Horror shooters and action horror PS1 horror

D'LIRIUM

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A gift never meant to be opened, and a mansion that turns to blood.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (96% of 1,128 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: B52 Development Team
Released: 2023

On Steam: one of the Steam horror games.

What frightens On New Year's Eve a young mage opens a gift that was never meant to be opened, and the mansion turns into a bloodstained otherworld; you shoot through dark, non-linear pixel-art levels of gore, gears and occult symbols, hunting keys while monsters close in and a sanity bar wears down.
Content: gore, blood, violent deaths.

D'LIRIUM is a top-down 2D shooter with horror elements, starring pony characters. On New Year's Eve a young mage opens a gift her mentor told her to keep shut, and you fight through a gory, non-linear otherworld, hunting keys in the manner of 1990s shooters.

About D'LIRIUM

D'LIRIUM is an independent game by B52 Development Team, released on Steam in October 2023. Its makers call it an experimental 2D shooter with the elements of a horror game, built on mechanics from 1990s classics: non-linear levels, searching for keys, violence, random events and controls that are not the usual for a shooter.

The story begins on New Year's Eve. The curator of a mansion on the edge of town invites his protege, a powerful mage, and her friends to celebrate, and gives her a gift that must never be opened; only she is strong enough to keep it shut. That does not last, and the evening slides into a nightmare world of blood-soaked halls, giant red gears and occult symbols.

Its characters are colourful ponies in the style of fan-made My Little Pony art, which makes the gore and the dark pixel-art levels all the more jarring. You explore large interconnected maps, find keys and secrets, and shoot your way through what lives there while a sanity bar is something else to watch. Players describe it as obtuse at first, asking you to work out its mechanics, and rewarding once you do, with a soundtrack many of them praise. An arcade mode lets you make your own pony.

It suits players who like retro top-down shooters and odd, rough-edged indie horror, and do not mind a cute art style turned bloody.

How to play D'LIRIUM

Start the story mode, or the arcade mode where you make your own pony.
Explore each non-linear level from above and look for the keys that open the way forward.
Shoot the creatures that attack you and pick up stronger weapons and abilities as you find them.
Watch your health and sanity bar, and search rooms for secrets.
Find the exit of each level to go deeper into the nightmare.

Screenshots

D'LIRIUM screenshot: a black-maned pony at the foot of candlelit stairs in a blood-streaked mansion hall, another figure at the top

D'LIRIUM screenshot: a pony shoots a creature in a dark tiled room spattered with blood, seen from above

D'LIRIUM screenshot: a small pony walks a stone walkway between huge red gears in the dark

Tips

Spend a few minutes in the menus and controls first: the game expects you to work out its mechanics.
Use the weapons and abilities you pick up; several players finished without the better ones and found it far harder.
Explore side rooms: secrets and alternative routes are a large part of the replay.