My time with Slitterhead started with roaming the narrow alleyways of a fictional Asian city as a stray dog. I was instructed to follow red swishes on-screen that visualize a trail of scent to get to the next destination, but I preferred to just look around and savor every detail of this masterfully crafted urban environment. Hailing from the creator of the original Silent HiIll, Siren and Gravity Rush games, in many ways Slitterhead feels like a culmination of legendary developer Keiichiro Toyama’s legacy.
While going back to Toyama’s horror roots and implementing an Asian setting once again, Slitterhead also succeeds in portraying a city that – while much more grounded – feels just as inspiring as Gravity Rush’s Hekseville. The dirty alleyways of Kowlong are so detailed and realistic that it was easy for me to believe that I was actually wandering through a foreign city, yet so eerie that if a scary creature would suddenly appear I would have totally believed it. Slitterhead is an action adventure game with a horror setting that involves possessing victims as its key gameplay mechanic.
Before playing, I was told that the game is focused mainly on action. While indeed most of my playtime involved melee combat, I found Slitterhead’s environments so appealing that I often ended up just aimlessly wandering the city. The dreamy Cantonese pop song that plays during the game’s opening scene invited me straight into Slitterhead’s setting, and Cantonese chatter on th.
