The Sorrowvirus from eastasiasoft is a first-person puzzle experience on PlayStation. Learn more in our The Sorrowvirus review!

 

The Sorrowvirus from eastasiasoft is a first-person puzzle experience on PlayStation. It’s a Rated M for Mature adventure in which you’ll take on the journey of one Wyatt Heyll. He’s a young man who’s been stricken with several ailments from an early age. When he was close to dying, his parents decided to administer him a dose of a paranormal substance known as the Sorrowvirus. This substance contaminates the soul and prevents it from moving onto the afterlife, remaining in purgatory. In theory, this can allow the subject to heal and recover to return to life. Unfortunately, every time that Wyatt returns, he relives the same cycle in which his cancers and other illnesses return… even quicker than before.

To learn the whole story – and try to save Wyatt – you’ll have to replay the game several times. Each new loop you play after getting the first ending will have new graphical elements and new information and clues to lead you forward. New locations will also be made available to you to explore, especially during the third and fourth runs, where you’ll be able to use the new clues you find to reach new areas where new recordings and new information will be waiting for you.

 

Once you gain control of Wyatt, you’ll walk with the left analog stick as you look around with the right one, interacting with the Square button. Notes you find can either be inside of a blue folder – which means they’re important and mandatory – or on their own, which means they’re optional. You will interact with digital recorders, which will allow you to learn more about what is going on. After interacting with one, you’ll notice a peculiar symbol that you can now interact with. Do this, and you’ll be transported to a new location on the other side.

You should also interact with every grandfather clock whenever you find one. They will help Wyatt keep track of time, which is important for him since otherwise, he will age very quickly and perish. These grandfather clocks will also act as a checkpoint to save your progress. If you need to run to speed things up, press and hold down the R2 button. To crouch, press the L2 button as needed.

 

As for the type of puzzles you’ll have to solve, since this is a short experience with multiple endings, I don’t want to spoil things for you. I will discuss the first puzzle in the game so that you can get a better idea of what you’ll have to do. You’ll reach a room in the first new area that requires you to find a lighter to light up some candles. The tricky part is that the location of the lighter is randomly generated for every run, so you’ll have to go back and explore each area to find the lighter before you can progress.

Light up the candles, and you’ll see a cutscene and then hear some dialogue after going up the stairs. Since nothing has changed in the previous two rooms, you’ll be forced to head back downstairs, and it’s then that you’ll notice that the room below has changed, expanding to reveal a new area to explore. The importance of lighting up candles and finding special candles and dolls will be a constant during your time with The Sorrowvirus, as will be the randomization part of the equation since, for every run, these objects will be at different spots.

 

Along with the puzzles, you’ll also find some enemies in The Sorrowvirus. A couple of them will show up as jump scares during the first half of the game. During the second half, you’ll find them in the new areas you explore. You’ll learn that their skin can burn yours, which is why touching them is a big no-no. You’ll get to hear an audio message that mentions that a single cut from a paranormal entity will doom you, corrupting your body. If you’re injured by one of them, then you’ll turn into an anomaly. More enemies will show up during subsequent runs as you unlock new endings.

There are four endings in the game, and four gameplay loops, which means you’ll have to play through it at least four times. Since each run can take you around 30-40 minutes, you’re looking at a little over 2 hours to see everything that the game has to offer so that you can get a new Platinum trophy for your collection. It’s a short list with 4 Silver trophies and 10 Gold trophies. As expected, there are four trophies tied to completing the four different gameplay loops, which does not mean you need to get four different endings between said runs. The rest of the trophies will be for finding all recorders, locating a couple of secret rooms, and getting the game’s true ending.

The Sorrowvirus is an interesting first-person puzzle experience with a dark theme and premise – hence why it’s a Rated M for Mature game. You can get The Sorrowvirus on PlayStation as a Cross-Buy title with a $14.999 asking price, so you’ll get both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game.

Disclaimer
This The Sorrowvirus review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by eastasiasoft.