Traumatarium Penitent, the follow-up game to Eligos’ indie dungeon crawler, brings with it a noticeable improvement over its predecessor to real Game Boy hardware and the ModRetro Chromatic.
During the heyday of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, RPGs reigned supreme. However, due to the limited hardware and screen real estate, dungeon crawlers and choose-your-own adventure-style games were few and far between.
Making its physical release debut on the ModRetro Chromatic, Traumatarium Penitent from Eligos proves that even limited hardware is more than capable of providing a solid dungeon-crawling experience on portable platforms, including the Game Boy. Unlike the 2023 original, Traumatarium Penitent is a more open-ended-feeling approach to an adventure game experience. Instead of featuring different and distinct zones or biomes via a level select screen, Traumatarium Penitent simply drops the player into its game world from the get-go.
“…Traumatarium Penitent from Eligos proves that even limited hardware is more than capable of providing a solid dungeon-crawling experience on portable platforms…”
For those curious about the story, Traumatarium Penitent takes place after the events of the original, with two distinct factions branching off from the Kingdom’s Knights, including the titular Pentinants and the Ebon Legion, the decidedly darker sect of devil worshippers. As a fellow Penitent, you are tasked with investigating rumours of a rebellion, putting players face to face with the scourge of the Ebon Legion.
One of the pitfalls of the original Traumatarium game was, in my opinion, in its marketing, where the game seemed to sell itself as a choose-your-own-adventure game with narrative chops. In reality, however, that game ultimately was fairly light on story. In contrast, the sequel, Traumatarium Penitent, goes full-on adventure mode, featuring a much stronger focus on its moment-to-moment gameplay rather than narrative or other RPG presences.
Traumatarium Penitent’s basic gameplay loop consists of moving from screen to screen, managing your health and vitality, scouring for treasure, fighting random encounters and talking to the occasional NPC or interacting with a totem or reliquary shrine, which can either grant a boon or damage the player character. In other words, like the first game, RNG is a big factor in your success and survival rate while playing through Traumatarium Penitent and its sometimes unforgiving game world. Moving from a screen depletes a single vitality point from the player’s pool, which acts as your hunger meter.
When your hunger reaches 0, the player will start losing health points, which obviously is not ideal. Thankfully, food items, such as fruit and meat, are pretty common and can be found inside crates, inside wagons, dropped by the occasional bad guy, in addition to shelves and interiors of the seldom house or dungeon, and even on the desiccated remains of skeletons inside a dungeon.
“…RNG is a big factor in your success and survival rate while playing through Traumatarium Penitent…”
Like its old-school approach to gameplay, Traumatarium Penitent uses a password-based save system, which generates every time the player enters an inn or rest area. A password system might sound archaic in 2024, but in truth, more than anything, it adds to the retro charm of Traumatarium Penitent. And thanks to the wonders of modern day, simply taking a photo with your phone alleviates having to quickly jot down said passwords, making saving the game a mostly painless experience.
Additionally, as the game only uses a 10-digit cypher, it is easy to enter random characters that end up working, which can be a fun way to see where you end up if you feel like having a truly RNG-fuelled adventure.
Traumatarium Penitent’s aesthetic is where the game truly shines, particularly in contrast to the first game. Large and detailed sprites compose both the NPC and vendors you encounter in the game, in addition to the eclectic enemy variety, including the likes of bandits, skeletons, golem-like warriors, and exotic spell casters, to name a few.
Unlike the first game, which admittedly featured more information on the screen, such as the remaining health pools for both the player and the enemy during battles, Traumatarium Penitent instead uses its limited screen real estate to feature larger and more detailed sprites, forging the enemy’s HP on screen, limiting it to the player HP pool alongside the standard attack, item, and flee command which flanks both sides of the 10:9 display.
“Traumatarium Penitent’s aesthetic is where the game truly shines…”
Playing the game on the ModRetro Chromatic is a joy, with the vibrant monochromatic gradients of the sprites looking sharp and detailed. Plus there is the added benefit of the small screen creating more tension when exploring the often claustrophobic dungeons.
Overall, Traumatarium Penitent is a shining example of what can be done on limited-spec hardware. If I had to nitpick, I do wish the game featured a slightly more robust RPG system, particularly in regard to levelling up and gear, in addition to a more forgiving game over state, such as being able to start from your last inn, instead of having to re-enter the password.
Ultimately, if you’re a fan of old-school RPGs, Traumatarium Penitent is worthy of your time.
