YELI OROG – PC Game Review

YELI OROG
Developed and Published by Yeli Orog
Available on Steam for PC

Yeli Orog is a FMV game focused around a mysterious tablet that has been uncovered, detailing the Celtiberian origin myth about how a demonic God named Yeli Orog was released from his dimension into ours. As Johnny Robin, you’ve been tasked to meet with the lead investigator and so travel to Spain to meet him. However, once you land at your apartment, you begin to experience other-worldly visions as detailed from the discovery and begin to wonder if the story of Yeli Orog is truly a myth after all.

Available for Free on Steam, Yeli Orog is a fascinating piece of storytale gaming, utilising Full Motion Video (FMV) to really bridge the gap between what is real and what isn’t real. If you’re unfamiliar with FMV, it’s essentially real life video files, so for instance video shot in an apartment or on a cliff face, that is used in the game instead of CGI vectors or, backgrounds or 3D models. With the myth intertwining with Johnny’s reality, this blend of realism and the injection of other worldly elements reflects the plot of the game and immersed me, as a player, into its narrative.

Yeli Orog is only a short game (1-1.5 hours), but certainly one that has the potential to be grown and expanded upon if the developer was given a bigger budget and timeframe to play with. However, even in its short playing time, the gave has a captivating narrative and easy-to-use navigate-and-click gameplay mechanic that anyone can sit down and enjoy or be thrilled by the story told.

The game itself has no option to Save and is meant to be played on one sit through so make sure to leave yourself an hour or two free to play the game otherwise you may have to resume from the beginning. This is not one of the games you want to rush through on first try either. It’s all about the story and, like a good book, you need to make sure you read what is put in front of you to get the most out of the game.

Apart from clicking objects and arrows to navigate around the surroundings, Yeli Orog does have a typing element which involves each key representing a different symbol. This is quite fun to try and find the correct symbols you need to enter onto the screen to progress through the narrative and is one I haven’t really encountered before. Though I’m not usually a fan of point-and-click games in this manner, usually due to my impatience, Yeli Orog has such a fascinating tale that I wanted to savour every single moment, just like I would with an otherworldly, supernatural film. This typing exercise really includes the player as part of the story and feels like you’re actively making a difference to the storyline.

Yeli Orog is thrilling, claustrophobic and atmospheric, with the use of FMV, narrative gameplay and haunting audio combined to make an intense story-driven horror game.

The developer has shown they are capable at engaging the player in their world and I’m very excited to see what else they have in store for the gaming community.