Developer Jukai Studio has released the first trailer for its upcoming game Stray Souls, showcasing a chilling third-person title that takes its cues from some of the best horror franchises ever made. Directed by a former member of the indie horror powerhouse Bloober Team, Stray Souls looks set to deliver a macabre mix of exploration and action as players try to learn the truth about their character's mysterious inheritance.
From lingering shots of a road sign welcoming visitors to a remote town to fleeting flashes of fog-filled landscapes, Stray Souls shows clear influences from Konami’s iconic survival horror game Silent Hill 2. With a complex story that explored themes of trauma, grief, and guilt even as it assaulted players with a steady stream of some of the most iconic monsters in video game history, Silent Hill 2 has become revered among survival horror fans and continues to influence the genre over 20 years since its initial release. It was announced in October 2022 that Polish developer Bloober Team is developing a Silent Hill 2 remake set to release on PC and PS5.
The trailer for Stray Souls begins with narration setting up the spooky story, as the game’s protagonist recounts his excitement at unexpectedly inheriting a house from his late grandmother. Wasting no time getting straight to the scares, the young man states that “all that changed after I met Martha” as the trailer begins flashing through a series of scenes showing influences from some of the biggest brands in horror. From shadowy figures peering out of the darkness in a scene reminiscent of Japanese horror films to a totem-filled forest that brings to mind Bloober Team’s Blair Witch, Stray Souls pays homage to horror properties from multiple different mediums.
While Stray Souls appears to be making some unmistakable thematic and visual nods to horror games like Silent Hill 2, the gameplay shown in the second half of the trailer looks to be far more action-oriented than Konami’s creepy classic. Sounding increasingly frantic, the narrator explains that he needs to defend himself against “cultist nutbags” before the trailer shows them running and gunning as they battle monstrous, multi-limbed creatures in a forest. The trailer’s tale of cults and familial terror brings to mind 2022’s underrated horror game The Chant, and looks like it could be a great foundation for a seriously nerve-wracking narrative.
From this short teaser, Stray Souls looks to be taking elements of some of the stories in horror and blending them together in a unique, and potentially terrifying, way. With its suitably spooky premise, action-focused take on the psychological horror genre, and former Bloober Team member Artur Laczkowski helming the title, Stray Souls looks to be a game that horror fans should definitely have on their radar.
Stray Souls is in development.