There’s something oddly comforting about a world you explore on a fixed grid, methodically, as if you’re filling in a crossword. There’s no map to fill in, alas, in Psychopomp, but it’s still a fascinating place to roam around in, square by square.
With its conspiracy-theory-spouting, potentially delusional protagonist, it’s fair to say this is not your typical dungeon crawler, as the dungeons you’re crawling around are nightmarish versions of real-life environments: a school, a factory and sewer network. Each is populated by peculiar NPCs, who chat cryptically and occasionally harbour vital switches or key items. However, this is not the sort of game where you can simply reason with them to hand the keycard over. Instead, you have to get your hammer out and, well, left-click.
There’s a vein of edginess in Psychopomp that I’m not totally enamoured with, while the surreality of the setting, narrative and characters never quite coalesces into a legible story. But its strange imagery is incentive enough to explore.