UNHOLY HEIGHTS
Available Platforms: Steam Games (App stores?)
Right, well, this review's going to be a little unorthadox right off the bat. Let me start you off with my playing experience...
It's 5am on a Friday night.
One game has been soaking up the hours of our noble player...
Well, let's face it. Your character is anything but noble.
See, you're The Devil. And you've just put your life savings into buying an apartment block and retiring into the countryside.
You're busy managing up to four floors of monstrous tenants that you bilked into buying a flea-ridden apartment that you've been gracious enough to steadily upgrade, trying to get strong enough tenants to withstand the endless horde of peasants, thieves, knights, and heroes that throw themselves at your doors to steal your money... Because, let's face it. You're the ex-lord of evil. People aren't exactly lining up to do you favors.
Plus, Lucifer-old boy has put on a few pounds over the years... Succumbed to male-pattern baldness... Gained poor eyesight...
You're in no shape to defend yourself. So pray hard that you've made those monsters in the floors beneath your penthouse like you, because without them, someone's going to take all your money and leave you broke, clientless, and sad.
So you work hard. You listen to everybody's complaints, improve their apartments with the rent they give you, buy them exercise equipment so they're more likely to survive their encounters with humanity... Or less, if you're truly The Devil and throw your tenants under the bus to appease darker powers...
It's entertaining, in a way, after all. To be responsible for all these lives. These little individual monsters, who each have a name, a job, their own story that you happen to be involved with and can shape to your will. Find them a lover, help them start a family... You see, it all comes down to you and how involved you want to get. And the happier they are, the more rent you can squeeze out of them, and the stronger they become.
Now, let's be honest here. Failure is tough to come by. You're The Devil. You're not going to be dying of old age... Ever. You don't need to eat if you don't want to. You don't have your own bills to pay. So who's to say you should treat your tenants right, as long as they pay up, you really aren't required to help them for your own benefit, just to further their benefit. So, the assistance is its own reward, really. And maybe that's how it should be, besides, that's what you're here for, isn't it? If this doesn't appeal to you, maybe you shouldn't be in the apartment business.
And furthermore, managing the monsters you call for help is tough. They all move different speeds, of course, and you can only tell them go forward or backwards. There's no stopping to have your monsters regroup and wait for the enemy. All in all, being The Devil-Commander is slightly more difficult than it truly needs to be.
But it's impossible to deny that there's a certain magic involved. Something that can't really be stated in words, something that speaks to the creativity inside you. Your window into the lives is limited, so it's up to you to make up their stories yourself. Which is where much of the fun lies.
And so, You, The Devil, take these adorably designed monsters with you on your secret goal... But what is it, you might ask?
OF COURSE!
Take over the World!
I do hope you enjoyed that narrative. I had so much fun with this game, it kept me up and going for hours. The art design is adorable, the gameplay has its quirks but is really unique, something uncommon in this day and age, and it kept me glued to my computer for hours on end. This is one of those unexpected gems that really needs more attention, and I'm more than happy to give it to it.
Unholy Heights recieves a Buy Any Price.
This is your charming host,
