Luto Review
Luto is a tense, creepy exploration of grief.
Luto. Credit: Broken Bird Games / Selecta Play
Spanish indie studio Broken Bird Games’ debut title Luto delivers a genuinely unsettling psychological horror experience. The narrative-focused game deals with themes of grief and loss as you embody a character trapped in their own home.
After a couple of what seem to be normal days where the protagonist gets ready for work each morning, things quickly get weird. Suddenly, you’re unable to leave, and the house begins to transform. The multi-level home becomes a labyrinth that defies space and time, with rooms that shift and hallways that don’t lead to where they should, sometimes turning the house into an endless loop. What should feel familiar and safe quickly becomes foreign and threatening.
Luto. Credit: Broken Bird Games / Selecta Play
Luto builds genuine dread through its atmosphere rather than relying on jump scares. Broken Bird understands that true horror comes from sustained unease, not sudden jolts. The longer I spent in the game, the deeper that dread became, and it was wonderful. The game takes some clever turns into the meta-textual as you progress that I won’t spoil.
Built in Unreal Engine, Luto looks stunning on PS5 with photorealistic environments that make the game all the more unsettling. The game performed wonderfully on my console.
Luto. Credit: Broken Bird Games / Selecta Play
Luto succeeds as an emotionally honest exploration of grief and mental health. It's a promising debut that marks Broken Bird Games as a studio worth watching.
Luto is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: PS5
