Crisol: Theater of Idols Review | New Blood-ish

After falling in love with Fear The Spotlight in 2024, I have been looking forward to the future lineup from Blumhouse Games and how they continue to back projects that shed light on new horror experiences, much like they do with films. Vermila Studios with Crisol: Theater of Idols aims to continue the forward momentum with their survival horror adventure, but ultimately falls just shy of being the next big thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxJVYWpjcJs

We play as Gabriel, a soldier who is one a divine mission from the Sun God to eliminate the God of the Sea in a nightmarish version of Spain. Stepping out into the island of Tormentosa, you are greeted by members of the warring religious cults and wooden statues who come alive to end Gabriel’s existence by any means necessary. The island of Tormentosa is gorgeous. I love the environmental aesthetic, even if it reminds me of my Catholic religious upbringing. Deep reds and golds bring this religious flair to every location that makes it feel rooted in reality.

After playing an early demo of Crisol at last year’s Play Days event during SGF, the one thing that set this game apart was the combat and how strategic it aimed to be in the traditional genre of survival horror. Gabriel gets the power to use from the Sun God to use his own blood as the firepower, and by reloading his weapons, you must purposefully take away from your health bar to fight back. It’s this heat-of-the-moment dance that I was really looking forward to. The end product, however, was not as thrilling and dire as I hoped it would be. I never truly felt that I was ever at a disadvantage when reloading and taking down my health. There was always a phial of blood pickup or an animal that I could absorb to refill my health around every corner, it felt. I was so hoping that the song and dance of risking a cheeky reload at quarter health to put me in a one-hit before death scenario would be more common, but it was not.

The gunplay though, does feel great. Each weapon feels powerful when you shoot, and the impact is equally felt when each statue is hit. The reload animations are equally as wonderful because each instrument of death at your hand reloads in its own unique way. The handgun grip shoots out spikes that Gabriel grips harder to let the blood soak into the chambers. When reloading the shotgun, Gabriel jams his palm into the end of the barrel, where it is studded with spikes to collect his blood. These are incredible, and I love that each one feels and looks different. I do wish the knife were similar, but to restore the knife’s parry capabilities (which I am awful at, for your information), you must collect gasoline canisters to bring to scooters/motorcycles to rev up the back wheel to grind the blade on to sharpen it up.

Making the most of this ichor-infused arsenal against these nonliving wooden beings, it is important to realize that they are not alive. They do not have any vital organs, so headshots are not particularly special in Crisol. It is way more important that your shots find purchase with these oak demons anywhere on their body to slow them down and eventually take them out completely. To my surprise, in a good way, taking out their heads does not slow down their pursuit. In fact, any limb that you take out does not matter because they will still come after you. I found myself in situations where I had taken out their head, arms, and torso with the knife, to have a pair of legs follow me around and try to kick me to death. I think this way to tackle the enemies was a great way to make them feel fresh in what is a trope of the survival horror genre. I just wish that the few times we tackled a boss enemy, this level of strategy of taking out specific limbs stayed consistent instead of big bullet sponges.

This strategy though, gets thrown out of the window whenever Dolores shows up. If you are familiar with Resident Evil or Bioshock, you know of these ever-present enemies that follow you through the map and are unkillable, like a Mr. X or Big Daddy, respectively. When Dolores pops up and yells out that she can smell you, the hair stands up on your neck, and each encounter turns into a tense situation, which is what you want in this genre. The only issue with Dolores is that she isn’t anything different than what we have seen or experienced before. Run around her, find rooms or buildings that she can’t get into, and you are off scot free. It would have added so much more to these situations if she could track you from your blood reloads and made it even tougher to hide. But like most others, if you are just too loud, she will find you.

It’s not a survival horror game without its fair share of puzzles, and Crisol has some great ones! Certain puzzles I absolutely loved to figure out, such as the wine bottle light grid, conveyor belt, and stained glass moving pieces, but there were some that, despite using all of my brain power, I was still struggling to complete where the hints on what to do were too vague or the apparatus of which the puzzle was presented just didn’t work for me. I’m looking at you, Tower of Justice.

And for what might be a first in any review that I have ever written or read, I wish that Crisol did a better job of onboarding the player ahead of the game opening up. For example, when I found the shotgun and was suddenly in a firefight, I wanted to switch to my handgun as I had more ammo available. Once the fight was over, I went to reload my guns. I could not find how to get to the shotgun. It wasn’t until I realized that if I held down the Triangle button, the weapon wheel popped up, which allowed me to assign it to a quick equip button. Additionally, it wasn’t until right before the final boss, and I mistakenly hit the Square button, that Gabriel did a quick 180 turn, which is crucial to traditional survival horror games, and a thing that I desperately needed with some earlier sections.

At the end of my 14-hour journey with Crisol: Theater of Idols, I enjoyed my time with it even though it largely in part played it safe. Item pick-ups, certain puzzles, and even the merchant feel like other survival horror experiences that I have had in recent memory. Much like Gabriel, I see the visions of what this game could have been, but the execution of certain things has held it back.

Breakdown

Game Name: Crisol: Theater of Idols

Developer: Vermila Studios

Publisher: Blumhouse Games Platforms: PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S Game Length: 15 hours Accessibility Options: Crosshair modifications (color, opacity, thickness)

Color blind modes (Deuteranopia, Protanopia, Tritanopia) and strength levels

High contrast mode

Final Thoughts

A survival horror experience that is filled with amazing ideas. Blood is the focal point not just for health but for ammunition, a rich and vibrant game setting, and unique enemy types that more often than not plays it a bit too safe with things that fans of the genre have experienced countless times before. The future looks bright for Vermila Studios, and I can't wait to see them build upon this rock-solid foundation in the future.

Key provided by Blumhouse Games. Reviewed on PlayStation 5