Note: This interview was conducted before the game’s release date.

"Post Trauma is more of a puzzle horror game than a pure survival horror."

Post Trauma takes inspiration from survival horror classics like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, which is an enticing elevator pitch for any fan of the genre, but given the massive boom in popularity that horror games have enjoyed in recent years, what about Post Trauma is it that you’re hoping will catch the eye of the audiences?

The atmosphere, the world, the amazing score that Myuu composed, and our characters. We took inspiration from those games, but we tried to make something our own that hopefully players see has its own personality, and they’ll vibe with it.

The survival horror genre tends to place heavy emphasis on exploration, with interconnected and looping level design that encourages (and often even necessitates) backtracking. Is that something that we can expect to see in Post Trauma as well?

Post Trauma is more of a puzzle horror game than a pure survival horror.

You have to approach each location as a big escape room, so you’ll have to explore each location, find clues and unlock shortcuts. There is some backtracking, but not over long distances.

After you complete a level, the story will move you forward to the next location. When you revisit previously known locations, there will be new challenges for you that do not require information from previous levels.

What can you tell us about the variety in locations that players will be visiting throughout the length of the game?

In trailers, most of what we have shown is the subway station, but we have a lot of the usual places you expect in a horror game, like a school, a hospital or a police station, but we also have some weird levels…

"You have to approach each location as a big escape room"

Speaking of variety, how many different kinds of enemies and monstrosities will players come across in Post Trauma? And moving beyond regular enemies, what is the game’s approach to boss fights?

Excluding bosses, we have at least seven different enemy types in the game and I am planning on adding more and maybe increasing the number of encounters.

There are three boss fights in the game, two of them are actual fights, and the other one is more like an environmental puzzle.

I do want to make it clear that Post Trauma is not a combat-heavy game. There are enemies, they can kill you, and you will lose progress if they do. But the focus of the game is on the atmosphere and the puzzles.

Replayability tends to be a crucial part of survival horror games. What should players expect from Post Trauma on that front, especially with things such as collectibles, unlockables, modes, difficulty levels, and the like?

I have set up the game to support those in future free updates and I have a few in mind. But as of right now, there are no replayability features.

But you can play the game from the start on hard mode, if you want to.

How will Post Trauma tackle combat? Is this a combat-focused experience, or does the game afford players the freedom to approach situations how they wish? And speaking of combat, how many different kinds of weapons can we expect?

This is not a combat-focused experience. After all, most of the time you are playing as an old man who never had to fight for his life.

Outside of bosses and the enemy at the tutorial section, you are not forced to kill any other enemies in the game. But, of course, if an enemy is in a hallway you have to cross multiple times, you will have to deal with the risk and potential of dying if it attacks you.

We have a mix of ranged and melee weapons in the game. Ranged weapons are powerful, but the ammo, I must say, is quite scarce.

"Most of the time you are playing as an old man who never had to fight for his life."

Puzzle design is another core component of any survival horror experience, but games don’t always nail this part, with many finding it difficult to properly balance not holding the players’ hands against not being overly obscure. What has been your approach to puzzles over the course of the game’s development?

We tried not to handhold players too much. You will have to pay attention to your surroundings and take notes, or photos, of the different clues you find around you.

The idea with the puzzles was that, even if you get stuck on one of them, as soon as someone explains the solution, your reaction should be “oh, I was overthinking it! That makes sense”.

If you want to make the puzzles feel rewarding, it is simply not possible to make a puzzle game in which absolutely no one gets stuck. We tried our best to find a good sweet spot, but I prefer it if the player solves nine puzzles and gets stuck on one for a little bit, rather than beating 10 without thinking at all.

Post Trauma has impressed many from a visual perspective, but what was the decision to go with its more modern aesthetic as compared to something like pre-rendered backgrounds, especially given the game’s nature as a throwback survival horror experience?

I am the type of player who, if you give me a good photo mode in a game, I will spend more time taking screenshots than actually playing the game. Doing a game with fixed cameras was hard, but I also had a lot of fun with it.

Post Trauma started as a solo dev journey, and that dictated a lot of the decision-making. Contrary to what a lot of people believe, doing a game with pre-rendered backgrounds is harder than doing it this way, and with pre-rendered backgrounds we couldn’t do a lot of the camera shots we did. In a lot of places, the camera moves with you and the player can influence the camera view a little bit.

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of Post Trauma be?

It will depend a lot on your playstyle. I have seen players beat the game as fast as five hours and I have seen others beat it in more than 10, but most players, I believe, will take around six or seven hours.

"The horror in Post Trauma tends to be pulled off quite well."

At its heart, the story in Post Trauma feels like more of a collection of ideas than it does a coherent narrative. Sure, there are bits of a story that you can follow, with the odd conversation here and there, but generally speaking, the whole title tends to rely more on its minute-to-minute gameplay to deliver its scares rather than a spooky story that may or may not involve otherworldly beings. It’s easy to spend a few minutes with the game and notice that, while it pretty much nails the atmosphere and vibes that it was going for, there is a certain lack of polish. Aside from some awkwardly-animated cutscenes, however, this lack of polish tends to add quite a bit to the game’s uneasy atmosphere.

Things start out confusingly enough. You take on the role of train conductor Roman (played by Togo Igawa). With little in the way of context, Roman wakes up in a spooky train with no obvious way out. And this is where two of the major aspects of Post Trauma start becoming evident: the game’s use of fixed cameras to create tension, as well as its emphasis on old-school puzzle solving. In this early part of the game, the camera work is especially well-done since it tends to create some downright stunning scenes, all while constantly hinting that there might be something sinister just outside of the camera’s field of vision.

Much like classic Silent Hill games, the camera often tends to move around with you, depending on the scene. One notable corridor in the early parts of the game has the camera swivel around, centering Roman in the middle of the frame as he walks down a creepy corridor that looks like it’s much longer than it should be. Clever use of camera angles like this, as well as framing that feel like they could be works of art on their own, tend to go a long way to establish the creepy, oppressive atmosphere of the game.

"Clever use of camera angles like this, as well as framing that feel like they could be works of art on their own, tend to go a long way to establish the creepy, oppressive atmosphere of the game."

When it comes to the puzzles, however, things tend to fall apart quite quickly. While the studio proudly talks about the fact that the puzzle design in Post Trauma will need players to keep a notepad nearby where they can write things down, some of the puzzles even in the early parts of the game can end up feeling quite nonsensical. Things start out well enough, with the game tasking players with figuring out a replacement cipher to figure out a lock combination to progress further. However, you start getting puzzles where, for instance, you have to find a random wire that can then be used to pull an important item through a fenced-off window closer. The fuse can then, in turn, be used to switch on a generator that powers another machine that, through vibrations, will cause a keycard to fall down.

The puzzles start feeling especially cumbersome in later parts of the game, where the fixed-perspective camera is temporarily swapped out for first-person gameplay segments. Puzzles tend to follow similar borderline-nonsensical logic straight out of a 1990s-era point-and-click adventure game, while also forcing players to deal with hazards that can’t be dealt with in more direct ways. These first-person segments, thankfully, don’t show up too often, and the regular fixed-perspective gameplay parts tend to dominate the core gameplay. Overall, however, the puzzle design tends to be a mixed bag in terms of quality. While some of them can be quite fun to figure out, especially when the game is forcing the player to take notes, other times, they add little to the overall experience, and can often end up feeling detrimental to the overall atmosphere of the game.

Speaking of which, the horror in Post Trauma tends to be pulled off quite well. Sure, we don’t really get any new groundbreaking takes on the genre, and the creepy elements tend to feel quite rote and uninspired, but combined with the game’s clever use of its camera, along with how stressful direct combat can be, the experience starts to feel greater than the sum of its parts. There is definitely a reliance on some of the more overused horror media tropes here, like creepy mannequins and mysterious shadows in the corner of your eyes. It never really detracts from the overall experience, however, and the fact that combat is awkward and punishing goes a long way in helping Post Trauma maintain its creepy vibes.

"Overall, however, the puzzle design tends to be a mixed bag in terms of quality."

The combat generally feels like a mix of both the Resident Evil style as well as the Silent Hill style of doing things. Early on in the game, there is definitely an emphasis on melee combat, and you get little more in terms of combat options than wildly swinging your makeshift weapon, and dodging. There are also firearms that you can eventually get your hands on, and that’s when things feel closer to gameplay from the original Resident Evil. You can roughly aim your weapon – made harder thanks to the camera angles – and shoot, hoping to get a good angle shot that might take enemies down in a few hits.

Combat is fairly discouraged, however, thanks to the overall scarcity of ammo, the general hardiness of enemies, and the fact that Roman can’t really survive taking too many hits head-on. Rather, Post Trauma wants you to decide whether any given combat encounter is actually worth the resources you might end up spending on it. You might ultimately be better off just dodging past the enemy and making a mad dash to the next room you need to visit.

At its best, the collection of ideas presented in Post Trauma feels like an excellent throwback to an older era of horror games. The overall atmosphere is almost immaculate, and the rough cutscenes only end up adding more to the overall sense of unease that the game is trying to make you feel. At its worst, however, the game feels like it definitely needed some extra time to think through some of its ideas, especially when it comes to the first-person segments and general puzzle design. Post Trauma feels like a strange mash-up of two different games; one of these games acts as great evidence that the old style of horror games can still be done well in the modern era of gaming. The other game, however, feels like a game that could have used some extra time in development to iron out some of its issues.

This game was reviewed on PC.

“Good things come to those who wait, so we’ll be patient,” posted Raw Fury on its X account. “On June 23rd, prepare for Post Trauma: The Re-Release – Except We’re Not Un-Releasing It First, and It’s Pretty Much the Same.” Attached to the post is a video featuring members of the publishing team that explain the reasons for this supposed re-release.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, we’re going to be spiritually re-releasing Post Trauma in about 8.5 weeks, which is a completely random number we just chose,” explains the video. “There’ll be giveaways, streams and celebrations on this spiritual re-release day, so make sure you’re there… Once you’ve finished playing Oblivion, obviously.”

Post Trauma is a horror game with a surreal atmosphere and esoteric puzzles that players must solve to escape otherworldly enemies. The game draws quite a bit of inspiration from classic horror games from the original PlayStation and the PS2, with titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill 2 being big sources of inspiration.

Players are put into the shoes of a train conductor, Roman (played by Togo Igawa), who mysteriously wakes up in a strange world. As Roman tries to escape the train, he confronts horrific creatures and strange architecture that he must surpass.

Post Trauma is developed on Unreal Engine 5. Despite its more old-school design decisions, like fixed camera angles, the title uses modern graphics technology to render its creepy atmosphere and scares. The title is also the debut project by Spanish studio Red Soul Games.

When it comes to gameplay, Post Trauma focuses on having a slower pace to allow its intense atmosphere to fully sink in. Much like the classics of the horror genre that the game is inspired by, Post Trauma also features plenty of puzzles that players will have to figure out as they run from room to room to find the right puzzle piece.

Along the way, they will also have to make split-second decisions about whether they should kill a horrifying monster in their way or if conserving supplies by simply avoiding the enemy altogether is the right way.

For more details about Post Trauma, check out our review. It’s available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5.

Developed on Unreal Engine 5, the story revolves around Roman, a train conductor who suddenly awakens in the otherworldly Gloom. While seeking answers to his predicament, you must gather clues and avoid nightmarish creatures to escape. Interestingly, there are other perspectives to explore beyond Roman’s, potentially offering more context on what’s going on.

Inspired by old-school entries in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises, Post Trauma features fixed camera angles and save rooms. There are also “escape room style” puzzles, with the developer advising a pen and paper for noting down information. Weapons are also available, but you can choose to avoid danger in true survival horror fashion.

Check out the launch trailer for Post Trauma here and our feature for everything to know before picking it up.

Touted as the “final” release date, Red Souls said, “This is not the position we want to be in so close to our previously intended release date and recognise the game’s development journey has been tricky to navigate; be assured we don’t take this decision lightly. We’re incredibly sorry for any disappointment or frustration this announcement causes.”

It has been confirmed that the title will cost $14.99 when it launches on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Stay tuned for further updates in the coming weeks.

Developed on Unreal Engine 5, Post Trauma is about Roman, a train conductor who suffers a panic attack and awakens in a disturbing, surreal world. By finding weapons and fleeing, he must solve puzzles and escape the hellish environment.

Post Trauma is inspired by old-school iterations of survival horror classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill (as seen in the fixed camera angles). Check out the launch trailer or read our feature, which offers more information on the gameplay.

Post Trauma will see players stepping into the boots of Roman, a tortured train conductor with a traumatic past, who finds himself caught in a twisted reality that’s crawling with nightmares and horrors. Inspired by the classics – i.e. the old-school Resident Evil and Silent Hill games – Post Trauma emphasizes exploration, puzzle solving, inventory management, resource conservation, and plenty of horrifying encounters with monstrous creatures.

You can glimpse all this and more in the trailer. Post Trauma is due out on March 31 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with a demo currently available on Steam. Stay tuned for more updates in the lead-up to its release.

Unreal Engine 5 Graphics in Classic PS1 Horror Style

A game using Unreal Engine 5 nowadays isn’t particularly unique in and of itself, but when it’s done in Post Trauma’s old school style, that’s different. Despite being made an indie developer, Post Trauma utilizes UE5 to good effect, portraying dynamic lighting and high quality textures through the dreamlike environments. On top of that, Post Trauma does a number of things to harken back to its PS1 survival horror inspiration. Most notable among its classical devices is Post Trauma’s fixed camera angle.

Fixed Camera Angles

Who doesn’t like a good Dutch angle in their horror game? Post Trauma ditches the modern over-the-shoulder camera featured in titles like Dead Space, and the like for a fixed camera angle that changes for every new room and environment. We’ve seen a host of interesting angles from trailers, so it’s evident that the team is injecting good variety to spice up Post Trauma’s presentation.

Cramped Inventory Management

Another hallmark of classic survival horror games is tight inventory management, which Post Trauma certainly has. In fact, you’ll be limited to a scant five item slots, not counting the 10 separate slots for key items in addition to the storage chest. By comparison, Resident Evil 1 had six item slots. Unlike RE1, items won’t take up more than one slot in Post Trauma, but you can still combine items.

Limited Save System

As expected, you cannot just save the game anywhere at any time. There are dedicated save rooms that you have to rely on to save your file, just like classic survival horror titles. We can only hope these save rooms are evenly spaced apart and don’t require a ton of backtracking.

Classic RE-Style Puzzles

But that’s still doesn’t cover the full pot of classic elements that Post Trauma is made of. A majority of the experience is spent exploring the mind-bending environments, and you know what that means: puzzles. Post Trauma emphasizes exploration through its puzzle design, as demonstrated by the number combination padlock in the train requiring the player to search for number clues along walls and windows. Another legacy puzzle type that Post Trauma features is the classic mannequin/statue positioning puzzle. This game seems to be ticking all the classic survival horror boxes, doesn’t it?

Debut Project For Red Soul Games

What’s impressive is that Post Trauma is the first title Red Soul Games has worked on as a company. Everything from the clever variety of fixed camera angles to the otherworldly tone and atmosphere seem derived from an industry veteran, but this is their first public game. Red Soul Games is a “super small” studio located in Spain, with Raw Fury (known for Sable, Cassette Beasts) acting as their publisher for this game.

Psychological Themes Revolving Around Main Character

You take the role of Roman, a middle-aged train conductor who finds himself engulfed in a bizarre nightmare after a panic attack. The story goes heavy into psychological themes, implying that some of the horrors within the shifting environment are manifestations of Roman’s tormented mind (Event Horizon, anyone?). The game features plenty of narration with Togo Igawa playing Roman along with Autumn Ivy and Hyoie O’Grady playing the rest of the fully voiced cast.

Monster Design Takes a Cue From Dead Space and The Thing

The main cast aren’t the only voices heard in Post Trauma though, since you’ll have plenty of monstrous abominations to contend with. The monster design grabbed my attention the most out of any single aspect. Pulsating tentacles adorn the ceilings while grafted heads on mutated enemy bodies comprise some of the enemies exemplifying Post Trauma‘s body horror. To compound the variety of monster designs are some interesting alien-looking monstrosities as well as a robotic antagonist that is seen strangling Roman in the teaser.

Doesn’t Shy Away From Blood and Gore, Very Much Earning Its M-Rating

Unsurprisingly, the combination of gruesome monster designs and unsettling environments warrants a strong M rating. Walls are commonly stained with blood and, as previously mentioned, monsters tend to be on the grotesque side with grafted body parts and gore covering their misshapen bodies. Those pining for a survival horror game that doesn’t play it safe will be delighted with Post Trauma’s gritty presentation.

Slow Paced and Light on Combat Like Classic Silent Hill Games

Facilitating all that blood and gore is the combat of Post Trauma. Don’t expect frequent fights like Dead Space here, though; fights are few and far between similar to Silent Hill. Most of your time is spent exploring the ever-shifting environments and solving puzzles to move forward.

Combat Is on the Simple Side, Consisting of Repetitive Attack and Dodge Mechanics

But when there is combat, it tends to be pretty basic. As seen from trailers, the character Roman just has one swing attack and a basic dodge when fighting melee. Swing, dodge, swing, dodge seems to be the winning strategy for basic fights, leading to a lot of repetition. By contrast, ranged gun combat was only briefly shown in the teaser, so we have little to speculate on in that regard. At any rate, we’re hoping the full release adds some more weight and variety to the game’s melee combat.

Some Combat Encounters Are Unavoidable

The biggest reason I’m nitpicking melee combat is because some encounters are required to advance past closed paths. The spider abomination fight in the trailer cut to a brief cutscene indicating the webs blocking the way forward were eliminated along with the spider. While it’s almost certain that a majority of encounters are avoidable, at least some are required to advance forward in Post Trauma.

Reality-Bending Environmental Design Reminiscent of The Evil Within

The instance with the spider web seemingly disappearing after emerging victorious isn’t a one-off. Many paths are blocked off by apparitions and otherworldly forces. The environments in Post Trauma shift like a surreal nightmare, so players can expect a good amount of variety and surprise within the locations of the game.

Clever Shifts in Camera Style, Shifting From Grainy CCTV Imaging to Clear 4K Depending on Context

Of course, framing all the distorted locations in Post Trauma are the fixed camera angles which vary in style. Some areas brim with clear 4K UE5 detail while others are overlaid with CCTV compression and resolution, as is the case with the spider mutant enemy encounter. It’ll be interesting to see all the ways the camera shifts and distorts throughout the game’s duration.

Creepy Sound Design Meant To Confound and Spook Players

Sound is paramount in any good survival horror game, and it seems Post Trauma is fulfilling on that front. You’re constantly hearing suspicious ambient noises as you explore the game’s environment. Distant echoes of objects dropping or footsteps can be heard as you explore, and there’s always some amount of white noise present in the ambient sound. Post Trauma’s soundtrack is done by popular music cover artist Nicolas Gasparini. It’s clear from trailers that the indie team making Post Trauma have a good sense of subtle and creepy audio design, taking a cue from classic survival horror titles. There’s a demo on Steam right now to try out the game for yourself ahead of Post Trauma’s March 31st release.

The story focuses on train conductor Roman, who suffers a panic attack and discovers a terrifying alternate dimension with various monstrosities. In typical horror game fashion, you must find out what’s going on, either fighting off the terrors with melee weapons and firearms or running away.

Developed from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5, Post Trauma features fixed camera angles like the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Red Soul Games even teases using a pen and paper to note possible clues.

The demo occurs from the beginning of the title, offering a look at the puzzles and some combat, making it an ideal way to try before buying.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

The Metroid Prime series has always received renown for fun gameplay loop while packing challenging bosses, incredible environments and devious puzzles. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond looks to offer just as much, but really, the promise of a new Retro Studios title after all these years is enough for us.

Project TH

Invariably these ‘Project X’ dubbed games get announced, generate hype, never materialise, then evaporate into thin air. Project TH appears to have strong chance it’ll release though, with well-known Korean actors involved in its production plus developer EVR Studio already an established company with Hollywood VFX credits to its name. If Project TH does release then, oh boy, we’re in for a treat. With stealth-action straight out of the Ubisoft playbook ala Splinter Cell and The Division, Project TH also demonstrates photorealistic visuals, lifelike character animation, and strikingly cinematic set pieces. Of course, there’s no official release date or platforms announced, but expect it to be current-gen and PC only.