But then that's false advertising because I'm pretty sure that whoever made this did not have access to an unpublished Lovecraft manuscript where the protagonist runs around and kills a bunch of things with a gun - plus a scene in which he examines a dead body, written with absolutely none of the flowery prose Lovecraft was known for.

Well, it is a revenue strategy that is established since quite some time, and a large part of the populace is addicted to video games. It's not going to change anytime soon, i am afraid...

Wait, are you trying to say that opening monster in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 was not the only thing in the movie inspired by H.P. Lovecrafts work?
(I can't tell because i didn't read a single story from that man so far...)

On the subject on Lovecraft and awkwardly placed sexiness, I'm pretty sure there's a hentai game for the PC-98 (I forgot the name) that used Lovecraft as a source material (while also having a lot of Giger stuff going on with it's art direction, because it's a Japanese game from the early 90s, so of course).

Despite my indifference towards visual novels, I think I'd rather give that game a try because it isn't a roguelike and the pixel art is probably good.

I saw the title and thought: Wow, so the failed kickstarter for a Lovecraft-themed mystery game did get other funding after all. And then I saw this game' s genre... You can do so much more with this material.

That's exactly what trope "Death by Sex" means :)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathBySex

Asking to be faithful to source material?
It counts as "elitism"?
We clearly see Silent Hill: Book of Memories situation here
I, personally, don't care. I love me some good rogue-like... Maybe even buy someday.

Great? Nah... Good? Most definitely
Lovecraft was a bit "Poe's fan boy" and old fashioned writer, even for 30s.
Still love it. I don't know why.

Yup. "Necronomicon" by Fairy Tale (1994).
Game was quite faithful to Lovecraft's lore for "simple prOn game".

The banner got a Giger-inspired babe with spike-nipples. The trailer shows shoot-the-baddies gameplay. The dev clearly signals that he doesn't aim to be faithful to the source material. When people complain that the dev didn't succeed in something he didn't even aim for, or even claim that it the title Lovecraft's Untold Stories is (quote) "false advertising" since "whoever made this did not have access to an unpublished Lovecraft manuscript", this sounds pretty much like elitism.

Edit: But sure, it's sad that so few games try to go for a faithful Lovecraft adaptation. But a game should be judged on what it actually aims at, not at what the reviewer would have liked it to aim at instead. Unfaithful Lovecraft adaptations is a genre in itself, like the movie REANIMATOR (1985). It is silly to review a game negatively simply because you don't like the genre.

Well, I'll be giving this one a pass. I wish more people would try for the actual "cosmic horror" feeling of Lovecraft's stories, rather than just using the well-known iconography and 1920s setting, diluting it more and more. This game is the equivalent of one of those cute Cthulhu plush toys they sell at comic conventions. Not clever, not scary, not edgy, not interesting, just a reference for reference's sake. I realize that making a game that captures that feeling is actually really, really hard, but if you're not even going to try, why not use a different inspiration for your game? The game would probably be better for it, as a bonus.

So you don't think it's fair for Lovecraft fans to expect a game that is closely based on the source material, when the authors so boldly titled it "Lovecraft's Untold Stories"? If they want to cash in on the popularity of Lovecraft's creations, then they should also be prepared to be criticized, if they fail to capture the essence of his work. If they just want to create a generic monster shooter game, they could have come up with their own setting. Of course that likely wouldn't attract as much attention, would it?

For the record, I still think this game deserves a chance, but I can certainly see why people have mixed feelings about it, in its current state.

I know that it's just way of saying, but since you used it in reply to me, it, kind of, sounds like it's me, who reviews game negatively.
To clarify: No, it's not me

My initial question is: Isn't adding action to Lovecraftian setting, kind of, missing the point?

At the end, I think if game will be fun, nobody will care what source material was "bastardized" (as some people would say)

Edward Carnby meets Hotline Miami?

Since the legacy of Lovecraft has been mentioned in this thread, maybe this deconstruction of Lovecraft and his universe is of interest to some of you. The novel is Provicence, by Ferré.

It is also an allegory about our currrent world and our reality. Fans of Philip K. Dick might be interested as well.

http://quarterlyconversation.com/from-providence-by-juan-francisco-ferre

You’ll have time later to develop and expand upon your answer, of course; what university did you say hired you? It doesn’t matter. For now, just think about the most essential part of the question, reduce it to its most basic. Are you with them? Against them? Against us?

WARNING

Neonomicon is a comic for adults with scenes of extreme violence and sex.

For me it's totally sick and shouldn't be related to Lovecraft's work or even posted here.

Shows how bored people are nowadays. Horror doesn't need to be straight foward with guts and blood everywhere.
Just like sexuality. Where the main stream culture forgets that tenderness is everything.

It shows how things degraded. From a time with extreme censorship and morality (unacceptable against women), to now where nothing is limited especially on the internet.

A game wich tries bring audience with a disgusting/ revolting description of a cultist among others, is a proof of how bad this game can be (for now I hope).

I'm glad I've reviewed this game to prevent people from wasting money like I did.


N.B: Lovecraft had a terrible ending and his works was fueled by his own despair. His novels were never recognized during his life time. Unfortunatly some of our greatest artists were inspired by their own suffering. That why it's obvious to respect their work even if it falls someday in public domain.

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Alhazred by Donald Tyson is probably the best Lovecraft-inspired tale I've read. Worth a read if you can enjoy reading about a protagonist that isn't really a hero - and quite far from it at times. ;)

I think that in some (or many) cases it's more of a tool for manipulating the audience than any kind of cautionary message - titillate with sex, get them a bit riled up, then shock with violence and gore, yanking them between the two different thrills like some kind of crazy rollercoaster. It seems to work well - whatever critics say, these types of films are popular (and I doubt it's because we're all a bunch of prudes that want to see others punished for being promiscuous). Peter Carroll (iirc) said something along the line of "Sex and death are the two strongest motivators for human beings."

Back to other examples of sex in horror... I don't want to get bogged down with too many specific examples (in part due to the response "That's not good horror" always being available as a dismissal), but here are some diverse examples of well-received horror that employ sexual elements:

Psycho
Hellraiser
It Follows
American Horror Story (Season 1 & 2)
the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact*

*not a horror film per se, but she's one of the more iconic Giger babes, and the film touches on horror in the presentation of the Borg

In a case of Irony, the only page on GoG that gets an internal service error is the new page on Lovecraft. I blame Cthulhu.

Think of it in the same way as how Syndicate fans reacted to the Syndicate reboot being an FPS - "Why slap the name on there if you're not going to respect the source material?"

The main reason it bothers me is that it further contributes to the 'internet meme' version of Lovecraft - the plushies that other commenters have mentioned, webcomics using 'Cthulhu Fhtagn' as a punchline, and nonsense like this: http://images.nintendolife.com/games/switch-eshop/tesla_vs_lovecraft/cover_large.jpg

If the game was called 'Untold Stories of the Mythos' or 'Cthulhu Untold' or whatever then fair enough: it's about the monsters. But putting the man's name on this game is using him as shorthand for what a lot of people think Lovecraft (the writer) is. At best it's ignorant, and being cynical it seems like a lazy and disrespectful cash-in.