Tormented Souls [Nintendo Switch] | REVIEW

Tormented Souls is a game that I’ve already played on the PlayStation 5 and that I had a lot of praise for. In my review, I said:

“Tormented Souls is a fantastic love letter to the Resident Evil series that features excellent puzzles, great environmental design, and an intriguing narrative.”

My opinion of the game has only grown stronger since then, with an additional playthrough of the old-school horror romp proving equally enjoyable and quickly cementing it as one of my favourite titles of 2021. Now, eight months on from its initial release, it’s available on the Nintendo Switch, giving players the chance to embark on their eerie adventure through Winterlake Hospital on the go. Does it still hold up on Nintendo’s platform? Read on to find out.

Check out some screenshots down below:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

As a note, we won’t go into too much depth about the gameplay here – if you want to know all of the ins-and-outs of Tormented Souls, you can read our initial review through this link. Instead, this review will focus on the performance on the platform and whether or not it still feels good to play.

The first thing that I noticed was that the game still looked pretty good. Whilst it’s clear that there has been a visual downgrade when compared to the PlayStation 5 version, there was still plenty of detail to be found in the environments and they brought with them a foreboding sense of presence that made them feel just as eerie to explore. It even looked slick when playing handheld, with the resolution holding up and ensuring you’re not left squinting and trying to make out little details in the environment. Tormented Souls is one of those games where you NEED to be able to make out small objects in the environment and I certainly didn’t have any struggles (outside of some of those that I already complained about in my PlayStation 5 review at least).

Of course, the game suffered from some sketchy character models and animations on the PlayStation 5 and that hasn’t changed here, so you shouldn’t expect perfection when it comes to the visuals. Tormented Souls is never ugly, but some of the character faces do look… off. Still, there’s no doubting that the environments you explore look fantastic, with the same impressive lighting effects carrying over to the Nintendo Switch.

“Whilst it’s clear that there has been a visual downgrade when compared to the PlayStation 5 version, there was still plenty of detail to be found in the environments and they brought with them a foreboding sense of presence that made them feel just as eerie to explore.”

I’m happy to report that the frame rate is consistent too, with it rarely dropping at all during my playthrough. Whilst I did notice one or two little hiccups, there was nothing significant that affected the experience at all, so there’s nothing to complain about there. I didn’t suffer from any crashes either, which is an improvement over my time with the PlayStation 5 version – it’s clear that the team at Dual Effect have made an effort fixing up some of the game’s technical glitches from the original release and it’s certainly appreciated.

Another issue that I complained about has been fixed too: there’s now a quick button to access the map. This might seem like a small addition, but believe me, being able to pull the map up with ease makes it a heck of a lot easier to navigate Winterlake Hospital and find your way around. Trapsing through a menu repeatedly to get to the map was a pain in the PlayStation 5 release, so this quality-of-life addition goes a long way in making the game feel much better to play.

Other than that? It’s just Tormented Souls on the Nintendo Switch. I played through the game again (third time now) and still had a blast, with the clever puzzling, slick environmental design, and quirky narrative all proving just as enjoyable to experience. There are still some issues that remain and I have no doubt that the old-school survival horror approach won’t be for everyone, but for me, a long-time Resident Evil fan, it offered PLENTY to love.

Developer: Dual Effect, Abstract Digital
Publisher: PQube
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Website: https://pqube.co.uk/tormented-souls/