This year’s horror titles have really run the gamut of genres.Resident Evil Villageplayed on some classic elements of horror and carried on a much-beloved franchise, whileReturnalnewly broke into the genre by combining a sci-fi roguelike FPS with psychological horror elements. As 2021 wraps up, the game community looks to the horror genre’s future, and there’s already cause for optimism. For instance, one recently revealed indie title is turning a lot of heads:Wronged Us.A project from industry newcomer Delusional Studio,Wronged Usis an open-world horror title where players attempt to survive horrors hiding in every corner of an abandoned town.
It’s no surprise thatWronged Usis already gathering steam. It openly draws inspiration from many highly influential games that came before it. Delusional Studio describesWronged Usas a combination ofDark Souls' open world and quest design,Silent Hill’s atmosphere and storytelling, andResident Evil’s gameplay. That’s a rich concoction of dark games that could put Delusional Studio on the map, but what exactly is this studio? As with every indie developer, the aspirational studio’s origins are just as interesting to contemplate as the game itself. Although there’s not much information about Delusional Studio, its known story is very familiar among indie games.
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The Creator of Wronged Us
TheWronged Ustrailer continues racking up views, which is a testament to the game’s presentation so far. In turn, that speaks to the achievements of Delusional Studio, which are even more impressive sinceWronged Usapparently only has a solo developer. Although the game has reportedly been in development for well over a year, it seems the creator ofWronged Usand Delusional Studio has worked on it alone for a lot of that time. Indie fans are no stranger to impressive solo projects—Toby Fox’s almost completely solo work onUndertale,for instance—soWronged Us' origins are very familiar.
However, it sounds like Delusional Studio is actually in the process of expanding. On the studio’s website, it states that it’s looking for a full team to finishWronged Us' development. Developing a game solo is impressive, but it’s definitely not easy, so it’s pretty rational that Delusional Studio is looking for help. This is a pretty familiar story too. Last year,Phasmophobiatook the gaming community by storm. WhenPhasmophobiastarted early access, it was a solo developer project too, but its creator has hired some help since then.Phasmophobiacontinues to flourishunder the guidance of a growing team, so the same thing could happen for Wronged Us.
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Delusional Studio’s Promising Future
Delusional Studio and theWronged Uscreator’s identity are largely mysteries outside of these facts, which is pretty similar tothe early days ofPhasmophobiatoo. The one thing that’s very clear about Delusional Studio is that its founder has a strong appreciation for classic horror games. The credit it gives toSilent HillandResident Evilisn’t lip service. The decrepit, abandoned city and various mysterious monsters showcased in the trailer make the sources of inspiration perfectly clear. TheSilent Hill-styledsetting and theResident Evilmonsters seem like a strong combination.
Further word on the mind behindWronged Usmay not be around the corner, since the studio says it has a lot of work left to do. Even so, there’s already a lot of hope thatWronged Uswill start developing a strong communitythat the studio can interact with. Response to the trailer has been overwhelmingly positive, and the studio is already picking up followers on its various social media accounts.Wronged Ushas already been set up for success, and Delusional Studio should take heart in the many people interested in what it’s working on. If it delivers onWronged Us,then it could cement its place in the world of indie horror.
Wronged Uswill release in 2023 for PC and consoles.
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