The metroidvania genre continues to flourish as we move into the new year, and it’s always exciting and interesting to witness teams of all shapes and sizes trying something new with the core concepts. We have space exploration, insectoid horror, some kind of fish thing, and probably more I’m forgetting about. So for Fearmonium to want to delve into the human psyche and use nightmares, phobias, and trauma as the backdrop for their game execution is certainly novel, if not entirely successful.

It’s very easy to see what Redblack Spade, the developers of Fearmonium, were going for in the game’s ideology. The world takes place in the mind of Max, a young man grappling with a rough go at life. It’s implied he has a difficult family life, his parents argue and are potentially abusive, he’s on antidepressants…to be frank, the setup is really flimsy, bordering on farcical. The exposition of it all leans into “PSA skits in junior high school” territory, where everything is said so baldly that it touches in the realm of absurdity. Thankfully, we spend most of the time in the presence of The Memory, a clown figure that represents a minor disturbance on Max’s otherwise wonderful day. The Memory wants to become a full fledged nightmare, to be the sole fear that exists within Max. 

The Memory doesn’t have an easy task ahead of them. Fearmonium puts you in the labyrinth of Max’s brain, which is full of memories, vague synapses and, naturally, already existing fears. You are goaded on by a variety of elements, including Lady Depression, a mysterious figure who wants nothing more than to drive Max to peak sadness and fear. In order to achieve your goal, you’ll need to fight all the existing fears in Max’s life, such as fear of dolls, bullies at school, his stepfather and more. You’ll grow stronger as you find additional items and gear to give you better moves, like floating jumps, power slides, explosive attacks, and more. 

Players will have little difficulty getting into the flow for Fearmonium, even though the Y button is the questionable choice for the confirmation button. The Memory will jump and move around to the best of their ability in a floaty fashion, with a little bit of vagueness in hit boxes and pixel location. It’s certainly not enough to throw off the entirety of the game, but, given that I just spent a good amount of time having a delightful little dog move throughout the cosmos with no question of precision, the inaccuracy is noticeable. This isn’t for someone who is looking for peak stress and skill in order to progress: there’s plenty of leeway in where you and the enemies are in regards to the screen.

The aesthetics will probably be what players gravitate towards most for Fearmonium, and the overall effect is rather good. I don’t love the way that Redblack Spade crafts the human figures, but they play a relatively small part in the overall narrative. Mostly, you get a Cuphead-like retro art style that has the Merry Melodies meets Heavy Metal vibe. There’s some truly scary stuff, especially for someone who doesn’t like clowns (like me), and a lot of the enemies are unique and memorable. The Stepfather is a particularly grotesque beast to fight, not just in terms of what he looks like but in what he represents.

As much as I pan the setup, the execution of the different facets of Max’s fears and misery is spot on. The Bullies, for example, are a trio of bosses who fight The Memory only as a singular entity, harkening to the idea that they only prey on others as a pack rather than individuals. Hylophobia (fear of wooded areas) strikes from the dark, like something reaching out to grab you instead of attacking head on. There are issues to take with the game, but the interpretation of what makes up Max’s mind is bang on. Even if it is a bit too boob-centric at times.

Fearmonium takes pains to try and balance the story with the game, and this is equally good as it is bad. On the one hand, the cut scenes when you discover echoes of Max within his brain or when you get a flash before/after boss fights is great, if verbose. It really paints a picture for the weight of what this young man has to deal with, which only becomes more apparent as we peel back the layers and allow Lady Depression to get a stronger and stronger hold onto his subconsciousness. I really felt it when his Grandfather was revealed to be a strong presence in his life and happiness, and what it meant for Max when Grandfather passed away.

On the other hand, the long monologuing of errant beings takes me out of the game entirely. When I run across a doll, or a small demon, or anything that then needs to tell me six boxes of text on why they think I’m doing a good or bad job, I simply check out. These characters are insignificant and play no major role in the tale overall, but they do waste my time and make me hesitant to talk to others even if they’ll help along the game’s actual progression. There could have been a bit more editing on the script to help keep players in the moment of the game and not forcibly eject you out every time Antidepressant shows up to bemoan my actions.

But Fearmonium also gives players the opportunity to play in a style they’d prefer. If you’re insistent on approaching in a classic metroidvania style, then simply talk to no one except Lady Depression. For the most part, pickups, keys and various artifacts do exist lying around if you’re willing to hunt for them. Projectile weapons (necessary for surviving boss fights) are here and there, and you can heal up by finding adrenaline in the right places. It makes the game more challenging, but you can absolutely craft a harder game if that’s what you desire.

If, like me, you really want to finish the game without losing your damn mind, so many helpful elements exist. Fast travel between save points, which are also stores to buy weapons, heals and even resurrection items. A character who’ll map where you need to go next for a very nominal fee. Plenty of imps who give you very specific warnings before going into a place so that your chances of survival increase exponentially. Fearmonium does a phenomenal job of setting players up for victory even if they’re wildly uncertain about what they should be doing.

Exploration is one of the better aspects of Fearmonium, which can’t necessarily be said about the boss fights. While they’re clever in presentation and implication, the actual fights themselves aren’t terribly hard. If you recognize patterns, you can clean house without too much fuss. Even if you can’t, simply smashing the attack button over and over and quick healing three times was my recipe for success for most of the fights (Bright Memory was just “chuck presents and dodge”). You end up hitting a point where your powers and abilities overcome the natural challenge of the fighting, and then you just move forward.

The floaty controls and repetitive music aside, I thought this was a decent dip in the metroidvania arena. Fearmonium is a creepy little romp that’s worth a few days of amusement and some further discussion, but it lives and dies by its very notion. If you seek greater meaning of the trauma and horrors, then you’ll remember it far longer. While it might disturb and captivate you in the moment, it could fade when you walk away from your console. Much like a fleeting nightmare, Fearmonium dissipates with the rising sun.

 

Graphics: 7.0 Excellent stylization of characters and elements, a bit too heavy on the darkness but good in design overall. I didn’t like how humans looked but that’s also a personal preference. Still not totally sure why Depression has such a large chest.	Gameplay: 6.5 Decent exploration with some hidden treasures and a bit of muddled backtracking. Boss fights are interesting to think about but rather simple to actually fight. At times the levels feel drawn out to increase time but not necessarily gameplay. Good metroidvania for those unfamiliar with the genre.
Sound: 5.5 The tracks are alight but extremely repetitive. Basically the same sound for every boss fight, every cut scene. New maps get a new score but it’s limited and, again, loops too frequently. Small sound effects from characters don’t add to the overall experience.	Fun Factor: 6.0 Each map is about 15% longer than I wanted it to be. I got tired being in a place right before I went somewhere new, and then I would be reinvigorated. It’s memorable in that some of it is really messed up, but I don’t know if I’d revisit it for the game aspect.
Final Verdict: 6.5

Fearmonium is available now on Pc, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Fearmonium was provided by the publisher.