The story unfolds as your father, the Royal Executioner, stands accused of treason. Once he’s convicted you realize that it is your duty to take not only his life, but also his position. Things escalate from there in Lesser Evil Games’ psychological horror RPG, The Executioner.
Gameplay follows a methodically deliberate pace. Text passages reveal the story with choices peppered throughout. In the end however, it all comes back to the torture chamber where you have a job to do.
Dare you show mercy and risk the consequences or revel in your new powers, securing a more comfortable life for yourself at the expense of others. Rather than quick paced action or flashy graphics, The Executioner relies on these quieter more cerebral musings to generate growing unease.
Of course, there is the option to go full on sadist, but times are changing in the Kingdom. Compliance may secure your safety today, but tomorrow it could cost you everything.
Something ‘Different’ This Way Comes
While the more subdued, text-heavy nature of the game has kept it flying under the radar of most backers, it’s premise and tone set it well above many so-called horror games on Kickstarter. This isn’t a game of jump scares and spooks, just the demons you cultivate in your own mind. Even though it’s still well shy of its $19,000 funding goal, Lesser Evil has built a solid foundation for themselves with this campaign.
That said, after playing through the demo it’s clear they still have plenty of work to do. The English translation from the developer’s native Russian doesn’t do the project any favors. The lack of sound effects or music to help immerse the player is also sorely missed. However, these are all problems that can be easily rectified through additional development. Hopefully, the team will continue with The Executioner regardless of how the Kickstarter campaign ends.
