Plead with the Mountain God
A downloadable game for Windows
Plead with the Mountain God is a somber dark fantasy/horror-themed platformer made for the Haunted PS1 Summer of Screams Jam.
Survive the perilous climb and plead with the mountain god to resurrect your beloved.
Features:
- Climb the ancient towers built to reach an age-old god.
- Collect "hearts", the essence of those that came before you, in an effort to appease the god.
- Talk to people who have decided to stay at the mountain.
- Pray for the mountain god's favor and receive his gifts.
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The game was made with a Playstation controller in mind, but supports both PS4 and Xbox One controllers. Xbox 360 (and other similar) controllers will also most likely work.
Mouse and keyboard are also supported (but there are no rebindable keys, unfortunately).
The game doesn't have any saving, so exiting the game (or going back to the main menu) will reset everything. An average playthrough should take around 30-60 minutes, maybe slightly more if you explore the whole map.
You can check both controller and keyboard controls in the options menu.
Here is a list of the (Playstation) controls and what they correspond to on a keyboard:
| Right Stick | Mouse | Camera Control |
| Left Stick/D-Pad | WASD | Run/Navigate Menus |
| x | Space | Jump/Confirm or Select in Menus (E and Enter also work in menus) |
| △ | E | Interact |
| ○ | C | Crouch/Back in Menus (Esc also works in menus) |
| □ | V | Claw |
| Start ('Options' on PS4) | Esc | Pause/Unpause Game (Esc also exits menus) |
| H (only on keyboard) | Show Current Hearts (hearts can also be seen in the pause menu) | |
| Tab while the game is paused (only on keyboard) | Super secret screenshot mode | |
| Alt+Ente (only on keyboard) | Toggle full-screen mode) (since version 1.0.1.) |
Feel free to ask any questions about the game, or game development in general as well!
Bug reports are also welcome.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
Comments
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great game with beautiful old gothic atmosphere!
Such an excellent game! I encountered one bug that made me restart (falling from a height into the large pool under the first tower made me fall through the map) Other than that issue it was amazing! both endings were great. I'm so checking out plead to the elder gods.
would kill for a save function as I have never actually completed this game but other than that- moody, tragic, and gory; love it.
Thank you! I'm really glad you like it!
Unfortunately I don't think I'll be updating this project further (for various reasons, but mostly time), but I understand the desire for a save function for sure.
understandable. hope you're doing well!
i did a speedrun of the game i enjoyed it so much
really good game fun and interesting i almost got all the hearts but oh well still really enjoyed it
Hey so I finally just got all 30 hearts and I still got the 2/2 ending? I am very confused, I was really excited to finally see ending 1 but that didn't happen. Could anyone maybe explain why?
Hi, thanks for playing!
This is a case where more testing would have been ideal.
You only need most of the hearts (20, if I remember correctly) for the "good" ending. If you find less than that, you get the other ending.
I thought it would be nice not to have to find every single one and still get the better ending, but as you and some other players have proven, players tend to think you need to find them all, which makes things needlessly confusing.
I hope that makes sense. We'll certainly keep this in mind for our next game ^^,
-Jay
This was great. I do feel like it would look better without the scanline filter, but I respect the decision to have it on.
Thank you!
The graphics are very subjective for sure. We will most likely add options to customize at least some things like that to our next game, but for this one, it sadly isn't an option. Thanks for playing either way!
Without a doubt, this is an amazing game. I really liked the ambience, the gameplay, and especially the look that refers to the nostalgic times of the PSX. Congratulations on your work and I can't wait for the sequel.
Thank you! And thank you for playing! :)
I really want to finish your game, but when I look at the castle my fps drops from 60 to 9
Thanks for letting us know!
I'm sorry the game isn't very optimized. As a jam game, we didn't really go back to it after the few initial bug fixes.
There's going to be a small update to fix a few bugs and other problems soon (can't say the exact date yet, but I'm working on it right now). I'll take a look and see if I can address this issue and get it to run at least a little bit better.
There will be an announcement here on Itch and on Twitter (http://twitter.com/potentiallyodd) once it's live.
-Jay
No problem. Wasn't your upcoming game expanding upon this Jam one?
The updated version I was talking about earlier (version 1.0.3.) is available to download right now. I wasn't able to test it on lower-end machines, so I'm not sure how much it actually improves performance, but I did some optimizations. Feel free to try it, but don't feel obligated to :)
Yes, Plead with the Elder Gods is basically a sequel. It will have many of the same gameplay elements (platforming, exploration, metroidvania-like upgrades and progression) as well as similar thematic elements. The full game is still a long way off, but we're working on a demo right now. I think people who like/are interested in Mountain God will also enjoy Elder Gods.
-Jay
I don't know what you did Jay, but it's running like butter :)
Awesome, that's great to hear!
Thanks for letting us know, and thanks for playing! :)
-Jay
I was just done the game, the game was really good and kinda sad.
I hope there are more games like this, i will say good job.
Thank you! "Really good and kinda sad" is pretty much what we were going for :D
We're working on another one: https://potentially-odd.itch.io/plead-with-the-elder-gods
We also have a Steam page in case you want to help us out and wishlist there :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1689470/Plead_with_the_Elder_Gods/
Saw a playthrough of this game on Alpha Beta Gamer! I love the atmosphere and SotC vibes, and am excited for all your future projects!
Cool! Thank you very much :)
Genuinely impressed the whole way through. Each upgrade was delivered in a satisfying way and put to use smartly. Really loved this, ill definitely have to keep an eye out for your other works!
Thank you, that's great to hear! :)
If you want to keep up with what we're doing, the best place at the moment is probably my Twitter (@yanneyanen), as well as @oddcarola. We'll also be posting more stuff to @potentiallyodd in the future.
New games will of course come to itch (and hopefully Steam), but it will probably be a while, since our next project is a bigger one.
Great game in every aspect except one, and it's sort of minor. A shadow that is always below you to make it easier to see where you will land would make some platforming segments less frustrating.
Thank you!
I actually tried to get a shadow to appear directly below the player at one point, but I didn't manage to make it work the way I wanted it to before the jam deadline. This is something we're thinking about for our next game (or at least some sort of indicator as an option, like in Crash 4).
I just posted the first small bit of gameplay from the new game on Twitter last Saturday in case you want to take a look: https://twitter.com/yanneyanen/status/1390979393556602880
-Jay
Lookin real good, I'm definitely keeping an eye open for it.
I just did a review of #TheFirst15 minutes of Plead with the Mountain God (see link below), and I love it! Will try to do a more thorough playthrough in the future, but in the meantime keep up the good work!
My video on Plead with the Mountain God.
Grade A stuff. Your take on Souls-game mechanic is brilliant. Loved it!
Thank you! That's great to hear! :)
This game is AMAZING!!!!
I really hope to see more of this from you all. I love all the talks with the npc's, very immersive, hope to see more of this universe and more to play!!!!!
Thank you very much! We're glad you liked it!
We are thinking of making something similar (maybe a more polished remake of sorts, or a game in the same universe, or something like that) in the future, but no concrete plans as of yet :)
To enable new platforms through a gift by the god felt genius. I really liked your game!
Thank you! Glad to hear it :)
I loved it! The platforming felt great and never felt too challenging. The layout of the map was nicely done, I really liked the slightly snowy/foggy atmosphere. I hope to see this idea expanded one day!
Thank you! We would love to expand on the idea as well! No concrete plans as of yet, but it's certainly a possibility at some point in the future :)
How to change resolutions?
There is no way to change the resolution, but the game should automatically stretch to fit your screen vertically (the aspect ratio is always 4:3).
Ok thanks. Sadly i just will play when i get a better pc, because in that resolution my elder pc have low fps T_T
Sorry to hear that! Sadly as game jam game, there was not much time to worry about optimizing performance (or adding graphics options) :/
Really good ! Too bad it's only one hour long I wish there were more but it's already great as it is.
Thank you! It's great to see that people are enjoying it.
We have talked about making an expanded remake of sorts at some point in the future, but since it's only an idea at this point, we can't really give any details.
awesome game! i grew up in a nintendo household so i never really played ps1 style games. normally i hate platforming games but theres something so satisfying about the platforming of This game! it was honestly calming to me LOL. the jumps feel so good if youre using a controller. and the gameplay was very straightforward, with the perfect amount of a challenge.
Thank you, that means a lot! Thanks for playing :)
This is a beautiful piece of art. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this game. Any plans to build upon this concept? I hope so- this game is great! Thank you!!
Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!
We have talked about making a longer, more polished game based on the same idea, but no concrete plans yet! It was really fun to make this, so it's possible we will do something like that at some point in the future. Even if we don't, many ideas from this game will most likely carry over to some of our other future projects in some way.
Awesome! Thanks for the reply. The atmosphere was amazing and I can't express how much I appreciated the ominous and eerie vibes. Sometimes the scariest games are the ones without jumpscares, but a gripping and mysterious story. Thanks again!
Show post...
LOVE RETRO PSX
Thank you! :)
This is such a fun little game. Great fun. Thanks for making this
Thank you, thanks for playing! :)
This game was awesome. Reminded me of a little game called Ico from the ps2 era. Absolutely loved this. Got ending 2/2. Will play again soon and go for one. I'm assuming I need all the hearts? Ah I'll figure it out. Awesome game. Thanks for making it. Truly inspired me even.
Thank you, that's awesome to hear!
I'm fine with giving away the conditions for each ending, but I'd rather not do it here in case people who are about to play read the comments and don't want to see that information :)
(If you're interested, you can ask me on Twitter, or by email:
)
-Jay
Wow, just wow. What an absolutely impressive display of level design, animation, and sound design. I am floored that this was made just for this jam. Congrats!
Thank you very much! :)
how to minimized the full screen game?
I had some problems with getting the aspect ratio to work so it doesn't stretch (since it's 4:3), so as a quick fix I made it full screen only. You should be able to alt+tab out of the game, but unfortunately I'm not sure if minimizing is possible at the moment.
I'm working on a bug fix update (should be uploaded later tonight), I'll see if I can make it possible!
-Jay
ok and i was trying to capture this on streamlabs but it wont capture it only captures the stuck picture of it..
I used Streamlabs to record my developer commentary playthrough. If game/window capture doesn't work, display capture certainly should (that's what I used).
-Jay
this was great! i got ending 2/2 and will go back to try to see what 1/2 gets me :)
Thank you! If you didn't already try the other ending, I would suggest closing the game completely before playing again. Players have noticed some bugs when you play the game again from the main menu after credits. I'm working on a post-jam bug fix update, which I'll hopefully release tomorrow.
(edit: version 1.0.1. is now available for download)
-Jay
Absolutely loved the game! The PS1 aesthetic is perfect for the world and tone of this game. While it's not really scary, it is so much more enjoyable than the just scare/walking sims that are all over the horror page of this site. Here's my full playthrough of the game! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/727870906
Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it! It was cool seeing you play! You had some great observations.
About all of the ghosts being robed dudes: it was simply for time reasons (I only had so much time to dedicate to modeling and animating, and I didn't want to use the player model, or the girl). Shortcuts and/or checkpoints are a bit sparse for the same reason.
As for the graphics question you posed near the start of the stream: for this game, I absolutely started by wanting to make PS1-style graphics. I have always loved the look of the games of that era, and I think it's especially suitable for horror-themed games, because more can be left to imagination :)
-Jay
Are there jump scares and such in here or no? I'm unsure with the tags and just looking at the game images.
No jump scares, no enemies even (unless you count platforming challenges and death by falling). Just a grim world, and a couple of scenes that you could consider body horror. It's more about the bleak atmosphere and a simple (but hopefully effective) story than trying to make you jump out of your seat.
I actually added a 'no-jumpscares' tag based on your question, since I think a lot of people would be interested in that information when it comes to horror games :)
-Jay