#hauntinground

Mutuals send me “♧“ and I’ll do this!

   Fiona, the player-character, must be guided through Castle Belli, its surrounding grounds and outbuildings until she find a way to escape. Along the way, players must solve puzzles, unlock doors and evade or hide from the castle's inhabitants. Fiona is accompanied by Hewie, a white German Shepherd Dog. The two must work as a team to solve certain puzzles and to outwit their pursuers.

During the game, the castle's inhabitants chase and attack Fiona, and if evaded long enough will cease for a set interval. While it is possible to retaliate with kicks, Hewie's bites or alchemically created weapons, the game's focus is on the player evading enemies long enough to find a hiding spot. The castle's staff chase Fiona individually until defeated in a boss battle, after which a different enemy will pursue Fiona. Two enemies exist in addition to the castle's keepers, neither are dangerous to Fiona but can alert Fiona's pursuers to her location and cause panic. The first are small floating orbs of blue light known as Luminescents, which follow Fiona and emit a loud noise if they come into contact with her. The other enemy type are fetus-like disfigured homunculi, who attach themselves to Fiona's legs while letting out a piercing yell.

Hewie joins Fiona early in the game, following different player-issued commands to perform actions and barking or growling when he detects a trap or threat. He can be commanded to stay, follow, attack, fetch and to shake hands. In order to maintain a good relationship with her new companion, Fiona must issue commands to Hewie, praising or scolding him depending on whether or not he obeys. Playing shake hands or healing him when he becomes injured also maintains his interest. Hewie will ignores Fiona's commands and wanders off if not given enough attention, if repeatedly mistreated he may even attack Fiona. On easier difficulty settings, Hewie can be knocked unconscious from sustaining too many injuries but can be revived. On the hard difficulty setting, he is slain after receiving the same level of injuries, causing the game to end.

Fiona Belli has somehow found herself in a strange castle, which appears to be somewhere in northern Italy. She has just been involved in a car accident; her memories of this accident, however, are vague and incomplete. When she awakes, she finds herself in some sort of large butcher's room. Noting that the cage that keeps her prisoner was left unlocked, she steps out but is startled by a large, fierce animal snarling and then running past her. She quickly begins searching for some answers and a way out of the castle. Along the way, she befriends the large animal that initially frightened her, who happens to be a white German Shepherd named Hewie and who turns out to be a valuable ally. As Fiona's predicament gets more and more disturbing, she learns that she is the carrier of the Azoth, which is what the castle's residents are after.

The first enemy is Debilitas, who thinks Fiona is a big doll. Debilitas chases Fiona around the Castle and is stopped by Riccardo. Fiona meets Riccardo and Daniella and finds letters and memos given to her by a man named Lorenzo who wants her to escape the Castle. Fiona and Hewie are chased by Debilitas to the Chapel. The way in which the player ultimately eliminates Debilitas influences the outcome of the endings.

Soon after Fiona has rid herself of Debilitas her new enemy, Daniella is brought back into the game after her short appearance in the games first couple scenes. Daniella becomes jealous that Fiona can smell, taste, touch or "experience pleasure" which she later suggests means she cannot engage in sexual intercourse during the scene leading up to her boss fight. Daniella wields a large shard of broken glass (unless the player approaches Daniella while she is kneeling near a fire place which then replaces the glass with a hot poker which deals double the damage).

After Fiona kills Daniella by impaling her with a large shard of glass broken from the ceiling, the third villan is re-introduced, Riccardo. For a majority of the game Riccardo keeps his face hidden under a hood and wields a hand gun. Riccardo reveals his face and his plot to Fiona after cornering her in the woods. He has the same face as Fiona's father, Ugo, and reveals that they are clones and that he is the original. Riccardo murdered Ugo after attempting to kill him in the car crash as revenge for leaving the castle and marrying Ayla, Fiona's mother. He plans to use Fiona (by means of her womb and use of her Azoth) to help him be reborn so that he may live forever. Hewie rescues Fiona and assists in their escape from the tower which Riccardo keeps Fiona imprisoned in.