drink and collectible dolls that encourage exploration.
As for the action part, initially the user might think that the character's movements are strangely too slow, even while running. In reality this is not the case at all, because the little dynamism on the part of the character is due to the fact that from a certain point on throughout the game we will always proceed with extreme caution. The enemies are in fact blind but very sensitive to sounds, and will occupy corridors and rooms waiting for a noise produced by Thomas. Hitting a piece of furniture, running, coughing due to fumes and dust will signal our position. There is also a tool called a "phonic modulator", which can be used as a weapon capable of stuning enemies for quite some time. Another reason for this design choice is the fact that you want to feel a continuous tension, and not an alternation between security and fear as proposed by the old Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Among the various members of the family, the uncle stands out, who - in addition to being big, fat, bad and having a very heavy step - will literally target Thomas like a bull in front of the red cloak. If you think about it, it's pretty similar to that funny Tyrant guy from Resident Evil 2 Remake. This is not the only resemblance to the Resident Evil saga, because the map is procedurally created and shows points of interest, there are safe rooms with save points consisting of gramophones and music that inspires tranquility, finally it is There is a scene similar to the rescue of the wolf trapped in the bear trap of Resident Evil 4.
The music theme in Maid of Sker has a dual meaning, reflecting the two possible player-selectable endings. In one you are in a place full of light accompanied by a sweet song that frees the soul and stuns evil, in the other you are in the same place mastered by the darkness together with a negatively bewitching song equal to that of a siren who wants to deceive surfers.
Not considering the heaviness of the game, probably due to an optimization of resources not managed very well, the graphics sector of Maid of Sker is well done. It must be said that every environment is full of elements that effectively give body to the space in which one moves. The shadows sometimes create a small visual spectacle, and the scenographic elements are a lot of attention to detail.
Very often playing Maid of Sker feels like watching a short-lived Robert Eggers movie. In this particular case it is more precisely “The Lighthouse”, not because of the choice of photography and color, but because the myth, the legends, the horror and finally the desire to discover the truth come together in the video game in a perfectly coherent way. The fairly simple gameplay is however positively altered by a series of factors that make it decidedly less monotonous than it may seem.
► Maid of Sker is an Adventure-Indie-Action game developed and published by Wales Interactive for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 28/07/2020
