October is the perfect time to pick up some horror games to fit the season. Of course, not everybody enjoys truly unsettling thrills and chills. For those not ready to jump into the Silent Hill 2 remake, but still itching for something spooky to set the mood, Nintendo Switch just got the perfect game for you. Crow Country is an indie game inspired by the titans of the survival horror genre, but it’s a more laid back and welcoming experience that won’t scare you stiff.
Crow Country released on all other major consoles earlier this year and quickly gained a following thanks to its modern take on the familiar tropes of its genre. The Switch version just dropped on October 16. Like other games in the currently booming trend of retro-inspired horror, Crow Country’s mechanics stay close to the core pillars laid out in Resident Evil and Silent Hill. You get dropped in a spooky setting, in this case an abandoned theme park, that is plagued by monsters that block the path towards whatever your goal is. As detective Mara Forest, you are trying to find the reclusive founder of the park to get answers to what might have happened here. To do that you’ll have to manage a limited inventory while trying to fight off monsters and solve absurdly complex puzzles with way too many components.
There are two major points that make Crow Country well suited for scaredy-cats and newcomers to the genre. First is its unique aesthetic—while it is inspired by the PlayStation 1’s limited polygonal graphics, Crow Country’s visual style doesn’t embrace the more realistic visuals of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Rather the game’s aesthetic is more inline with another PS1 classic, Final Fantasy 7, so Mara and the rest of the living and undead cast of Crow Country are rendered in low-poly, almost chibi, models. It’s far more cute than scary . The game also feels tailored to newcomers, with puzzles that aren’t overly difficult and a combat system that isn’t so threatening you’ll be dying over and over.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t too impressed with Crow Country when I reviewed it earlier this year but part of that has to do with my gaming history. I already love horror games and have played more than I can count. This isn’t my first rodeo, so the simplified mechanics sometimes rubbed me the wrong way, but for anybody who isn’t as entrenched in the genre it’s the perfect game to pick up and play with the lights turned off.
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