Back in August, I covered the demo of Hilltop Studios’ Curse of Resthaven for the first time. You can find that review here.
Since then, I have played the demo a few times, discovering new hints, clues, and secrets that I hadn’t before. What a joy it’s been. Over the past week, I have had early access to a new expanded demo, and I am happy to say that I am even more excited for the full game launch now.
If you haven’t, or don’t want to go back to read my previous demo coverage, I think you should. But I’ll give you a quick crash course on the game. Curse of Resthaven is a narrative horror game with a supernatural twist and time loop that is super addictive. You play as Ambrose, a new Governor of Resthaven. He is there not just as the new governor, but also searching for his niece, Amalia. The settlement is in a bad state, and you must help restore the colony all while solving mysteries around you.
I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but every 6 days something happens that causes you to restart the loop with all your memories, but no one remembers you. You will restart with any upgrades and perks you unlock, as well as all your knowledge, and this makes it easier for you to take a few shortcuts in your investigations. Any characters who return to the settlement will still be there, and any of the expeditions completed will still remain so. This means that each loop should allow you to advance further each time. Each restart also gives you boon cards that come with benefits and drawbacks. Since you know it’s on a 6-day loop, time is of the essence each time.
You will spend part of your day interacting with local business owners and residents, trading with ships in port and investigating whatever mysteries you can. Also make time for expeditions to establish outposts to benefit Resthaven. So much to do and so little time; good luck planning your days.
The first demo gave you a taste of a few days, but this extended demo (now available on Steam) gives you a full 6-day cycle and a new Day 1 of the next loop. I loved how much more I saw and experienced of the game, and I got to know more about the businesses and people in the town as well. Also managed to discover a few more mysteries that will need to be solved and met a nice assortment of new characters in the game too. You will see all 4 town zones, all 6 upgradeable vendors and all the fully voiced characters.
It’s evident from the images here that the game is stunning. I love the Eldritch feeling and graphic style. The little sound bugs I encountered the first time around were not present at all, and hearing more of the voice acting was a great touch too.
If you complete the demo for Curse of Resthaven, you will be granted a small bonus of starting currency and skill points to play in the full game when it launches, as a little thank you from the team as well.
This was just a quick observation of my feelings on the new extended demo of Curse of Resthaven; I dove more into additional gameplay details during my first experience with the demo here. I’d invite you to pop back and take a look to see what else I had to say.
In short, Curse of Resthaven is easily one of my most anticipated games right now, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the full launch. Do yourself a favour: play and wishlist the demo now.
Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.
**Special thanks to Hilltop Studios and Digital Bandidos for early access to the demo review code**
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