One-Eyed Likho Review

If you look into the history of folklore stories and fairytales, you’ll discover that there is a deep and foreboding undercurrent of darkness that, over the years, has been all but eradicated in favour of bedtime stories for children. Some cultures have more darkness than others, and Slavic folklore and fairy tales tend to err on the darker side of the spectrum. 

These Slavic tales take center stage in One-Eyed Likho, a first-person horror adventure game by Morteshka. If you know Slavic fairytales, the name alone will be enough to instill a sense of fear into you. Likho is the embodiment of evil fate and misfortune, and there’s plenty of both in this gorgeous and terrifying game. 

A warning against seeking evil

The story of One-Eyed Likho begins with a questionable and, frankly, dumb decision made by a blacksmith. The Smith has led a relatively easy life and has never known or encountered evil, so in his drunken state, he sets out in search of it. He meets The Tailor, who joins him on this ill-advised journey, and they go off on an adventure that probably should have been avoided in the first place. 

And thus begins One-Eyed Likho, with The Smith leading the charge towards what he believes is true evil and The Tailor tagging along, for no other discernible reason than he was probably feeling a little bit bored. Along the way, you’ll need to solve puzzles, navigate dark and twisted locations, and at times, run for your life. 

And throughout it all, the threat of Likho is hanging over your head, as well as constant references and imagery of other Slavic creatures, such as Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged hut. 

Let the darkness burn

One of the biggest and most daunting elements of One-Eyed Likho, aside from the obvious enemy in Likho, is the darkness that surrounds you everywhere you go. The game is entirely in black and white, so the black of the darkness is all the more stark against the varying tones of grey that otherwise take up the screen. Shadows are deep, and your mind starts to play tricks on you. 

Your only way of fighting off the darkness is with a box of matches that seems never-ending, not to mention waterproof, but it’s hard to complain about the lack of realism in that aspect when these little matches are the only tool in your arsenal. They’re used to light up the world around you, and they’re used to burn both idols and obstacles as you explore. 

The theme of fire is everywhere in the game itself, but there are also multiple achievements associated with the element. Burning a certain number of objects, or a certain number of specific objects. Want my advice? Burn everything that can be burned and leave nothing spared. It’s weirdly cathartic. 

I take a keen interest in Slavic folklore, for a variety of reasons, and the combination of The Smith and his use of fire reminds me of the story of Svarog, a Slavic god associated with both blacksmithing and fire. Perhaps this is a coincidence, but with the emphasis on Slavic folklore in One-Eyed Likho, I somehow doubt that to be the case. 

Stories unlocked through puzzles

While they probably won’t be the main focus of your efforts while you explore the darkness in One-Eyed Likho, there are multiple puzzles to solve as you progress through the story. For the most part, these take the form of locked chests that require a four-digit code to unlock. 

This code can always, without exception, be discovered by looking around the area immediately surrounding each chest. For instance, one will require you to count the prongs on forks that are embedded in the ceiling nearby, while another will require to count the glowing eye sockets in a towering pile of skulls.

While there are some puzzles that must be solved in order to progress the story, these chests will never be one of those puzzles. They’re purely side content, and each chest will add a tale to the Book of Worlds. There are Slavic tales, of course, but also others like Homer’s Odyssey and The Thousand and One Nights. 

Not for those with a nervous disposition

There are different types of horror games out there. Some are purely psychological, instilling fear through suggestion alone. Others rely on in-your-face jump scare moments that have you screaming and running for your life. One-Eyed Likho is both, except you never know which type it will be at any given moment. 

At any time, you could be relatively happy as you explore a seemingly innocuous and apparently safe area, only to turn around and find something directly behind you that wasn’t there before. On the flip side, you can enter into a room that seems ripe with the opportunity for jump scares, only to find that you’ve been on the edge of your seat for no reason because absolutely nothing happens. 

In this sense, One-Eyed Likho is perfectly balanced, and the horror aspect of the game is done incredibly well. You’re kept guessing and uncertain at every turn, which adds to the psychological aspect, but you’re also rewarded with massive moments of direct fear when something big happens. 

The music, provided by Mikhail Shvachko, only adds to this tension. While it is undoubtedly eerie and strangely beautiful to listen to, it seems to crescendo at random, and the slow build-up to these moments has you waiting for something to happen. Sometimes you’ll be jump-scared, other times you’ll be left waiting, but either way, the score is exceptionally creepy. 

How do you want to see things?

One-Eyed Likho offers all of the settings you’d expect from a game of this type. You can change the brightness, volume, resolution, subtitle language, and everything else that you could possibly want. But One-Eyed Likho also offers something a little different: The chance to change the entire feel of the game with a filter. 

By default, the filter is set to “Likho”, a high contrast black and white. But if you’re not feeling that, you can change it to one of three others. Rather than try to describe them all, I believe a visual comparison would be best here:

Each filter creates a whole new experience, and both Cursed Film and Zenith Photo Lens add a grainy effect that makes the game feel like found footage. Having the ability to switch between these filters at any time means that you can switch things up, or even use specific filters (such as Zenith Photo Lens) to help you see in darker areas. 

Regardless of which filter you choose to use, the graphics of One-Eyed Likho are gorgeous. 

At least I have a friend

While it can, at times, feel like everything in One-Eyed Likho is out to kill you or do you harm, you do at least have a (mostly) constant companion in The Tailor. Sure, he does go missing at times and, eventually, everything except his head is lost after a particularly horrible encounter with Likho, but he’s there. 

Even after he ends up as a head on spider legs (I’m not even going to try and explain how you end up at that point, you’ll just need to see for yourself), he’s exceptionally chatty and somehow helps to lighten the mood. He’s also useful, at least after he becomes part arachnid, able to squeeze through tiny gaps or climb up the walls to reach places that you can’t. As an arachnophobe, my pleasant feelings toward him are, admittedly, conflicted.

Still, it is reassuring, in a way, to have this creepy little companion at your side as you delve deeper into the realm of Likho and encounter more horrible things. Being alone down there would be infinitely worse. 

One-Eyed Likho is not for the faint of heart, but it’s a gorgeous trip into Slavic folk stories and fairytales that will have you captivated from start to finish. With stunning graphics that can be tuned to your preference and a soundtrack that will haunt you for weeks, this is one of the best horror games of 2025.