*CONTENT WARNING!*: Fear & Hunger is an extremely grimdark game with plenty of content some may find upsetting. The game contains scenes of mutilation, sexual violence, body horror, exposed genitalia (both heavily deformed varieties as well as the occasional nude though not really graphic human sprite), drug use and themes of suicide and mental breakdowns. Essentially if it seems like a really edgy thing to put in a game, Fear & Hunger probably at least references it. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
The Game
Fear & Hunger is a 2018 horror/Role-playing game made in RPG maker with extremely spaghetti custom code, created by Finnish independent developer Miro Haverinen AKA Happy Paintings AKA Orange~. (Mans is like a rapper with all these aliases) Billed as a horror dungeon crawler with roguelike and JRPG elements (though the roguelike aspect is about as tacked on and loose as that term gets), the game is an unholy conglomeration of trial-and-error, buggy coding and edge. Heavily inspired by Berserk, (by orange's own admission and obvious to anyone who has read/seen the series) Fear & Hunger seems to have been made under the impression Darkest Dungeon was too cheery and optimistic and decides to approach the medieval fantasy genre in the most grimdark way imaginable. The usual suspects of permadeath and sanity decay are present, but Fear & Hunger also features the possibility of permanent limb loss, death by infection, states where the game is technically playable but effectively unwinnable, and loads of beginner traps where the only way to realistically get around them is either blunder into them and use the knowledge gained to avoid that in the future, or use a guide. In terms of atmosphere and story content, the game is unashamedly edgy and checks all the boxes you'd expect for a Grimdark game. While my sardonic approach to describing all this might sound negative, I actually really love the game for how much it does not care what people will think of it, and I respect how hard it goes. And if you're willing to put up with the transparently unfair gameplay loop, this game is great fun to delve into and learn about, and is very rich in tension. And I hope to demonstrate why I think it's pretty great to you, the viewer, with this let's play!
The Let's Play
Per my standard, we'll be delving into this game about deep as I can go without dedicating my life to it. We'll be completing successful runs of the game with all characters, obtaining all endings in the standard game, and then obtaining each character specific ending in the game's ultra-sadistic Hard Mode. We'll also be doing at least one playthrough of the parody dating sim mode the game gives you a code for upon completion, though I will not personally commit to every ending you can obtain from that. I will also be sure to show off as many major worthwhile secrets in the game that might be worth routing into a playthrough if you were tackling the game yourself. For anything I don't feel is worth personally going for but I feel is notable enough, I'll likely link to videos from the channel NoCommentary,* a Fear & Hunger fan channel that contains videos for just about any obscure event or secret you could possibly think of contained in both games in the series. With all that being said,
The Videos
*IMPORTANT NOTE*: While a censorship mod does exist for the game, it excises about 30-35% of the graphics from the game. Having to describe what you're supposed to see would get old fast, so I won't be using it. It's also highly impractical for me to censor anything I'd feel worth it personally, as it would turn the videos into an editing nightmare. With that established, these videos will be covering the unmodified game, and thus I will be age-restricting them as to not run afoul of Youtube's guidelines. While I sincerely doubt anyone under the age of 18 will be seeing this thread, it is worth noting you will need a Youtube account with the age tied to the account being 18 or over to actually watch these videos.
Part 1, Institutionalized
Part 2, Barbed Wire
Part 3, Mortal Man
Part 4, Dying of Thirst
Part 5, m.A.A.d City
Part 6, GOD.
Part 7, Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter's Daughter
Part 8, HUMBLE.
Part 9, Rigamortus
Part 10, DNA.
Part 11, FEAR.
Part 12, The Art of Peer Pressure
Part 13, LOYALTY.
Part 14, Money Trees
Part 15, Real
Part 16 (Finale), HiiiPower
Full Let's Play Playlist
Supplemental
Character: The Outlander, Ragnvaldr
Character: The Knight, D'arce
Character: The Dark Priest, Enki
Character: The Mercenary, Cahara
Characters: The Girl and Moonless
Characters: The Prisoner and The Sorcerer*Spoilers!*
Characters: Blood Golem, Ghouls, Skeletons, Marriage and Abominable Marriage*NSFW Imagery*
Characters: The Baby Demon and Kid Demon
Enemies Pt.1*NSFW Imagery*
Enemies Pt.2*NSFW Imagery*
Enemies Pt.3
Enemies Pt.4*NSFW Imagery*
Enemies Pt.5*NSFW Imagery*
Enemies Pt.6
Enemies Pt.7
Enemies Pt.8
Enemies Pt.9
Enemies Pt.10
The Final Enemies
Mechanics: Status Ailments
Mechanics: Limb Loss and Defense
Mechanics: Random Elements
Mechanics: The Hexen
Mini-Mechanics: Soul Stones
Mechanics: Magic
Mechanics: Hidden Skills
Mini-Mechanics: Running From Battle
Mechanics: Difficulty Levels
Mechanics: Endings
Mechanics: The Penance Armor
*Unfortunately, towards the tail end of this LP NoCommentary seemingly hit his own channel with a Dim Mak, rendering any supplemental videos I could pull from it unavailable.
Phobia: This is the indicator an enemy you're fighting triggers your character's phobia, whatever that may be. When a Phobia is triggered, enemy's get a flat 50% damage bonus against you, as well as ignoring 50% of your evasion. The latter is fairly unimportant but the former can easily cause you some problems depending on what you're fighting. There's not really anything you can do about Phobias, they're just something you have to weather in combat. Some Phobias are much more rarely triggered than others though, so certain ones are more desirable to have. There is an accessory that nullifies Phobias so long as you have it equipped, but I would really say it's worth it.
Confused: This one can be a problem. Confused stuns your character for 2 turns, rendering them unable to act. This is a battle only ailment, curing at the end of battle should it still be in effect. Not many enemies in the game can do this to you, but the ones that can also spam it if you're unlucky. There's not too much you can do about this ailment, though some helmets give you immunity to it should you be lucky enough to find them. Always be mindful of things that can hit you with this. You do have the ability to use Confusion on the enemy with a specific spell, and it is absolutely broken if you can maintain the mind cost.
Fracture: Sticks and stones can definitely break your bones in the dungeons of Fear & Hunger. Fracture reduces your maximum Body by 20% when afflicted on you in battle, leaving you with a maximum of 80. Once out of battle, this penalty quickly drops to 4% but is a permanent effect. There is no standard item to cure fracture, and the methods that can cure it require some degree of sacrifice in order to attain. It's definitely annoying to have to deal with, but unfortunately at least one or two of your party members is going to be saddled with this condition before the game is over.
Bleeding: A damage over time effect that persists in and out of battle, Bleeding causes you to lose 3% body in battle, and periodically bleed out and lose Body when exploring the dungeons. This can be cured by using a cloth fragment, or by equipping an accessory that nulls the status, thus removing the ailment. Bleed can be annoying in the early game, but it's not too hard to hoard cloth fragments to treat it, and it becomes a complete non-issue around the mid game. Bleed can be inflicted on the enemy as well, with the same effects in battle as it would be to the player, but it's easily the weakest DoT in the game and one of the most difficult to actually inflict, funnily enough.
Poison/Toxic: A traditional RPG DoT, Poison causes you to lose 10% BP per turn in Battle, while Toxic costs you a staggering 20%. These statuses are actually relatively rare though, so you won't frequently have to suffer them. These can be cured with a White Vial, or with a Red/Green herb mix. There is an accessory that nulls poison, but it is a bad idea to use it as it cannot be removed. Poison is another ailment you can inflict on enemies, and it is devastating towards them if inflicted on their Torso, cause most enemies to keel over in 3 turns due to the way the damage is determined.
Infection: Another common newbie killer, Infection doesn't do anything immediately. Instead, it forces a counter on your character that goes up with every screen transition. After about 7 transitions, Infection will kill your character if not treated. Infection can be purged with Green Herbs, and that's the preferred way to handle it, but Green Herbs are MUCH rarer in this game than the sequel and cannot be purchased. In an emergency, you can use a bonesaw to remove the infected limb... if you have one and are desperate enough to save the run that way. Fortunately there is an accessory that gives you immunity to it, so once you have that it ceases to ever be an issue again.
Blindness: Blindness reduces a character's physical accuracy by a staggering 75% (Magic attacks are unaffacted). Additionally, if your main character has this, the screen in the dungeon is turned to pitch black and you can no longer see where you are going. There is no intended item to cure this, and the only intended way to cure it is the previously referenced one shot methods of curing Fracture, so in most cases getting this on your main character is a game over. That being said, there is a helmet that can prevent the status, and due to the way status resistance is coded for equipment, it actually can also cure blind if you equip it. Pretty funny, I have to say. Blind can also be inflicted on the enemy for the same combat penalty, though it's handled a bit weirdly. It can only be inflicted on the Head, understandably, and the turn it is inflicted it will only reduce the Head's accuracy by 75%. Every turn after, all of the enemy's limbs will have the penalty. Effectively this means that unless the enemy uses a Head based attack, Blind doesn't actually do anything until the turn after it is inflicted. Bear this in mind if you go all in on Blind based attack plans.
Critical State: This one is rare but is a problem waiting to happen when it can be inflicted on you. Critical State is a battle specific ailment that will cause the next attack your character receives to reduce them to 1 BP, regardless of how much they had left. The ailment is purged upon that, and you're left with a character who can die from being sneezed on. There is no way to cure it save for having an accessory that nulls it equipped, so be very cautious when it's in play.
Burning: The final DoT of the game, this one also does 10% damage per turn to you. It is the only DoT the expires upon the completion of a battle, though it can also be cure in battle by using a Water Vial. Once again, there's an accessory that can nullify this. It's fairly rare though, you're not liable to see it come into play outside of fighting Dark Priests. There are number of skills and items you can use to inflict this on the enemies, and like poison it is devastating to enemy torsos. It can also be stacked with poison, resulting in an enemy melting within 2 turns.
Paralyzed: One of the rarest ailments in the game, but boy howdy can it be dangerous. Paralysis is a battle exclusive ailment that causes the afflicted character to skip their turns indefinitely. It cannot be cured save for ending the battle, so if a solo character gets hit by this it is essentially a game over. Thankfully only two enemies in the game can even potentially hit you with this, and they're both uncommon and easy to avoid.
Parasites: An extremely rare form of ailment where the penalty is exclusive the dungeoneering portion of the game, Parasites causes your hunger meter to fill up at double the rate. If anyone sees the later stages of Hunger, odds are they are suffering from this ailment. It's pretty uncommon in terms of being use against you, as only one enemy can do so, but there is the possibility of self inflicting it. Should you be low on food supplies and have to eat raw or rotten meats, you will be given this ailment for your desperation. It can be a bit of a problem since there is only one way to cure it, the dedicated curative potion Worm Juice.
Brain Flower: This is the ailment that functions like the more typical version of Confusion you see in RPGs. A character afflicted with a Brain Flower will have their accuracy reduced by 50% and begin to attack randomly, potentially targeting allies. It can only be cured with Worm Juice, so it can be quite the problem if you get hit by it. Thankfully, it's not too common of an ailment to contend with as more often than not the game gives you layouts upon starting a playthrough that doesn't have any enemies that can even use this against you. Always be wary when you see an enemy with one of these flowers, though.
Severe Anal Bleeding: Oh lord you knew it was coming. If you've heard anything about the mechanics of this game, you've probably heard of this ailment. Severe Anal Bleeding is a rare ailment that is set upon you in rare cases when you lose to a Guard and more commonly a possibility of something a Night Lurch can inflict on you. It can only be cured with the one shot methods for curing Fracture, Blindness or limb loss. If afflicted with it, your character will randomly pause on the field and expel blood from their inflamed orifice. This doesn't actually deal damage, but it happens constantly and locks you in place when it occurs. It can be a problem if you're being chased by something, but typically it's not a game ruiner. The constant fart noises as blood flies out of your anus gets annoying pretty quickly though.
Curse: Curse is a countdown type status effect exclusive to battle. When afflicted on a character, a counter will display over them each turn, starting at 5 and counting down to 0. At the end of the turn it hits 0, the character afflicted will die, no questions asked. This ailment only shows up in two boss fights, and amusingly it's bugged in the first one you can see it and doesn't actually do anything, made extra ridiculous by the fact it would take a whopping 10 turns to die from it with how it is used in the fight. In the more threatening fight where it comes into play at the fight's beginning, it can be cured with a Purifying Talisman though this itself is also bugged and can causes the fight to soft lock if another attempt at cursing a character is made. Basically any time this status comes into play, just focus on winning the fight as quickly as possible since that's the most pragmatic and effective way to clear the status.
Hunger I-V: One half of the game's very title, Hunger is a constant concern when exploring the dungeons. It comes in stages, with each stage carrying harsher penalties. At 30 hunger, you get a warning and no status marker. At 49 Hunger, you reach Stage 1, losing 10% of your maximum Body and having your attack power halved. Stage 2 is at 69 Hunger, reducing your maximum Body to 80%. Stage 3 is at 79 Hunger, and reduces your maximum Body to 70% as well as reducing your attack power to 30%. Stage 4 is at 89 Hunger, reducing your maximum Body to 50%, and disabling your legs, forcing you to crawl. If somehow you don't think to eat at this point, then at 94 Hunger you reach Stage V, being struck blind until you actually eat and having your maximum Body reduced to 30%. Naturally if Hunger reaches 100, then you die of Starvation. Despite all this, you'll seldom ever see anything further than Stage 1 Hunger unless afflicted with Parasites, as the game is relatively generous with food. Going too slow can increase the odds you'll run out of food, but frankly most players will die to other things in the dungeon if they're having trouble before this becomes a problem. Later in the game, there's an easy to obtain infinite food method that essentially eliminates the problem of hunger, though on the higher difficulties it doesn't help much with other resources you need to worry about.
Fear: Here's the other half of the title. To my knowledge, these icons actually never appear anywhere on your status screen or in battle, but the game does consider it an ailment so I may as well mention it. Fear is the result of your mind lowering, and it only really comes in two stages. At 50 mind, your character will gain the option to commit Suicide, ending the game at any moment you feel is appropriate. Should the Mind gauge reach 0, your character is permanently struck with Panophobia, triggering the Phobia penalty against anything that actually triggers a phobia. Aside from that, the game will occasionally flash creepy messages at the bottom of the screen as your mind gets lower. Unlike Termina, there are events that can happen relative to the Mind of your party members, and these events can occur in specific areas when party members have less than 70 Mind. Otherwise, Panophobia is just as real a concern for them, and they also occasionally have creepy messages populate the bottom of the screen when their mind is low.
Stat Buffs: Not all player afflictions are negative in this game! We also do have your standard stat buffs to work with. STR up gives you 50% more attack power, EVA up gives you a flat 50% bonus to your chance to dodge an incoming attack, and SPD up doubles your speed. The last one is very good as it gives your character an Extra turn, taking place after the main combat round finishes. Spd up also increases your odds of success with the non-skill variant of the run command, giving it a 100% success rate against anything you can run from if you're a solo character. It's worth noting that Str up and Eva up only last 5 turns, while Spd up lasts the entire duration of a battle.
Counter: One of the various stance style buffs D'Arce can obtain along with Spd up via Fast Attack, Counter makes it so that when you get attacked (though not necessarily hit, generously enough), you will launch a fully powered reprisal to the limb that attacked you. Not that great honestly as this very rarely allows counters to go to the Torso or Head and instead will often result in an attack going to an arm. This buff is much more useful in the sequel where it is central to a nearly unbeatable combat strategy, but it just kind of exists in this game.
Perfect Guard: Another stance buff, this one makes you immune to limb loss for 3 turns. Pretty solid, though there is a guaranteed form of limb protection you can get as an accessory. Still, this can available from the start of the game and can come in clutch for some emergency situations.
Bloodlust: Absolutely dreadful buff that Ragnvaldr can start with. Bloodlust puts your character in a berserk state, robbing you of control and making them attack random limbs of the enemy. They get a 50% damage boost for this, but it is very rarely worth it. Admittedly, getting access to the standard Str up status is much more inconsistent, but frankly the bonus this provides is so inconsistent and negligible, that it's not at all worth sacrificing your tactical options for. It only lasts for 3-4 turns in contrast to the 5 Str up lasts, and can even be dispelled when you take damage. Terrible skill, only even potentially helpful in a small handful of fights.
Happy/Depressed: Two permanent joke afflictions that don't actually do anything. A certain individual with deep pockets gives you the choice between one of these two mindsets, and you'll retain it for the remainder of the game.
This is an accessory crafted from a recipe obtained from another rare crafting book, in this case the Pinecone Pig Instructions. You can Empty Scroll either the book or the Pinecone Pig itself into your inventory. The Pinecone Pig is simple to craft, requiring a pine cone and a stick to create, and when equipped he has a chance to bring you one of a number of items at the start of a battle. Notably, the Pinecone pig can appear in any fight, including unlosable ones like Doors or the Human Hydra. Thus, the Pinecone Pig can be used as a farming method for a number of valuable items if you have the patience for it. I don't, but some people like it. The odds for the Pinecone pig are as follows:
