Would You Kindly Spill Your Blood? - Crisol: Theater of Idols by Vermila Studios

In an alternative 20th-century Spain, you play as Gabriel, a captain recruited by the Sun God to hunt down the God of Tides. Your enemies are wooden marionettes without strings, your weapons reload using your own blood, and the city of Tormentosa lies in ruin beneath dark, rain-soaked skies.

Welcome to Crisol: Theater of Idols. 

She's sad, but she's not playing.

It might come as a shock (ha), but one of my favorite game series is BioShock (by 2K Games). These games explore the consequences of Objectivism - particularly self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism. I replay the series every couple of years, even though I already know the story and have unlocked most of the achievements. Crisol: Theater of Idols feels like a love letter to those games, but with a distinctly Spanish and religious flair.

First, let’s talk about atmosphere. The environments are stunning, filled with towering buildings and ornate manors. The level design guides you through the story in a deliberate way, giving you time to explore and appreciate the craftsmanship. There are also plenty of nods to BioShock - for instance, I noticed bottles scattered throughout the world that reminded me of the Vigors from BioShock Infinite. The sound design is particularly interesting, often blurring the line between creaking structures and lurking enemies, which adds to the tension.

Next, enemy design. There isn’t a huge variety of enemies, but that fits the setting. The story takes place in a single town, and your primary foes are wooden puppet-like figures that move in jerky, unnatural ways, often lunging forward to attack. There are variations - flying cherubs armed with crossbows, explosive types, and more. There are also a few outliers, like strange crawling water creatures that move through paintings, along with several boss encounters. Some players might find the limited variety repetitive, but it didn’t bother me - it’s no different from other games that reuse enemy types (looking at you, Splicers, and certain Resident Evil creatures).

The most compelling gameplay mechanic is the balance between health and ammunition. There is no traditional ammo in this game. Instead, you reload your weapons using your own blood - each reload causes spikes to emerge, costing you health. This forces you to carefully manage your resources. I found myself in situations where I didn’t have enough health to reload, but the game provides a fallback in the form of a knife, which requires occasional sharpening depending on upgrades. I loved this system - it adds a constant sense of urgency, especially during boss fights.

I did encounter a few performance issues on the Steam Deck, mainly frame rate drops. However, they weren’t severe enough to make the game unplayable. The game clearly benefits from being played on a larger screen to fully appreciate its visuals, but since I was recovering from surgery, the Deck was my go-to.

Overall, if you’re a fan of first-person shooters - especially the BioShock series - this is definitely worth your time. It’s available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.

And remember: when the rain falls endlessly and the Sun God calls on you to do his dirty work, I’ll be here with another recommendation whenever you need it.