Between hive-minds and nests: the insect-like qualities of the Shibito from Siren Blood Curse

Siren Blood Curse is a remake and reimagination of the first Forbidden Siren/Siren, released only on PS3. The game is quite different, with the main characters completely changed, now featuring a foreign TV crew filming a documentary about the rituals of the mysterious Haneda village. Official sources define Blood Curse as the equivalent of a live-action adaptation of the events of the first Siren, if they were real. Surely an interesting way to define a remake.

The main enemies of every Siren game are the Shibito, villagers no more living nor dead, trapped in an eternal curse after entering in contact with the Red Waters. The plot and lore of the Siren franchise are extremely complicated, evolving around mysterious entities and eldritch beings. However, in this article, I will focus on the Shibito and their insect-like features. Because if at the beginning of the game the Shibito are sort of zombified version of their original self, usually more insane-looking and crying blood, they will quickly evolve into more twisted and disturbing creatures connected to insects.

This peculiar feature is because, in Siren Blood Curse, the Shibito are connected to Kaiko, an alien creature that looks like a giant psychedelic insect. Every person that becomes a Shibito automatically shares a connection with Kaiko, becoming part of a huge and complex hive mind. Even characters that are still not completely transformed in Shibito will slowly start to be integrated into this network, with the possibility of hijacking into the visive system of the Shibito. The characters will see through the eyes of these monsters, a trick that will help them to survive, but also a step closer to losing their individuality inside the alien hive mind. With time, the Shibito will become even more integrated into the network. This phenomenon will also have a physical manifestation by creating more insect-like traits in the Shibito, altering their morphology and creating more disturbing beings.

The most common Shibito are the Spiders and the Fly ones. The Fly Shibito is a variant created to dominate the sky, acting as a scout to discover intruders. The mutation will manifest only in the head, which will sprounge a pair of fly-like wings. The eyes will also morph into fly ones, and the creature will use the wings on the head to goofily fly around. Weaker than the Spider Shibito, a Fly Shibito is more a bother in open spaces than a real threat, since they can grab the player up with them in the sky. However, in some rare cases toward the end, they also wield guns, transforming these flying adversaries into a real nightmare.

The Spider ones are really disturbing beings, humanoid creatures with still a human face, but with the bodies horribly twisted. The posture is completely reversed, with the belly looking up, and the head grotesquely torsed to easily look in front. The torso is abnormally swollen and hard, like a sort of armor, making the Shibito looks even more like spiders. And, as the name suggests, this insect Shibito can also crawl on every wall, jumping on its prey and dominating on them while they are harmless on the ground.

The level of threat will drastically change with the Maggot Shibito, a new enemy that was not present in the original game. The disturbing creature is the most dangerous enemy in the game, a colossal titan with a long and disgusting upper body that looks like a maggot. This Shibito has long and thin limbs, and it is often emitting a disturbing shrieking sound. With its titanic strength, the creature can throw heavy objects, such as trees, or instantly kill whoever is trapped in its deadly catch. Luckily, there are very few Maggot Shibito in the game, and they usually act as special encounters or bosses.

As the mutations intensify and the human traits are morphed into insect-like, the Shibito will also get more and more connected with the hive mind, working as agents of an omniscient being. However, the insect-like Shibito are not directly linked to Kaiko but are instead associated with other creatures acting as nodes or emitters: the Brain Shibito. The main purpose of this creature is to connect all the insect Shibito in a specific radius. For this reason, a Brain Shibito is usually hidden and protected by others, since the creature is in general weak and passive. Because with the death of a Brain Shibito, the other insect-like Shibito associated will also collapse. However, there are different kinds of Brain Shibito, always controlling Fly or Spider Shibito in the area.

One of the first encountered Brain Shibito is probably also one of the most disturbing. Controlling the Spider Shibito inside the hospital, this Shibito is an amorphous lump of flesh or leeches sitting on a wheelchair, dragged around by a creepy nurse. Killing the nurse is necessary to then slaughter the almost harmless grotesque creature. This Brain is controlling the Spiders around the hospital, so with its death, the hospital will become a safer place. Another disturbing Brain Shibito is lurking inside dark mines infested with Spider Shibito. This time, the creature has the body of a normal human, but the head is instead a mass of long and twisted tentacles, or centipedes, connected with the ceiling. The grotesque Shibito will be there, harmless pending from the ceiling like a rope, waiting to be killed. And since the player in this level has access to a rifle, it will be an easy task once spotted.

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Other Brains are controlling Fly Shibito, sharing a similar phenotype with those creatures. For example, a humanoid Brain controlling the Flies is a fragile man, but with the head grotesquely shaped to look like a wasp abdomen. Another Brain controlling Fly Shibito is in one of the last levels. The creature is emaciated and almost skeletal, missing the arms, and with a very disturbing skull-like face. The monster flies around with moth-like wings erupting from its head, a totally defenseless creature that can only fly away when it identifies a threat. For this reason, being cautious and furtive will be the only way to defeat this Brain. Regardless of how grotesque the Brain Shibito are, the first price for the most disturbing one goes to a totally harmless but disturbing being also controlling Fly Shibito. The creature is very difficult to spot, and the house where it should be, according to the map, looks empty. Then, the terrifying revelation happens when opening a closet. Inside, the giant disembodied head of an old person is there, still disturbingly murmuring. The head is covered in filament like a cocoon, or maybe a spider web, connecting also this hallucinating creature to the insect world. Of course, the creature is also defenseless and easy to kill. There is even a Brain Shibito controlling a gigantic Maggot Shibito, creating an anxious chase to kill the escaping Brain with a stake in its heart to finally stop the giant Maggot Shibito.

The Brain Shibito are the embodiment of the hive mind, neurons serving the eldritch God responsible for all the tragic events in the game, radio towers controlling the insect Shibito in different areas. And if the hive mind is one of the most unique insect traits shaping these disturbing humanoid enemies, what every colony also needs is a proper hive or a nest. And how humanoid insects would build a nest? Of course by creating a chaotic maze of buildings and wooden structures. The nest is the last level of the game, an intricate town completely altered by the Shibito. The buildings will fuse together, without any logic, with corridors ending on rooftops, which then connect to other buildings, extending the nest in vertical levels. The complete chaos of the nest reflects the complexity of the Shibito, hive-minded alien beings but still connected with their humanity, building their impossible geometries by using buildings and other human-like structures. The nest will grow so much in high that the player will lose track of reality, reaching, for example, a tower placed on top of a gigantic structure. What was part of the town and what was built by the Shibito mix in a chaotic whirl, and the player will be lost while wandering in this maze. It would be the same alien and oppressive feeling if a miniaturised human could venture into an ant hive, just in this case the hive is a human-built environment.

The Shibito are a really original way to portray classic zombies or possessed enemies by giving them unique backgrounds and traits. The evolution from human-like enemies, toward more insect-like creatures, reaching the climax with the alien Brains, is well-built and believable. Exploring the nest is the final step into understanding these mysterious creatures, wandering inside an environment that they created during their alien metamorphosis. The Shibito’s evolutions and their “society” are alien but also well-structured and integrated into the human world, creating a set of creatures and rules that could appear in a documentary on National Geographic.

Of course, a very horror and disturbing documentary.

The Victorian age was full of grotesque monsters: the disturbing creatures of Lamentum, a survival-horror in pixel art [Bestiary]

Spain is becoming an amazing place for indie horror games in pixel art. If in the previous years Blasphemous and Yuppie Psycho were two representative examples, this year is the time of Lamentum. Created by the two-persons team of Obscure Tales, Lamentum is a jump back to how an old-school survival horror should be designed. Starting from a giant mansion to freely explore, to puzzles that often will need pen-and-paper to be solved, a proper fighting system, and even limited saves, Lamentum has everything that a survival horror fan should dream about. And every detail is portrayed with amazing pixel art.

Lamentum also offers a very unique setting inside the Victorian ages, with a huge and decadent mansion to explore. So forget about torchlights and automatic guns and be prepared for lanterns and slow muskets. This setting is totally fitting for a horror game, enhancing all the terrifying aspects of the atmosphere. And of course, the mansion where the game takes place is not empty, but full of disturbing creatures roaming the corridors and the gardens.

Lamentum’s enemies are definitively inspired by Lovecraft, but always showing personality and an original design. From snail women to grotesque abomination of flesh and tentacles, every enemy of the well-variegated pack is an intimidating discovery. Luckily, the main character can avoid most of the enemies, without carefully depleting the stamina in the worst moment, or can rely on melee weapons and rare firearms to kill the threat.

The pixel art makes an amazing job to animate each disturbing enemy, from the smallest creatures to the gigantic bosses. But what is even more amazing is that each creature has also a detailed concept portrait, providing even more details to the grotesque designs. The official art book that is available on STEAM shows many of the creatures, and even more concepts about the game and the setting.

In the following article, I will analyse the most grotesque creatures of Lamentum, using concepts provided by Obscure Tales. I will also briefly describe unused creatures, so if you want to discover more about Lamentum’s bestiary, you should check the article.

Fly Spreader

The disturbing creature is a skeletal figure moving on four legs. The face is similar to a mosquito, with a long pointy nose and glowing eyes. On the back, the creature carries a disgusting mass of red flesh and gray eggs, which are probably used to breed flies. In fact, the creature is a living hive for flies, a mass of flesh where the insects breed. Its main weapon is literally coughing the mosquitoes, which will then hunt the player. It will be very common to listen to the sound of its coughing while wandering in a dungeon, long before seeing it, to then being hunted by the flies after few seconds. The creature is probably the most bothering enemy of the game due to its ability to constantly generate flies. For this reason, finding and killing the creature will become a priority, but without forgetting that the Fly Spreader is also a strong and tough melee fighter.

Walking Famine

The gigantic abomination is probably the most grotesque enemy in the game. Tall and disturbing, Walking Famine gives credit to its name by showing an emaciated and sick body. The belly is abnormally swollen, while the legs and neck are thin and fragile. For unknown reasons, the arms are missing, but the creature relies on a more disgusting weapon to harm the player. Because Walking Famine will literally vomit on top of the player caustic and deadly bile. Luckily, the extremely tall enemy is also slow, so it is quite easy to avoid without a direct fight. Can it be killed? Probably, but I never tried. And as you can check in the official interview HERE, this is one of the favourite enemies of the developers.

Whip Tongues

A common enemy at the beginning of the game, these abominations that could be part of Carpenter’s The Thing are infesting the mansion. Whip Tongue’s appearance is pure nightmare-fueling: a raw mass of flesh, tentacles, and faces fused together in a scream of agony. Whichever evil god created this thing surely knew what it was doing. The creature has a sort of dormant phase, where it appears only as a mass of flesh on the ground. However, if the player will get too close, the Whip Tongue will emerge to fight. There are many of these creatures guarding the anxious corridors of the mansion, but luckily, with a bit of timing, the creature can be easily defeated.

Corrupted Butler

Every detail in this design is brilliant and terrifying. The pale face is horribly mutated, like a sort of ghoulish mask, with a huge and grotesque tongue coming out of the wide-open mouth like a tentacle. It still dresses in human clothes, but twisted fingers coming out from the sleeves remind how alien the creature is. Even if the Corrupted Butler appears smaller than a human, moving like a sick henchman, it is an adversary that should not be underestimated. Fast and aggressive, the Corrupted Butler is a rare and deadly enemy inside the mansion. It can quickly attack in a close fight with its claws, but can also rely on the long tongue to unexpectedly attack the player from a medium distance. Due to how fast every attack is, I highly suggest you avoid this creature. The enemy reminds me of the “Masked Attendants” from Count Lucanor, another pixel-art horror game developed by a Spanish team (Baroque Decay) and under the same publisher (and if you are curious you can check more here: Pixel art monsters: the enemies of Count Lucanor, the complete bestiary).

Bulbous Head

A late-game enemy, this hideous abomination roams in an evil dimension existing behind a mirror. The gigantic and grotesque creature looks like a sort of alien colony of fungi, a design that would make Lovecraft proud. The limbs are thin and long, with an arched spine full of bones. The head is a disturbing mass of bulbous flesh, while the only physical trait on it is a huge vertical mouth full of teeth. And it is not a surprise that the Bulbous Head will easily use that mouth to brutally devour the main character in a festival of pixelated gore. Of course, the creature is a tough fight, but luckily it is also slow and easy to avoid.

Poisonous Tuber

These walking flowers are common enemies in the gardens around the mansion. The bodies are made of a vegetable substance, looking skeletal and fragile, including almost atrophied arms. The head is a flower that the creature can open to release a deadly gas, harmful for the player. The creature wanders on the thin and fragile limbs around the garden, opening the flower if the player approaches to release the deadly poison. Rarely, the player will need to fight the walking plants since they are easy to avoid.

Rooted Corpse

The corpses infesting the garden don’t look so disturbing in-game, but everything changes when looking at the portrait. The rotten corpses are completely invaded by roots, which move them around like decomposing puppets. The roots brutally rip out from the bodies, especially from the mouth and eyes, creating different pixel varieties based on how the roots violate the bodies. The Rooted Corpses are the most common enemies outside the mansion and are quite slow, predictable, and easy to defeat.

Snail Lady

Another enemy wandering around the gardens outside the mansion. The Snail Lady is a big and intimidating enemy, at least when encountered for the first time. Everything in the design is creepy and disturbing, from the void face to the emaciated body. But for sure the most creepy detail is the slimy substance covering a mass of breasts, creating the connecting interface between woman and snail. However, the Snail Lady is one of the easier enemies in the game. Usually, she is static around, like a statue, but can be activated if the player gets too close. She will then create a sort of damaging aura, a slow attack that is easy to avoid, except when trapped in a small space.

First Guardian

The first boss of the game is without its official name to avoid spoilers. The creature is a gigantic spider-like abomination, with four legs and two long arms with claws in the end. The face exhibits a disturbing grim, and multiple green eyes cover the long forehead. The First Guardian is huge and deadly, dwelling in a dungeon full of dead ends and giant spiderwebs. Escaping through this dark maze is a possibility to survive the giant chasing arachnid, but fighting is also an option.

Unused Enemies

According to previous images, Lamentum had more enemies that are not part of the game. In old images, you can see really disturbing creatures, for example, the mysterious Red Queen, a cooked chicken full of maggots, or grotesque creatures more connected with religious elements, such as a sort of worm-nun (you can see some of them in the last image in the interview HERE). While hoping that these creatures will become part of a future DLC, some of them are too creepy and interesting to not be described here.

Let’s start with the Old Man and The Deer. This creature sends pure dark-fantasy vibes, and everything is truly fitting in the design. The contrast between the emaciated old man riding a fierce and athletic deer creates a really unique enemy. I can already picture the creature charging at the main character while he wanders around the gardens of the mansion.

The second creature is the Pustule Devourer, definitively something far more creepy and disturbing. The monster is an obese mass of pink flesh covered in fat and pustules. The abomination is walking on four short legs that look like gigantic thumbs, creating a sort of twisted spider. But the most disturbing and dangerous detail is the huge mouth opening in the middle of its belly. Early screenshots showed the creature in-game, especially the gigantic size when compared with the main character. Probably, it was a good idea to avoid the creature, since it could probably instantly kill the player by devouring him in one bite.