There is a long-standing myth that suggests having sex while menstruating counts as witchcraft. This belief is rooted in cultural and religious taboos surrounding menstruation and witchcraft. However, it is important to recognize that this idea has no basis in reality and is simply a result of superstition and misinformation. Menstruation has often been considered a taboo subject in many societies, leading to various myths and misconceptions about it. The association of menstruation with witchcraft stems from the historically negative perceptions of women's bodies and sexuality. In ancient times, menstruating women were often viewed as unclean or impure, and these negative associations carried over into religious and cultural beliefs.
In ancient times, menstruating women were often viewed as unclean or impure, and these negative associations carried over into religious and cultural beliefs. Witchcraft, on the other hand, has been unjustly demonized throughout history due to fear and ignorance. The belief that engaging in sexual activities during menstruation is a form of witchcraft reflects the broader societal condemnation and stigmatization of both menstruation and witchcraft.
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.
Gameplay-wise, it’s a slow burn for the first hour or so. But around the two hour mark things start to accelerate. A significant portion of the game is a bit of a walking simulator, with sprinklings of find item x or speak to whomever. But there are also puzzles and stealth elements that really reminded me of Home Sweet Home, a great Thai horror game.
However, it is essential to understand that there is no scientific or logical basis for this belief. Menstruation is a natural and normal bodily process that occurs in healthy women of reproductive age. It is simply the shedding of the uterine lining, and it has no connection with witchcraft or any supernatural powers. Engaging in sexual activities during menstruation is a personal choice and can vary among individuals and cultures. Some people may feel uncomfortable or experience increased sensitivity during this time, while others may not have any issues. Ultimately, it is a decision that should be based on open communication, mutual consent, and respect between sexual partners. It is crucial to challenge and debunk these baseless myths and taboos surrounding menstruation and witchcraft. Education and awareness are key to dispelling these harmful beliefs and promoting a more inclusive and understanding society. Menstruation is a natural and normal part of life, and it should be treated with respect and acceptance, rather than being associated with witchcraft or any other unfounded superstitions..
Reviews for "Celebrating menstruation: embracing its connection to witchcraft and spirituality"
- Sarah - 1 star - This book was absolutely horrible. I found the storyline confusing and scattered, and the characters were one-dimensional. The title and premise were misleading, as the book barely touched on the topic of menstruation and witchcraft. I was disappointed by the lack of depth and substance throughout the novel. I do not recommend this book to anyone looking for a compelling and well-written story.
- James - 2 stars - I was really intrigued by the title of this book and had high hopes, but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The writing style was choppy and it was hard to connect with the characters. Additionally, the narrative seemed to lack direction and purpose. While the concept of exploring the intersection of menstruation and witchcraft had potential, it was poorly executed in this novel. Overall, I was disappointed and would not recommend it to others.
- Emma - 1 star - I have to say, this book was not what I expected at all. The title suggested a thought-provoking exploration of menstruation and witchcraft, but instead, I found it to be a rambling and incoherent mess. The plot was disjointed, the characters were forgettable, and the writing was pretentious. It felt like the author was trying too hard to be avant-garde without actually delivering a compelling story. I would advise readers to steer clear of this book.