It's difficult to stand out among the army of horror walking simulators. As of late, RedCandleGames' "Devotion", Wired Productions' "The Town of Light", most of Bloober Teams' masterpieces ("Layers of Fear" I and II, Observer: System Redux), Illusion Ray' Studios"The Beast Inside" or Sadsquare Studio's "Visage" have tried to add different kinds of layers or tones to violence, abuse, horror and pain from a first person perspective. Sometimes they choose a more adventurous and scary approach, sometimes they prefer to focus on studying the origins of personal trauma. A big budget game like "Outlast 2" tried to do both of them, with uneven results. Falling into the "personal description and horror" side of the equation,"The shattering" still offers some good, welcome surprises. Compared to games produced and designed by big budget companies, "The Shattering" could be seen as basic and unrefined in terms of visuals and gameplay. However, some of its scenes / levels are incredibly satisfying because of their convincing portrait of violence and damaged emotions. The game doesn't always succeed, sometimes verging into contrived territory. But when it gets it right, it really shines. Some chapters are outstanding nightmares, reminding me the most brilliant bits of "Layers of fear: Inheritance", "Visage" and "Devotion". In terms of gameplay, there isn't much to do, bar the occasional puzzle, but to unravel what went wrong in somebody's life. And boy, SO MANY THINGS WENT WRONG. Last but not least, being patient and thorough really makes a difference in "The shattering", cause the more you see, the more you know, the more you understand, the more you enjoy the pain. I don't think it is up there with the greatest walk sims (I'll always prefer "Layers of fear I & II" or "What remains of Edith Finch?") but it's enjoyable by itself. Can't wait to play its new DLC.
It's a wonder how unamusing this amusement park is. There isn't much to do, its scenarios are cheap, its writing bad, an extremely poor gameplay (zero puzzles, zero options), ... An utter disappointment.
Eerie and unnerving, "Mundaun" offers beautiful landscapes and memorable characters. Its puzzles are pretty good and quite intuitive. Besides, the game's always there to help you if you missed a clue. And even if the fighting system can be a bit clunky, you can absolutely beat the game without confronting a single creature. Its retro style makes it look like a lost classic. And now that our screens are packed with new folk horror films, it was about time to see a proper game in this style. This game, and by extension this studio, show a lot of promise. It's a yes.
I'm incredibily delighted with this game. While others attempt to mix genres with irregular and contrived results (hiorror and drama in "Outlast 2" or "The Medium", science-ficition and horror in "Amnesia:Rebirth") "The Beast Inside" succeeds in mixing everything that thrills and excites about horror & adventure & spy stories. Exciting and endlessly surprising, it ticks so many boxes, and it ticks them sooo right, that as a player you can happily ignore a couple of bugs and some physical clunkiness that in other cases would be unforgivable. Besides, loading screens may last a bit too long. And, hey, a better, more imaginative "You Are Dead" screen or transition wouldn't hurt. But, all in all, it's a well written, well designed, entertaining and suspenseful game, packed with interesting puzzles and many plot twists. Literally, you don't know what's going to happen in the next episode. One of the best horror games I've played in a while, an amazing mix of "The Evil Within", "Outlast", "Sherlock Holmes" among others.
If you liked the first Amnesia: The Dark Descent installment, but most of all if you liked its DLC, "Justine", you'll be incredibly delighted with this little game. It's very entertaining, and has that hallucinatory quality that only some Polish game developers (Bloober, I'm looking at you!) can create. A very satisfying little game from a company who shows plenty of potential. It's gorey, it's imaginative, it looks kinda cheap, it surprises you.... I say YES.
If "Tormented fathers" was bizarre but kind of linear, "Broken porcelain" is all over the place in terms of plot structure, weapons, gaming options and superpowers. You can feel that behind every artístic decision there's ambition and a willingness to make a bigger and better game than "Tormented fathers" was, but at the end you just feel that the game is changing (not necessarily evolving) every 5 minutes just because. What works in a novel or a movie (multiple storylines, multiple points of view, going back and forth) not necessarily translates well into a videogame, and unfortunately this is the case with "Broken porcelain". The plot is ambitious and ambiguous, but that makes your experience as a player fluctuate, interrupting your game and your progress with ever changing and unexpected twists. First you dont have any superpowers, then you do have them, then you cannot use them, then they force you to use them, and you keep wondering: what the hell is going on? There's some bugs and the game is not polished (yet). Despite all these flaws, the game is emtertaining and, sometimes, successful too. It broadens "Tormented father" plot and goes in deep into some serious issues. Recommended only if you like to play with shattered glass: you never get the full picture, and you can cut yourself, but there's good ideas and an addictive plot in all this madness.
