No Vacation for an Executioner feels like a PS2 survival horror game that never actually existed. Almost certainly inspired by FromSoftware's Bloodborne, it's another bit of proof that yearning for a Bloodborne PS5 remake is a little bit tired, and that the wired option is for a demake. While Bloodborne PS1 gave us the goods in the style of Sony's debut console, the completely original No Vacation for an Executioner, which I've been playing during Steam Next Fest, translates the horror vibes into a PS2 format – complete with graphical toggles to emulate that console's specific visual style (which lean a touch more baroque than gothic).
Coming from solo developer JayO, No Vacation for an Executioner has you playing as a town executioner in the 17th century who becomes caught up in a conspiracy revolving around a bestial infection when a simple hanging at the gallows goes wrong, the people you serve becoming too hungry for blood. With only a mysterious set of killing tools provided to you by the new King, you must set out to find bloody meaning between streets filled with groaning infected and rotting flesh, and the baroque ornamented halls of the nobility. The free demo is well worth trying for yourself – and our Steam Next Fest guide can help you get started with exploring February's demo season.
