Slitterhead Review (PC) – Do You Know Who Is A Friend?

I remember seeing the trailer for Slitterhead three years ago and wondering if I saw what I saw. It was unique and creative in design but that was all I could gather from that trailer. A few more trailers and even a bit of developer diaries later and the picture we now have of the game is complete.

Game Name: Slitterhead
Platform(s): PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Reviewed) 
Developer(s): Bokeh Game Studio
Publisher(s): Bokeh Game Studio, XSeed Games
Release Date: November 8th, 2024
Price: $59.99

You begin the game as a special spirit known as Hyoki, or, as far as Julee is concerned, the Night Owl. This spirit can increase its power by absorbing strength from blood. Hyoki devises a scheme to combat an invasion of creatures known as Slitterheads—beings that consume human brains while posing as them. After discovering it can gain even more power by synchronizing the spiritual energy in blood with compatible partners known as ‘rarities,’ Hyoki embarks on a crusade to prevent the end of the world.

Navigating Kowlong

There are key phases to understand when it comes to the gameplay of Slitterhead. The first few missions are linear, helping you become familiar with exploration and combat. However, as you progress, you’ll need to adapt to figuring out the next steps through mission discussions. The menu is segmented, allowing you to converse with rarities you’ve found, access a closet to dress them up in different outfits and masks, view a mission menu where you can select a date and time, and an upgrade menu for rarities you’ve unlocked.

Traversal in Slitterhead is unique. As a spirit, you can project yourself into other beings, sometimes humans or even dogs. When you control a human, you can walk, run, sneak, climb, jump, and even leap to high spots on streets and alleyways. Sometimes, the easiest route isn’t walking but instead leaving one human’s form to possess another closer to your objective. You can pass through windows or any opening small enough to fit into, enabling you to possess a new human. If you need a better vantage point, look for a nearby human who might give you a clearer view. Your perspective and what you can see help you find the best routes as well as any collectibles.

Combat in Slitterhead is more complex and unforgiving than it initially appears. At first, you’ll encounter easier battles to get accustomed to the mechanics and the passive abilities of your rarities. When facing a Slitterhead, it can attract nearby humans to witness the commotion, giving you extra hosts to possess. You can use their blood to form a weapon and attack the creature, or deflect Slitterhead attacks by guarding and moving the right analog stick toward the attack’s direction. Successfully deflecting hits initiates “blood time,” slowing down time and allowing your attacks to deal extra damage to Slitterheads. If you’re struggling against an enemy, you can shift your spirit to possess another being nearby, gaining a temporary damage boost. This game encourages you to switch frequently between different hosts. Hyoki isn’t a noble spirit—just one determined to stop the end of the world. Don’t worry about human casualties; some of your rarities can heal humans with passive abilities, active skills, or by directly restoring blood energy to resuscitate them.

There are two types of humans you can possess. Normal humans have a small blood pool, limited abilities, and deal modest damage. Rarities, however, are compatible with the Night Owl and can communicate with it. They gain special abilities and wield powerful weapons. Julee, the first rarity you encounter, has blood claws and an ability to revive nearby dying humans, which also regenerates her blood gauge.

Investigating Slitterheads

A significant part of the story involves investigating Slitterheads throughout the game. You can talk with people, find ways to enter locked-down buildings, sneak into areas where they might be hiding, or even engage in high-speed chases across Kowloon.

You may need to replay certain levels to collect all collectibles or uncover hidden paths that lead to new rarities. A time mechanic lets you revisit specific days, allowing you to discover different things or access new areas.

One way to unlock different missions on certain days is by finding new rarities and conversing with them between missions. What they say or experience can provide hints, revealing the next thread you need to pull to progress the story further.

Cinematography

Slitterhead’s storytelling through its visual representation is fascinating to watch. If big-budget AAA games are comparable to Hollywood’s typical film shots, then this game feels more like the ambitious, artsy shots of an A24 film. Not everything is in high-quality focus, allowing the color palette and the mystery of the Slitterheads to stand out. The camera angles can be somewhat unconventional, even messy at times, but this gives it a unique aesthetic. I enjoyed how the camera panned around the characters, with their faces coming into view from different angles simultaneously.

The performance in Slitterhead was good overall, though it could be improved. I played most of my time on a gaming laptop with an NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card, where the game and combat usually ran at a solid 60 FPS. However, there were occasional dips when more than one large enemy appeared on screen. This becomes especially noticeable when trying to switch into another host’s body, as the effects during the transition can cause additional frame dips and stutters in high-intensity moments.

Being Night Owl

Overall, Slitterhead was a great game—a fun mystery with some impressive plot twists. It can be tough as nails, especially when facing multiple large Slitterheads in smaller combat areas. There are some challenging side paths that you eventually need to find to progress in the story. While it can be frustrating to sift through conversations to figure things out, discovering the extra rarities throughout the game is ultimately satisfying. I would recommend it to gamers who appreciate a good challenge and enjoy horror-inspired designs. The game features excellent monster and character designs.

Slitterhead releases November 8th, 2024 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Review Disclosure Statement: Slitterhead was provided to us by XSeed Games for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.

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