In Lust From Beyond, as you progress through the game, there are two sets of meters that you must manage to stay alive. One is a standard set of hit points represented by a heart, and the other is your mental health represented by a brain.
Your hit points meter is your standard health meter, where you can lose points by taking damage from enemies that you encounter, while fall damage is also possible during certain areas of the game. The screen will show a bleeding border with any loss of health, with the severity intensifying with each loss of health.
Almost all enemies in the game will hit you for one point of health. There is some leeway with falling, but you will take one point of damage if you’re looking to fall any more than twice the height of the main character Victor. You start the game with four points of health, but this can be upgraded over the course of the game.
To recover hit points, you need to find stashed bandages and health kits throughout the levels. Most of these are hidden inside padlocked boxes that need either a key or a set of bolt cutters to get through. Bandages heal 25% of your hit points, while the much rarer health kit recovers you fully. If you have neither in your inventory, you will have to hang on until you reach the next part of the game or find more kits and bandages.
Mental health works differently and is linked to the explicit and horrific imagery you can find throughout the game. As you progress through areas such as the town of Bleakmoor, you will see things that cause mental distress to Victor. This includes the likes of mutilated bodies and notes from occultists that reveal their true intentions, as well as atrocities in the creepy world of Lusst’ghaa.
Losing all of your mental health won’t necessarily kill you, but it will severely affect the level of control you have over your character. It will make progression difficult, so it is worth your time hunting for items to help you recover. Some of the encounters that cause you to lose mental health points are avoidable, but this is difficult if you continue looking for items in and around levels. If you see a body on the ground, approach it with caution.
To recover mental health, you need to either take the pills that can be found or syringes with drugs to ease the mental burden. You will need these more than hit point items earlier in the game. Pills will recover 25%, while the syringe will recover you fully.
There are also small plates that you can find and stand on while traversing through Lusst’ghaa called Platforms of Renewal. They have spiked sections surrounding them with green energy flowing through them. If you need any recovery, standing on this platform fully restores Victor, so use this as and when you need to fill your meters.
