Everything is out to get you in The Axis Unseen, and it's terrifyingly tense

Skyrim, but heavy metal horror. That's how (mostly) solo developer Nate Purkeypile has been pitching The Axis Unseen. And after spending a couple of hours in its Steam Next Fest demo exploring a vast, creepy forest dotted with gargantuan skeletons, while also being hunted down by packs of Werewolves to intense guitar riffs, I can confirm that The Axis Unseen ticks the Skyrim, heavy metal, and horror boxes with ease.

Skyrim's inspiration is immediately obvious when you're first thrust into this mystical open-world, with a trusty bow in hand and the promise of magical powers to come. These similarities perhaps aren't surprising when you learn that Purkeypile is also an ex-Bethesda developer who has worked on the Fallout series, Starfield, and Skyrim itself. While this can make the game look like an ambitious mod for Skyrim at first glance, it doesn't take long for The Axis Unseen's Next Fest demo to unleash its unique folklore-based cosmic horror on you - to terrifying effect.

If you could distil 'tense' into a game, you'd get The Axis Unseen. In theory, you're the hunter, but in practice, I'm screaming as a towering Bigfoot suddenly emerges from the horizon, and hiding between rocky crevices until a Tree Golem finally takes its unbearably slow footsteps elsewhere - begging the wind direction doesn't change so my smell isn't wafted towards another eldritch horror. Instead of breezily killing packs of Werewolves to collect energy and level-up, you might have to sneak around to soften the sound of your footsteps, lining up the perfect shot to conserve limited arrow supplies (that only return to your quiver with a satisfying thunk when you're close enough to where they landed). Or, you might decide to leave the pack and their energy behind, to conserve your short supply of health items. When simply walking might alert a monster, every second of exploration is calculated.

In between fearing for your life, there are beautiful sunsets to admire, heavy downpours to trudge through, and mysterious landmarks to explore. So far, the lore of this Otherworld folklore creature-inhabited plain has primarily been told through journal entries found on suspiciously placed skeletons. But there are also mysteries inferred by simply looking at the horizon: mountains made of horned skeletons, unknown symbols growing from trees, abandoned altars and shacks. Even if you don't care about why you're hunting down these monsters, it's hard to ignore just how cool everything looks while you're doing it. Better make that two ticks for the heavy metal box, actually.

Maybe there's more explicit story and gameplay challenges made clearer later in a playthrough, but when not running away from monsters during the demo, I could see that killing one of each is the main goal. Once you've bravely downed one, their statue and accompanying journal entry get added to your collection in a very Stonehenge-inspired safe area, accessed through various portals placed throughout the land. This is also where you level-up to improve things like health and sneaking capabilities, and where you restock arrow and health supplies after getting slapped to death by a Tree Golem and its friends.

It may sound simplistic, but the appeal of becoming the hunter, not the hunted, is a tantalising motivator. Perhaps you'll stumble on a new type of arrow while working towards that portal in the distance, or maybe retreating and finding another way around a pack of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) leads to the discovery of a new power. With new powers, you unlock new abilities, such as gaining a glowing mark on your hand to see if a monster is close by, raising the ground to get a better shot at your prey, and tracking their scent in a rewarding role reversal.

For now, I still feel more like the poor hunted, though. I can take on a common Horned Beast or two without fear, but the second a Tree Golem drags its roots my way, it's a speedy exit in the opposite direction and a silent prayer that my footsteps don't alert anything worse. Once I upgrade how many fire arrows I can hold, and increase my health so I can survive more than one branchy-slap, I can't wait to add that Tree Golem to my collection of statues and feel a little less like prey. Until I encounter the next folklore monstrosity, that is.