Layers of Fear (2016)

The game absolutely needs to be lauded for its innovatively interactive use of space, toying with the player's perception of reality by manipulating objects and rooms outside of view, thus creating a sense of a claustrophobic kafkaesque nightmare. However, this is also what hinders the game's effectiveness. If you give up on the expectations of reality, any subversion of reality becomes expected and thus no longer shocking. Even worse, due to on-the-dot pacing of said space-manipulation, not only are these subversions expected, but become ever more predictable, nullifying any attempts at horror the more you progress. I found myself walking directly into "danger" and "monsters" simply because I wasn't afraid of dying, since it was all a dream anyway. The game tells you early on that you can make impactful choices, and when I figured out that "dying" progressed the story in a satisfying and interesting way, I started seeking out the horror rather than avoiding it. When the writing on a wall told me not to look back, I immediately - and consciously - turned around, got eaten, and was happy about the new progress I'd made. This is not the kind of behavior that a game called "Layers of Fear" should entice. As a substitute for the lack of shock and surprise, the game instead employs a bucketload of visually stunning, but auditorily annoying and overly frequent jump scares. Puzzles are implemented infrequently and feel out-of-place most of the time. In a world where record players can bend space and time, why do safes still need codes to open? If reality changes when turning around, why do I need keys to open doors? While the narrative is told through some great environmental storytelling, the tropes are rather ancient. If you like Pickman's Model or the The Picture of Dorian Gray, the atmosphere and characters will be right up your alley, but for a game with minimal interaction, I would have expected a slightly more intriguing take on the insane artist story.

I was quite hyped for this game, the idea of diving into an artist's mind is amazing even if the mad painter/artist is a bit overused. I would enjoy if the game wasn't just pretty something more. I didn't expect Silent Hill or Rule of Rose out of this, but I expected a more involved and organized story. You know every little, so there is a lack of connection betwen what is going on what is happening. The worse part is that the game is made out of, mostly, jumpscares. There is some tension in the small corridors of the house and when the celling is vey low, but other than that is just jumpscares. I also disliked the constant use of the same paintings. I supposed they're meant to be symbolic but it gets tiresome after a while. There are better horror games out there and if you want a mysterious walking simulator play Dear Esther.

How do you make a stroll around an empty house scary? You usually don't. At best with a good back story, you might make it creepy, but that's about it. Maybe that's why Layers of Fear seems to forgo a plot of any kind - only insinuations of a plot. Instead it throws every trick in the book at you, hoping that one of them might actually work. Instead, by the end of the game, I had a bad case of motion sickness. Not very fun. Creepy dolls, earthquakes, blurry vision, creepy paintings turning into creepier paintings, poltergeists, ghost manifestations, writings on walls, furniture on the ceiling, the insinuation that the protagonist murdered his entire family, having the player collect body parts throughout the game, weird phone calls, creepy music and even the sound of a heart beating. Layers of Fear has everything the horror genre ever produced, but it accumulates to nothing much. The game is fairly linear, and you can't interact with something unless you need to in order to advance the game. So at times this game can become a boring hunt for hotspots. The more you advance the more you experience more of the story behind the house, but at no time does the game try to get you invested in the story. In fact, all the effects this game throws at you distract from what might have been an interesting story. Layers of Fear is just too over the top, that it never allows you to be scared. You don't get to slowly experience the house before supernatural events start to happen. Instead you're constantly bombarded with supernatural events, that you come to expect them. You can see the jump scares coming a mile away, making it even harder for you to fall for them, no matter how good they might be. Taking my time and slowly exploring this game, it took me about 4-5 hours to finish it, yet it felt twice as long as it ought to be. And once I finished it, I was surprised to see I didn't finish it - you need to complete yet another gameplay portion - luckily a short one this time.

The game does a good job with ever-changing room layouts and appearances to elicit horror. You walk through a door, turn around, and the door is gone. Turn around again, and the room you just saw is now a different place. The game does this throughout and quite effectively, which is the main source of the game's eeriness and charm. But the whole thing gets repetitive, and the rooms start to look the same. Thankfully the game is short. Dark atmosphere, ghostly visions, jump scares, and most other horror tropes help somewhat. There is some puzzle-solving, but minimal. The backstory of the house's owner going insane is same old same old. I rate this 3 out of 5 stars, marginal thumbs up.

I didn't enjoy this game. This is not horror, but horrible... It is a walking game at best, and not even a good one as it the scary elements are all based on jump scares. Especially in the first part of the game almost any door will result in a scare, or whatever racket is unleashed. The later part is more interesting, due to the art... But still, the walking starts to feel maze-like. The only part I liked was the ending. God, finally it is over... Luckily, I made it! (The end is actually good, but not enough to justify the rest of the game)