King Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was one of the most powerful and influential pharaohs in ancient Egypt. He reigned for 66 years, from 1279 to 1213 BC, during the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom period. While he was known for his military conquests and his ambitious building projects, there is also a significant event in his reign that is often overlooked - the divine punishment. According to historical accounts, King Ramses II experienced a series of misfortunes and calamities that were seen as a divine punishment for his arrogance and pride. The pharaoh was renowned for his vanity and boastfulness, proclaiming himself as the greatest ruler of all time and even claiming divinity. This hubris did not go unnoticed by the gods.
Distribution Box Component
In the break area of the same room as the last collectible.
The Bridge Curse Road to Salvation s strongest elements are the relatable but troubled cast, the unexpectedly complex plot, and a creepy setting that twists a familiar safe space into a walking nightmare. They re hoping to draw attention to their social clubs and plan to focus on a cursed bridge; a bridge said to be haunted by the ghost of a female student assaulted and killed 5 years prior.
This hubris did not go unnoticed by the gods. The divine punishment began with a series of natural disasters that befell Egypt during King Ramses' reign. Plagues of locusts and frogs swarmed the land, causing widespread devastation to crops and resources.
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation (Xbox Series) Review
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation is a clunky but complex and compelling Taiwanese narrative-horror game brought down by an overreliance on trial-and-error gameplay. The opening can feel slow and disjointed, but the story pieces fall into place and it evolves into an entertaining tale about defeating literal and personal ghosts. The problem is just as the cast begins to grow on you and the stakes get higher, the frequency of frustrating ghost encounters ramps up too.
Premise
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation’s strongest elements are the relatable but troubled cast, the unexpectedly complex plot, and a creepy setting that twists a familiar safe space into a walking nightmare.
It helps that while it might look and feel distinctly “last-gen”, it features detailed character models for both the cast and ghosts; important interior locations pack in a ton of environmental storytelling; the ambient audio is incredibly unsettling; and there’s decent voice acting coupled with expressive animations (I’d recommend the original Chinese voice overs with subtitles). The variable framerate leaves a lot to be desired, but the quality of the presentation benefits the storytelling as this is a game you’ll get the most out of if you immerse yourself in its world, soak up the thick atmosphere, and hunt down every collectible to try to understand what’s really going on.
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation follows a group of six Taiwanese undergrads, each with wildly different personalities, backgrounds, and interests – all on course for a really bad night.
What brings them together – and back to a seemingly deserted campus during a winter break – is their plan for a live-streamed initiation ceremony that’ll see them test many urban legends around their campus. They’re hoping to draw attention to their social clubs and plan to focus on a cursed bridge; a bridge said to be haunted by the ghost of a female student assaulted and killed 5 years prior.
The cast is made up of common archetypes but they’re still likeable, or at least relatable, and most have more history than the game initially lets on. There’s the extroverted girl harbouring crippling insecurities and grief; excitable but naive first-years who discover their courage when facing adversity; the mature group leader quick to issue orders but driven by self-interest; and the popular bachelor that has broken several hearts and seems to know more about the situation than they’re letting on.
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation takes a while to get going. The opening – which hints at one character’s troubled past and gives you a taste of the frustration to come – transitions into a midnight live-stream that descends into chaos when the vengeful ghost appears and scatters the group. During this disjointed opening, you play from the perspective of several characters over an overlapping time period.
Although they all believe in the possibility of hauntings, few of them encounter ghosts at first, so these opening hours are spent establishing their personalities and relationships with plenty of exploration, dialogue, and puzzles. The tone and content matter is serious – albeit with some goofy moments and literal toilet humour – but lengthy dialogue sequences, reading phone messages, and examining dozens of optional collectibles make for an interesting but seemingly unfocused start.
Push on through – the game is only 4-5 hours long, ghost chases permitting – and it escalates in complexity. The students finally gain more agency, get to explore more of the campus, uncover the truth of the original incident, and discover a plan to exorcise the ghost for good. The stakes are ramped up, relationships are frayed, not everyone survives, and the lightly foreshadowed ending was an unexpected twist. I was honestly hooked by the midpoint and continually on edge, which only made the impact of poor gameplay choices frustrate me more.
Gameplay
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation doesn’t have particularly novel or even polished gameplay, but it could get away with it given the short length and frequent story beats that hold your interest.
The stiff movement and first-person animations work fine for exploration and puzzle sections, which focus on walk-and-talk exposition, reading documents, and solving puzzles. About half your time is spent exploring the eerie campus – possibly encountering a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-it jump scares – while searching for mandatory items, optional notes, and reading phone messages. There are no objective markers or map, so you need to follow instructions, check signs, and become familiar with the layout. It serves to immerse you in the world and ramps up the tension when the environment is twisted into new, unfamiliar layouts.
Occasionally, you’ll find yourself locked in puzzle rooms, hunting for keys and codes before using them in the right order. With no guidance outside of environmental clues and notes, I initially got stuck on the very first whiteboard puzzle before realising I hadn’t properly examined a seemingly random item for a note taped on the back. It’s classic survival-horror fare and I quickly settled into the groove.
Of course, this is a horror game with ghosts, so half your time – assuming you don’t immediately despair and turn to YouTube videos from the PC release – is spent trying to avoid ghosts through a mixture of run-and-hide sequences, scripted chases with only one or two correct paths, and timed object hunts.
These sequences are not challenging once you know what to do; the problem is The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation relies on the trial-and-error approach and death-screen hints to guide you.There is an attempt to provide visual cues during some sequences but they’re easy to miss in the gloom or visual effects obscuring the screen.
Other issues include utterly useless crouch-walking; checkpoints limited to the beginning of encounters; the need to trigger some sort of paranormal event or ghost spawn before backtracking to find the right path, and finicky interaction prompts for hiding or closing doors – all problematic as most chases offer little room for error.
You run until you take a wrong turn, get stuck, and die; reload and try a different path or hiding spot until you get stuck again and die; then keep repeating that pattern until you hit whatever area transition or cutscene saves you from a growing sense of frustration rather than fear and panic.
It’s a terrible design that becomes more intrusive just as the story gets better and is capable of completely breaking the narrative flow and immersion. Given there are several achievements for dying to each ghost type, I’d wager a few unavoidable deaths were clearly part of the plan, but the mechanics are implemented far worse than many other run-and-hide horror games and it’s simply not fun.
Conclusions
It’s a damn shame the ghost chases are so annoying as The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation could have been one of those cult indie hits. Seemingly random events start making sense by the end, and the smart foreshadowing makes it perfect for a replay if you enjoy piecing together every clue and interpreting environmental storytelling. I just hope this re-release will push the developers to go back and tweak some of the ghost encounters because, as it stands, you’ve got to tolerate far too much frustration to move the compelling narrative forward.
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation was reviewed on Xbox Series S|X using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC, PS4/5, and Nintendo Switch.
Bronze Key
This next area is a bit labyrinthian, so work with me here. Thankfully all of these keys are necessary to progress, so you can’t miss them. After using the BoRu doll, head down the left most hall to find yourself in a classroom with a blue light. The key is inside the podium.
A severe drought followed, leading to famine and suffering. These calamities were seen as a sign of the gods' disapproval and a punishment for Ramses' hubris. Furthermore, King Ramses faced military setbacks during his campaigns against the Hittites. Despite his grand ambitions, he failed to achieve a decisive victory and was forced into a stalemate. This defeat and the subsequent struggles on the battlefield were seen as another form of divine punishment, a humbling experience for the once mighty pharaoh. Ramses' ultimate punishment came in the form of his death. Despite his attempts to preserve his legacy through monumental building projects like the temples of Abu Simbel and his own mortuary temple, the pharaoh's body was not preserved well. Due to a combination of factors including poor embalming techniques and the looting of his tomb, Ramses' remains were not venerated as those of other pharaohs. In conclusion, the divine punishment experienced by King Ramses II serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of arrogance and vanity. Despite his accomplishments, the pharaoh's hubris led to a series of misfortunes, including natural disasters, military setbacks, and a less-than-ideal afterlife. This story reminds us of the importance of humility and respect, and the consequences that can come from overstepping one's boundaries..
Reviews for "King Ramses' Divine Punishment: A Catalyst for Social Change"
- John - 1/5 stars - I cannot express how much I disliked "The divine punishment by king ramses". The plot was confusing and muddled, making it extremely difficult to follow. The dialogue was also poorly written and lacked depth, leaving the characters feeling one-dimensional. The special effects were subpar, and relied too heavily on CGI, which ended up being more distracting than impressive. Overall, this film was a complete disappointment and I would not recommend it to anyone.
- Emily - 2/5 stars - I was really excited to see "The divine punishment by king ramses" as I am a fan of historical films. However, I found myself struggling to stay engaged throughout the movie. The pacing was incredibly slow and the story lacked a clear direction. The performances were decent, but the script was filled with clichés and predictable plot twists. It felt like a missed opportunity to tell a compelling story about King Ramses. Unfortunately, this film fell short of my expectations.
- Michael - 2/5 stars - As a history enthusiast, I was looking forward to "The divine punishment by king ramses" and hoped it would provide an insightful portrayal of ancient Egypt. However, I was left disappointed. The film seemed more focused on visually stunning set designs and costumes, rather than providing a well-rounded narrative. The characters lacked depth and the dialogue felt forced. Despite the film's potential, it failed to deliver an engaging story and left me feeling unsatisfied. I would recommend exploring other historical cinema options instead.