Fear & Hunger

Fear & Hunger

Fear & Hunger is a 2018 survival horror role-playing video game. It is an indie game made almost solely by Finnish game developer Miro Haverinen, also known as orange online. It was released on 11 December 2018 on Windows, MacOS and Linux.

The story takes place in an alternate history medieval dark fantasy setting, and follows four characters (one of whom the player choses as playable protagonist), each with their own goals but all in search of a man named Le'garde, into the labyrinthic, deadly Dungeons of Fear and Hunger, where monsters and gods dwell. Fear & Hunger features an unforgiving turn-based combat during which party members can die or lose limbs permanently, with each enemy type having unique moves and weaknesses. Players must manage the physical health, mental health, and hunger of the characters in their party, and find their way throughout the Dungeons with very little guidance; there are no experience points and saving comes with risks, encouraging the player to avoid certain encounters and go without saving for lengthier periods.

The game received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the game's atmosphere, gameplay, storytelling and difficulty while criticizing the presence of semi-frequent typos, frequent bugs, and the game's handling of some of its more mature themes, particularly that of sexual violence, drugs, and violence towards children. A sequel, Fear & Hunger 2: Termina, was released in 2022.

Gameplay

Fear & Hunger

Screenshot of a promotional video displaying the Mercenary and Dark Priest (named Cahara and Enki in the actual game) in a battle against a boss, the Crow Mauler.

At the start of the game the player chooses one of four characters, each with their own Character class: The Mercenary, Cahara; The Knight, D’arce; The Dark Priest, Enki; or The Outlander, Ragnvaldr. The player then selects their backstory, the answers of which grant special items or abilities. The player will be prompted to choose one of four difficulty options, the last of which must be unlocked to use. The player must then traverse the dungeons of Fear & Hunger, avoiding or fighting the many monsters and traps that occupy the dungeon. Throughout the game, the player can meet numerous NPCs, some of which can be recruited to the player's party. Some of these NPCs are hostile at first, but can be brought to the players side through different actions, item interactions, and dialogues. Regardless of which character you choose, you will be able to find the other three character options within the dungeon, and all can be recruited if the player performs correct actions, unless you are playing on hard mode.

The game features a "turn-based strategic dismember combat system" where characters can target different body parts of their enemies. Player attacks are often single-turn options, while enemy characters are given different attacks on different limbs. Likewise, enemy attacks can cause the playable characters to permanently lose limbs, affecting their speed and ability to use weapons. The player must also maintain their hunger and sanity which both worsen over time. Many actions throughout the game, including saving and avoiding instant death, are determined through a coin toss mechanic, with the player having to correctly predict an outcome of 'heads' or 'tails'.

The game features multiple endings based on choices made by the player and the selected difficulty.

The game also features a hidden difficulty mode called "Dungeon Nights," an adventure/dating sim with both elements from the base game, as well as elements parodying dating games. The goal of this mode is to secure one of the many NPCs as a date for the Prom. These NPCs include characters one could recruit, as well as gods and major enemies. It is unlocked by naming your character Schoolboy, schoolgirl, or schoolkid.

Synopsis

Fear & Hunger

Fear & Hunger employs minimalist storytelling to convey its plot and lore. Historical events in the world and their significance are mostly told through optional dialogue, readable "book" items and world design; what happens over the course of the game, and in what order, varies heavily based on the player's actions.

Plot

Fear & Hunger

The game is set in the year 1590 of a medieval fantasy world divided into countries and revolving heavily around the worship of a several Gods. The four playable characters each have their own backstory, although all are in the search of Le'garde, the leader of the Knights of the Midnight Sun, a group of mercenaries on the rise who seek to unite the world in peace and unity; growing scares of his influence, the Kingdom of Rondon turned on Le'garde and captured him, sending him to the Dungeons of Fear & Hunger, an infamous prison in Rondon believed to host a dark power that kills or twists everything within its walls.

The playable characters are Cahara, a thief desperate for wealth who takes on the risky job of rescuing Le'garde; D'arce, one of Le'garde's closest followers on a desperate one-woman quest to save him; Enki, a scholar who grew disillusioned with the world until a vision hinted that Le'garde might be the key to changing it, leading him to seek the Dungeons; and Ragnvaldr, a hunter whose village and family were slaughtered by the Knights of the Midnight Sun, and seeks to ensure Le'garde's death. Whichever characters are not selected by the player will still be featured in the game with the same backstory, and can possibly be recruited in the party.

Exploring the Dungeons reveals that the Humans within have been slaughtered by monsters from its depths, or otherwise twisted into monsters themselves. Among the few sane Humans within are potential party members such as an unnamed little Girl found in a cage and Le'garde, if he is found within the Dungeons fast enough. Key background elements to the story are the Gods: the first generation, the Old Gods, the "Ascended" God Alll-mer, a Human who somehow reached Godhood on a level rivaling that of the Old Gods, and the New Gods, other Humans who became Gods, yet whose powers could never reach the heights of the Old Gods' and Alll-Mer's.

Eventually, the player can reach in the deepest parts of the Dungeons the body of an Ancient God, the God of the Depths, which they can enter to reach his heart, the Heart of Darkness; they can also find a way to Ma'habre, the ancient city of the Gods atop of which the Dungeons were built, where they can meet the most powerful of the New Gods to acquire their souls, typically by defeating them. In Ma'habre, the player can find the Throne of Ascension, allowing those who sit upon it to become a God.

Endings

The game has ten endings: six regular Endings, named from Ending A to Ending E (with two different C Endings) and which can be reached with any character at any difficulty, and four S Endings, only available in hard mode (the highest difficulty) and each exclusive to one of the four playable characters.

• Ending A takes place if the player reaches the Heart of Darkness with the Girl in their party. Then, the Girl transforms into a new God, the God of Fear and Hunger, while the main character dies battling her. • Ending B takes place if the player reaches the Heart of Darkness. Then, they are attacked by the "Traces" of the Old God Gro-goroth; if they survive long enough, the remnants of the God kill the main character by sharing information incomprehensible for a mortal mind. • Ending C takes place if the player reaches the Throne of Ascension with Le'garde in their party. Then, Le'garde will use the Throne to ascend to Godhood. If the main character follows, they reach an otherwordly realm where they find Le'garde, for whom roughly a century has passed. They can: • Refuse to acknowledge Le'garde as their god, killing him and escaping the Dungeons, resulting in the regular C ending. • Bow to Le'garde and accept him as their god, resulting in Ending C-II. • Ending D takes place if the player reaches the Throne of Ascension without Le'garde. In this case, they will in the otherwordly realm encounter a god version of themseves, starting a discussion that decides what the main character's rule as a god will be. This leads to Ending D, with the specifics of the character's future explained via text and dependent on their previous answers. • Ending E takes place if the player finds Le'garde already dead, having taken too long to reach him, and leave the Dungeons the same way they came. As a result, they return to the normal world, although their mental state has deteriorated so much that they become unsure they ever did. • Cahara's S Ending sees him returning from the Dungeons with great treasure, which he sells to become one of the most affluent individuals in Rondon. However, he is traumatized by the experience, and remains convinced that some creature in a dark corner is waiting for a chance to kill him. • D'arce S Ending requires her to find Le'Garde already dead, and use a specific magic spell to bring him back to life. The resurrected Le'garde is changed in both body and mind, a fleshy monster who believes himself a god, ready to unleash upon the world the same suffering he has known in the Dungeons. • Enki's S Ending sees him become "enlightned", now gifted with knowledge beyond that of mortal, take residence in the Great Library of Ma'habre, finding a way to extend his life beyond mortal means and dedicating his life to the eternal research for more knowledge. • Ragnvaldr's S Ending requires him to defeat almost every strong enemy in the game, and for Le'garde to be dead; after this, Ragnvaldr, having reached his original goal and removed all traces of darkness in the Dungeons, dedicates the rest of his life to eradicating evil wherever he will find it.

Development and release

Fear & Hunger

Fear & Hunger was built on the RPG Maker MV engine and was developed over the course of two years.

The game was designed almost solely by Miro Haverinen. In an interview, he stated that the idea for the game was born from his school days when he would propose morally awkward hypotheticals to his classmates that would all take place in a morbid dungeon. The first demo of Fear & Hunger served as the practical portion of Haverinen's academic thesis. Haverinen has stated that the inspiration for the game came from a desire to create a sensation of relentless darkness and experiment in different ways to evoke hopelessness and horror. Silent Hill, Hellraiser, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Nethack, Berserk, the Souls games and Mortal Kombat were all named as inspirations by Haverinen. Some aspects of the game, including a swimming section, were cut during development.

Fear & Hunger was released on Steam and Itch.io on 11 December 2018.

Reception

Fear & Hunger

Fear & Hunger received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the game's atmosphere, gameplay, storytelling and unforgiving difficulty. Writing for DualShockers, Marcus Jones wrote that, "Fear and Hunger is the absolute essence of grueling, with death being a natural part of the game. Yet those who persevere and apply their knowledge of past playthroughs to the current one are granted a one-of-a-kind dungeon crawler that will literally have you crawling back for more."

Dominic Tarason, writing for Rock Paper Shotgun, praised the game's gameplay and atmosphere but criticized the semi-frequent typos, varying quality of the artwork and some of the more sexual aspects of the horror.

Lorenzo Sabatino of The Games Machine generally praised the game but criticized the chance based elements of the game's difficulty as being unfair and frustrating.

Brazilian reviewer Cauê Batista described Fear & Hunger as "captivating" but "problematic", praising the game's atmosphere and immersive mechanics but criticising some of the more "morbid" aspects of the game, particularly the "trivialization of sexual violence."

Fear & Hunger 2: Termina

Fear & Hunger

A sequel, Fear & Hunger 2: Termina, was released on 9 December 2022 for Steam and Itch.io.

In the sequel, players can choose one of eight playable characters. The game is set in the 1940s, about 350 years after the events of the first game. Though there are occasional references to the events or characters of the first game, there is little beyond the game play and overarching systems that connects the two on a superficial level, excluding the occasional appearance of a few notable characters. Taking place in the town of Prehevil, which is an Eastern-European town with architectural similarities to Prague, the game follows 14 strangers who are forced to partake in the titular Festival of Termina over the course of three days.

It has been praised by critics for its improved artwork, more delicate handling of sensitive subject matter and general gameplay and spelling improvements.

Marcus Jones of DualShockers, who also wrote a review for Fear and Hunger, writes that "Termina takes all the best aspects of the first game and evolves them".

On IndieHellZone, "scitydreamer" says that "Combat is largely similar to the previous game, though it feels more refined", and "the presence of rape is better utilized than the original game". However, they also note that Pav, one of the contestants, "presents something that [scitydreamer] [feels] might bother people", that being that although "the premise creates the expectation that you’ll be fighting other contestants, they don’t really pick fights with you".