Lost Ruins is not a bad game, but it struggles with conflicting design choices that prevent it from being a great experience.

The game begins as a challenging, horror-inspired experience. Traps can kill you in two hits, healing items are scarce, and monsters are tough unless you manage a sneak attack. This tense, survival-horror atmosphere holds until around the second boss. At that point, the game shifts dramatically, offering an abundance of powerful tools and weapons, transitioning into a more action-oriented style.

Both styles—horror and action—can be enjoyable on their own. However, the abrupt transition between them weakens the overall experience. By the third boss, the challenge diminishes significantly. The final bosses can be beaten by simply turning invisible and attacking a few times, stripping away any remaining sense of difficulty and horror.

This shift is unfortunate because the game's early survival-horror design shows real promise, similar to what games like Fear and Hunger achieve. However, the developers' desire to give players as many tools as possible undermines the initial tension and challenge.

On the positive side, the animation style is very well done, with clever little details in every character's movement. Whether or not this style appeals to you is subjective, but the trailer gives a clear idea of what to expect. The small amount of story is enjoyable, and the characters have just enough personality to be engaging during their brief appearances. While not groundbreaking, it feels like genuine effort was put into the narrative and characters.

On the downside, some of the music was genuinely headache-inducing, and my controller would randomly vibrate for no apparent reason after starting the game, which was frustrating.

Overall, Lost Ruins feels like someone's first serious attempt at creating a complex video game—a project they likely learned a lot from. Thankfully, the game's short length (about eight hours) means its bigger issues don't completely overshadow the fun.

If you like the visual style and aren't too concerned about having a true survival-horror experience, there's still plenty to enjoy in Lost Ruins.

This is just re-skinned trap adventure.
Save points don't heal you on normal, health just regenerates on easy.
There's no point in playing the game either way.