Horrors from Beyond - The Bayou by GameDevTraum
Venture forth into the abyssal depths of Tenebris Manor, to find the whereabouts of your friend Dorian, where ancient evils converge with otherworldly horrors. Armed with faith and determination, you must navigate the eerie corridors, solve cryptic puzzles, and confront demonic adversaries in a battle for the soul of your friend and the salvation of your own.
But beware, for the darkness holds secrets that may shatter your sanity and test the limits of your resolve. Will you emerge victorious, banishing the darkness that plagues Tenebris Manor, or will you succumb to the abyss, joining Father Dorian in eternal torment? The fate of your souls hangs in the balance.

| Link | https://gamedevtraum.com/game-jam/ludum-dare/55/game-page |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/horrors-from-beyond-the-bayou |
Ratings
| Overall | 514th | 3.623⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 664th | 3.368⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 830th | 3.096⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 911th | 3.214⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 293th | 4.121⭐ | 60🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 122th | 4.018⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 746th | 2.74⭐ | 52🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 42th | 4.316⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 57🗳️ | 109🗨️ |
1. I initially didn't want to go into the water because my first thought was "that's acid". So I checked all options before even trying to walk into the water. Maybe start the character in water to show that it's ok?
2. Because there's no hint that the water has alligators, the first time I got caught, it felt like a
hilarious and arbitrary death. Maybe show an alligator running into the water at the beginning?
3. Having to restart completely after dying was annoying. I would have loved to spend more time in the atmosphere and solve the maze and all that but it felt too punishing and I gave up :sob:
wow, what a profound assessment! Take a look at my team's project, please!! Your analysis is great!
The cut-scenes art and narration are great! The game ambient is cool, and that mix between 2D and 3D made me think to an old Doom. With a priest. And no shotgun. And where the demons hunt you and not the opposite... :thinking:
Some animations on the character could be great though. More alligators too, I never got caught, even before understanding that they were indicated by bubbles...
Good job anyway!
I didn't really have a problem loading the game, just took a bit, but maybe that's because I have a pretty good PC.
I found the fact that the game kicks you back to the to the screen having to replay everything again to be pretty punishing and somewhat frustrating especially if you if you die somewhat late in the run which I did a few times. Checkpoints or autosaves each time you unlock or collect something would be really helpful in that regard.
It would help to have some sort of map of the layout, even if the game isn't very hard to navigate and short.
Also as someone else pointed out it would be good if there was some sort of warning in regards to the alligators, but honestly I found it pretty funny when I died to one.
Pretty good entry!
I think the chase to the final door needed something more - maybe traps, things to avoid on the way, something that can potentially slow you down or speed you up to make it more thrilling as it felt a bit flat.
Solid entry nonetheless!
Thanks for the chills, good job!
I liked the 2D/3D combination. I guess at least a simple walking animation would've been nice. The character seemed a bit blurrier than the foliage.
The way you showed the crocodiles using bubbles and spatial audio was really nice, so I'm glad I played with headphones. At first I was terrified to even go near the water, but then I realised I had to wade through it to progress. Eventually I got overconfident about how close I could get to the bubbles and was eaten 🐊 Tensions rose once again!
The puzzles were simple but nice (again the main challenge was the scary water), however I too was confused about not having enough time to reach the cross when the boss started following me, so I had to read the comments. Took me another couple of tries before I felt I understood how it worked, but I was able to beat the game twice in a row after that.
I wasn't confident enough in my Spanish to try it the first time, since I wanted to make sure I caught the whole story, but I selected it after beating it in English, and it felt like it was the way it was meant to be played.
Cool stuff!