HORROR TALES: The Beggar

A first-person horror adventure with creative time-bending mechanics and a promising setting, HORROR TALES: The Beggar delivers just the kind of thrills and scares horror fans are always on the lookout for. With its combination of sci-fi and paranormal elements, this game challenges the player's perception of reality in creative – and uniquely challenging – ways.

While the presentation might leave more than a bit to be desired, the overall package of HORROR TALES: The Beggar remains unchanged from the rest of the entries in this spooky series. The change of setting also offers a chance for the developers to explore new narrative scenarios, and, for the most part, they succeed.

Real Apocalypse, Imaginary Ghosts

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting. Before you go out on your own Fallout 4-inspired adventure, it would be good to mention that the wasteland in HORROR TALES: The Beggar is full of terrors, both real and paranormal. For instance, your only friend throughout the whole ordeal is a skeleton/imaginary friend.

You play as a 99 years-old man who was been imprisoned for nearly a century. It has been so long, that the man has created an imaginary friend whose only purpose is for him to return to the safety of his cell.

It's an intriguing setting, that's for sure. However, it seems as if the narrative is a bit sparse, leading to some confusion as to what exactly is going on some of the time. It's not too harmful to the game, overall, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Unreal Engine 5

One of the main selling points of HORROR TALES: The Beggar is that the game uses the new Unreal Engine 5. As we've seen, this graphics engine is capable of creating some of the most breathtaking visuals of the current-gen – but it's not as easy as just copying and pasting random models willy-nilly.

That's precisely the issue on display here. While the game's lighting and environments look great most of the time, some models just don't fit well with the rest of the world. The same happens with some blurry textures, to a lesser extent.

As good as it looks, I can't help but feel like the game would have benefitted from playing around a bit with the lights or the overall presentation. Think of In Sound Mind and how it created such mind-bending scenarios that look so brilliant.

Master of the Earth

With the help of mysterious paranormal powers, your character can bend the laws of reality to his will. These powers are every bit as awesome as the developers promise, and really help distinguish this game from the rest of the dime-a-dozen first-person horror games available on the market.

Things like summoning powerful thunderstorms, changing the time of day at will, and many more showcases of raw power are, in my opinion, the main reason why you should give this game a try, even if you're not that much into the whole horror vibe.

Pros

• Unique powers that give the game an edge over other similar titles
• Bizarre and spooky setting
• Fascinating characters

Cons

• The story is a bit messy in some parts
• Some models and textures look out of place
• Minor performance issues