Is it blasphemous to call a survival horror game “cozy”? Maybe, but when I think back to my playthrough of Land of the CrowsThe word has occurred to me more than once.
From the beginning there is no question about Land of the CrowsThe PlayStation 1 influences that the developers at SFB Games have openly explained: It is quite deliberately the creepy-sweet child of resident Evil, silent Hill And Final Fantasy VII. The game, which released on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox X/S on May 9, ticks pretty much all the boxes for survival horror, but takes a gentler approach to the genre, making it feel more like a test of mental endurance against an all-consuming desolation than a constant battle for life. (A hard mode is apparently on the way, though).
You play as Mara Forest, who must painfully make her way through an abandoned amusement park in 1990 to find its elusive and obviously corrupt owner, Edward Crow. Resources like ammo and first aid kits must be looted. Skinless monstrosities can emerge from the shadows and grab you at any time, and puzzles of varying complexity promise to delay your progress. There’s a cast of characters who – including the protagonist – all seem to have questionable motives.
It’s a familiar formula paired with a familiar style of character design paired with a familiar unsettling atmosphere, but Land of the Crows manages to not feel like it’s being propped up by references to its predecessors. With more emphasis on mood and mystery than violence (and some humor sprinkled throughout), it’s just unique enough to stand on its own. The whole experience has that air of thoughtfulness about it, and I think the developers describe it perfectly in their own summary of what Land of the Crows offers: “a beautiful, eerie mix of tension and calm.”
Nostalgia actually hit me like a punch as I took my tentative first steps through the eponymous Crow Country theme park as Mara. Of course, she runs at a snail’s pace and stops completely when firing a weapon. However, her running speed is fine and you have 360-degree control of the camera angle, so you’re not completely burdened with PS1-era limitations (a blessing).
I was prepared to be frustrated by the stop-to-shoot part for the duration of the game, but I got over it when I realized that the monsters Also slow as hell. Well, most of them. You can just walk past them in almost any situation if you want. This made killing a choice rather than a necessity, and immediately reduced the sense of urgency I had gone into my first encounter with an enemy with. This isn’t a bad thing at all. With the stakes lowered, I treated these fleshy monstrosities like targets, shooting them down mostly for fun. This, combined with the gradual realization that there wouldn’t be jumpscares every 5 seconds, helped me have a much more enjoyable experience than I expected.
Because I wasn’t driven by fear when making every decision, I was able to take my time exploring every nook and cranny of the theme park, making sure to stop and read every notebook or piece of paper and examine every object on the floor or walls. I was able to focus entirely on the puzzles in front of me, some of which were truly challenging. At one point, I even had to get out a pen and paper. It also wasn’t very difficult to stock up on necessary items like ammo, first aid kits, and antidotes, which could be found throughout the park and in vending machines, where they would sometimes regenerate so I could come back later for more.
The soundtrack by Ockeroid (which just came out on its own digital release) is incredibly calming and helped create an atmosphere that completely captivated me. Land of the CrowsThe save mechanism of also fully fits in with the contemplative atmosphere of the game: you can find peace at various fireplaces, into which Mara stares before expressing a wistful thought about hope and fear in the face of uncertainty. I played Land of the Crows on a Steam Deck, snuggled up with my cats on a grey, stormy day, and I can’t think of a better way to take it all in.
In typical survival horror fashion, the environment becomes more and more hostile as the game progresses; creatures appear in greater numbers, a faster one joins them, it starts to rain, it gets darker, someone shoots at you from the shadows. But any real severity in Crow County is balanced by just the right amount of playfulness. The characters are often so unserious and exchange irreverent dialogue. And you can’t ignore the silly crow objects lying around everywhere – some of them you rely on for resources and insight.
Initially, Land of the Crows hints that there’s more to Mara than we’re told, but doesn’t give any explanation as to who she is or why she’s really in this abandoned theme park. Nor does it explain right at the start why the park is full of writhing abominations and why there are conspicuously many references to the number 2106. These mysteries kept me hooked and kept me wanting to delve deeper into the story as things developed. The ending tied everything together in a way that was really satisfying.
It’s short, but not too short. Depending on how thorough (or slow at solving puzzles) you are, it’ll take you about 5-10 hours to complete, and it has a lot of replay value. This game is full of secrets that aren’t essential to the plot, but can make your life a little easier – there’s even a map to show you where they are, if you can find them – and these add another layer of challenge to the whole scavenger hunt. The upcoming Hard Mode might also make it even more interesting to replay. The game currently gives you the option to play in Survival Horror Mode (the version I played) or Exploration Mode, where “you won’t be attacked.”
I missed a few secrets on my first playthrough, so my main goals for the next playthrough are to find the rest of them and get 100 percent of the achievements. I’m also curious to see how different choices in my interactions with other characters might affect the course of the story. In the end, I was moved by Land of the Crows for reasons that had almost nothing to do with nostalgia.