Review – Crisol: Theater of Idols

Many feel great discomfort with statues of saints in churches, especially those in small towns. Based on Spanish and Latin culture, it represents such figures in different ways while taking the player to penance and confrontation against these representations frozen in time.

Personally, I admit that the game made me feel like I was back in my teens, walking through the halls of the old Catholic high school I attended. The images of saints seemed to watch me as I walked through the dark, cold hallways after tutoring classes. The difference now was that they were moving and I could finally shoot them!

The penance of the seas

Crucible: Theater of Idols has an impactful and striking opening. The player comes across a scene in the opening moments of the adventure, with one of the main deities of this world calling on the protagonist, Gabriel, to act once again as his chosen one. Your mission is to spread your word and get rid of those who oppose your will, whether peacefully or through more violent means, if necessary.

Gabriel is sent to the island of Tormentosa, a place where the light of the God Solaris no longer reaches. Fearing for the safety of his homeland, Hispania, the protagonist heads towards the cold and damp island, which has been hit by constant and incessant rain. The apparently abandoned place leaves both the player and Gabriel apprehensive, after all there is not a living soul to be seen in the streets, buildings or stores. However, clues indicate that everyone is in the city’s cathedral, Gabriel’s original objective.

Turns out the city isn’t as empty as he thought. He soon discovers that the various wooden images in the city have gained autonomy and become completely hostile, and he is even stabbed by one of them. Faith in Crucible: Theater of Idols is a constant force. Solaris restores Gabriel and contemplates him with his blood, allowing him to create projectiles with his own fluid in penance, firing charged bullets capable of destroying the images.

Upon arriving at the cathedral, things take an even worse turn. Arroyo, the local priest, is nowhere to be found, and Dolores, a presence who had previously revealed herself in terrifying ways, returns. The cathedral has turned into a mausoleum, filled with freshly tortured bodies, and Dolores is quick to try to add Gabriel to the pile of dead. Losing blood, the protagonist faints but is soon helped by someone.

A battle of infinite distance

Upon waking up, Gabriel finds himself faced with the mysterious Mediodia, a young woman who advised him via radio to visit her rebel camp. She says that Arroyo abandoned the Sun God to follow the commands of the God of the Seas, which gave him control over the elements and materials of Tormentosa. This allowed creatures of wood, stone and wax to take the form of saints and celestial beings to dominate the island, seeking to create an army capable of invading Hispania.

In addition to the powerful elemental constructs, Arroyo brought Dolores to the island, a creature practically invulnerable to Gabriel’s weapons and the influence of Solaris. Created from a reliquary containing the remains of Mother Dolores, this creature is a perverse reflection of the original charitable figure and becomes an implacable force always on Gabriel’s trail throughout his journey of survival.

Gabriel discovers that he will need to cross the city after three other inhabitants who have the blood of the warriors responsible for sealing the God of the Seas in the past. He must absorb their blood and transform their bodies into ritualistic daggers capable of resealing the sea deity. Relying only on his faith, the protagonist is left to arm himself and endure the penance of bleeding to be able to defend himself.

Crucible: Theater of Idols is an interesting adventure in a religious world strongly influenced by the Hispanic faith, where, as in , the culture of the Spanish and Latino people is the central pillar. The fundamental difference is that, while Blasphemous is a souls-like platformer, Crucible can be seen as a kind of Bioshock of the Hispanic-Latin faith, focusing on atmosphere and first-person combat.

Bleeding to survive

The game features dark locations and an excellent ambience. Enemies don’t make as many vocal sounds as familiar splicers, nor do they run through the shadows in the same way. However, the sound of wooden joints creaking and popping towards the player, coming from dark places, is enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end in certain areas.

In Crucible, the player will experience an extreme form of survival horror, after all, there is no conventional ammunition for Gabriel’s weapons anywhere on the island. Simple lead bullets have no effect against enemies; only the blood of the Sun God works. Shots to the head do not guarantee the definitive downfall of opponents, who continue to control their shattered bodies to try to kill Gabriel.

Each weapon has a different and painful loading method: the pistol has spikes on its handle and the shotgun has needles where the cartridges would be, being stuck directly into the palm of the protagonist’s hand. Each weapon involves different physical suffering. His knife is the only one that doesn’t need blood, but it does require fuel from the earth, as it is only possible to sharpen the edge using grinders attached to motorbikes scattered around the scene.

To help Gabriel in this mission, there are several items spread across the island that serve to strengthen him and prevent his early death. In addition to his weapons, the protagonist can absorb the bodies of recently killed animals, such as chickens, pigs and the mystical Ophiotaurs, hybrid creatures from Greek mythology. There are also other classic upgrades scattered around, like tonics that permanently increase your maximum health bar.

The Dark Swallows have returned

Tormentosa is home to countless ravens who follow and watch Gabriel’s progress, serving as a constant reminder that the ground is soaked with blood. These birds are linked to the city witch, known as The Carpideira. She sells weapon improvements and allows Gabriel to learn mystical abilities by exchanging energy extracted from enemies and totems, allowing him to block attacks or consume less blood.

There are also many secrets and Easter eggs spread throughout Tormentosa, such as vinyl records with the game’s excellent soundtrack, with El Namorado y La Muerte being my favorite track. Furthermore, there are the tales of Maremanto, documents that serve to expand the universe of Crisol: Theater of Idols with folklore narratives about the saints and entities present in that isolated region.

The visual style the game draws inspiration from is fantastic, exploring fascinating Spanish folk horror with settings that borrow elements from Baroque, Gothic architecture and Catholic iconography. This is a game I highly recommend playing with a good headset; The sound design is excellent and will leave the player uneasy as they hear the sounds of wood and stone slowly approaching in the dark.

The only big negative point I found is that the movement and characters are a little too stiff. The camera feels heavy and the human models are unimpressive, although the statues’ faces are extremely piercing and frightening. Crucible: Theater of Idols is an excellent addition to the horror FPS genre, an adventure I didn’t expect to become so attached to as I uncovered Tormentosa’s secrets.