Fear & Hunger

**Fear & Hunger** is a 2018 Finnish game developed by Miro Haverinen, under the pseudonym "orange", using the RPG Maker MV program. Set in a 16th-century dark era, one of the four playable characters is entering the "Dungeon of Fear and Hunger" in order to reach into the deepest route, encountering such traps, humans, and monsters inside the dungeon.

## Gameplay

The game incorporates genres such as dark fantasy, role-playing game, survival horror, dungeon crawler, and immersive simulation. Before the start, players can choose one of the four playable characters as "class-specific":

* The Mercenary (**Cahara**)
* The Knight (**D'arce**)
* The Dark Priest (**Enki**)
* The Outlander (**Ragnvaldr**)

Each one playable character, depending on player's choice, will acquire S-ending if the game's exclusive quest is completed without performing a marriage.

### Battle System

Like most RPG Maker games, the game acquired role-playing elements with the use of first-person turn-based system, but with an improved version of role-playing mechanic in the style of survival horror games.

### Dismemberment

According to Haverinen, dismemberment is a core mechanic of both the battle system and on-screen scenes, which is applied to all characters. Each two types of dismemberment are "self-amputation" and "self-harm", allowing to keep the characters barely alive.

### Marriage

* Any human characters who have joined the party can perform a marriage in the ritual circle, it will show two of them nude and have sex on-screen. As it continues having sex, their bodies were permanently merged into a "marriage of flesh" between the protagonist and another party member under the name "Marriage", with status and abilities increased.
* Another version of "Marriage" found in unused ritual circle, which it takes a second form between "Marriage" and another party member at the same time; it will become more obscured version of "Marriage" under the name "Abominable Marriage", even better than the original.
* Some characters, including undead, refused to offer a marriage.

NOTE: Players chose the "Pray" option before making love will be resulted as a "failed" marriage, getting a Game Over screen.

## Premise

> "Four misfortuned adventurers dwell deeper and deeper to the darkness and uncover the secrets this ancient fortress holds inside. The fortress works as an ancient nexus for different planes of existence. The depths are in an eternal turmoil as both old and new gods struggle for power, it’s up to the players to choose their position and stance in all of this."
> - Miro Haverinen, creator of Fear & Hunger
>
>

## Endings

*Main article: [Ending Guides in F&H wiki.gg]*
It features multiple endings depending on player's choice.

### **Ending A - The God of Fear & Hunger**

The muted girl needs to keep alive and bring her to the very end, unless you have to cut three purple hearts and reach through "The Heart of Darkness", it will encounter a final fight with an ending-exclusive battle antagonist of the same name.

### **Ending B - The Older One**

Same as the first normal end, but the muted girl is omitted in this end. All you need to reach through the mouth of the God of the Depths until the bottom, it will encounter a final fight with an ending-exclusive battle antagonist, **Gro-goroth**.

### **Ending C - The Yellow King**

Le'garde needs to be alive and keep him in their party, which only requires to reach the city of Ma'habre, get the souls and еnter the Golden Temple, then kill Francóis. After that, the player can sit on the Throne of Ascension — allowing them to teleport the party into The Void, where the player must reach the Yellow King, encountering a boss fight if it refused his offer.

### **Ending C-II - The Prophecy**

Same as Normal End C, but instead of fighting Le'garde, the player must kneel before him once in The Void, so it will let the player escape the dungeons.

### **Ending D - A New God**

Same as Normal End C, but without Le'garde, you will encounter a new, godly version of their character. It will ask a few questions. There are several ways you choose to rule as a new god, but whichever answer is chosen.

### Ending E - Escape?

The easiest way of getting this ending without encountering battles if you need D'arce with Leg Guards as needed to break doors easily through the seventh floor, only to find Le'garde and escape the dungeon with him before leave through the starting area, optionally joins with Le'garde or leave it alone.

### Ending S - Happy ending

Playing as Cahara, you must find all three treasures from the maps of Isayah in Ma'habre; the last one of which lets the mercenary obtain the "King's Crown".

### Ending S - The True God of Fear and Hunger

Playing as D'arce, you must find Le'garde dead and then resurrect him with the "Rebirth of the Beloved" spell*.*

### Ending S - The Enlightenment

Playing as Enki, the player must befriend Nosramus and acquire the "Soul Anchor", then continue the same path as Ending D.

### Ending S - The God of Ultra-Violence

Playing as Ragnvaldr and obtain every single specific soul in the game, meaning having to face almost every difficult encounter possible, needing several "Empty Scrolls", and having to solve the tomb statue puzzle.

**NOTE**: Four S-endings are character-specified, allowing to pick one and can be achieve only in **Hard Mode**. Forming marriage is impossible to acquire through the end.

## Development

*Fear & Hunger* was programmed on the RPG Maker MV engine; developed and designed almost solely by Miro Haverinen, over the course of two years.

The idea for the game was born during school days when he would propose morally awkward hypotheticals to his classmates that would all take place in a morbid dungeon. The first demo of *Fear & Hunger* served as the practical portion of Haverinen's academic thesis. Haverinen has stated that the inspiration for the game came from a desire to create a sensation of relentless darkness and experiment in different way to evoke hopelessness and horror.

### Inspirations

Video games such as *Silent Hill*, *Amnesia: The Dark Descent*, *Nethack*, the *Souls* games and *Mortal Kombat*, while others include *Hellraiser* and *Berserk*; all served as inspirations for the game.

### Unused

*Main article: [F&H Unused Graphics]*
Some aspects of the game, including a tentacle monster boss battle and swimming sections, were cut during the development. Also, some graphics were omitted and unused in the final version of the game, which only found in the game's files.

* Le'garde was initially as a playable character, with such graphics like "performing marriage" and "death screens" like the other four playable characters, is largely omitted in the final.
* Some of the unused enemy graphics are greatly different from the final.
* Character arts were concepted but unused in the final.
* Using a "Penance Armor" to participating an orgy with the Bunnymasks is omitted in the final.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ranarif (8 March 2019). Interview with Miro Haverinen, the creator of the dark RPG Fear & Hunger.