Great horror sim, story and scares!
5/5 8/10
(The 'survival horror' tag is wrong, you dont take any damage or have to run from monsters at all. Its a horror sim with excellent jumpscares and a good story.)
Great game!
Both games are great so play both, and preferably in the right order ;D
Both are underrated imo and well done for a solo dev/small team!
Major spoilers and my interpretation of both games in the very end.
Dont read past the spoiler warning untill you have played them yourself!
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-Incredible voice acting especially from the main character! He should do audiobooks! (which I just found out he does lol)
-The story is great.
It is real and apply to so many of us today where the boss is unkind or even cruel.
Fred is an artist who love to paint and create and he longs for the courage to quit his office job.
-The jumpscares and horror effects were awesome imo; perfect locations and at the right times. Be sure to pay attention :o
-The music in the end is wow, perfect choice and timing, same as in the first game.
He is very good at picking the perfect choice of music and atmosphere at the right moments, something I really liked in both.
Now, this particular piece of music I have spent a long time trying to track down, if anyone finds out pls let me know because we are many who are looking for it!
To that one persistant guy in the comments everywhere; I see you buddy and Im with you in spirit.
-The sounds in general was also really good and draws you in and turns you paranoid by the end of it. Be sure to play with good surround or headphones for best experience in this.
The visuals were really great too.
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I would recommend you play The Black Within first for more understanding.
The 2 stories are seperate though but also intertwined in terms of a few easter eggs and the 2 main characters in both games being mentioned in the other. But they are not so connected that you cant understand and play them seperately.
I played them in reverse order (oops) and then replayed this one again to better appreciate the connection. Sitting here afterwards I think you can enjoy this without playing the first one, but to repeat myself I do recommend playing The Black Within first if you're able and if you like the story aspect and trying to sort out the connection between games.
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Takes about an hour or 2 to finish.
Controller is not fully working but once in the game it worked for me when I tested it for this purpose. But the menu needs a mouse to select, and the settings needs a click on one of the hitboxes with the mouse first in order to recognise controller input.
Save file is in prefix default drive c local.
It saves automatically and frequent enough (9 saves total for a ~1 hour game).
The voice actor and his soothing low timber voice that everyone is fussing over is Michael Hajiantonis.
The dev made the effort of hiring talented professional voice overs for both games which has great sound quality and really adds an extra boost to the games imo.
In gaming he has only a few on his rep sheet so far: Carry Onward, The Last Case of John Morley, and this one. Another upcomming Dark Tides.
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Looking forward to what this dev comes up with next!
Worth full price.
No analytics or other currently calling out, ty for this.
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⛔ 🆂🅿🅾🅸🅻🅴🆁🆂 ! ⛔
Major spoilers to both games below you have been warned:)
So Im sitting here trying to connect the dots between some of it and the characters across both games.
My interpretation:
Rafael is the office boss where both Layla from the first game and Fred in this one worked. He is mean and cruel and treats them like trash especially Fred.
He apparently monitors them so he can see everything also when he is not at the office.
Layla at some point quits to pursue her dream of singing on stage after her own attempts led her nowhere. She does not have the talent for this in singing but is stubborn, and seeks out Arne who is one of those elites who make dreams come true in return for selling your soul to the devil. We see this everywhere in real life with bad singers who are often used to promote certain ideals via lyrics and skimpy outfits.
She makes the deal and signs it in blood. Later when its too late, she sees herself from the outside (metaphorically or literally in a horror settings who knows) and regrets it and wants to go back. Her story ends there but has mentions of her in the sequel.
There is a note near the end in The Green Light from Arne about more and more ppl seeking the truth (represented as the green light in the game), including Layla. He is trying to stop them and whoever it is that tries to share this knowledge and lead them to the truth, represented as the radio guy and this green light.
There is several notes from Arne in the first game hinting to him being a victim himself just like Layla and the others.
There is a note at the office in the sequel from Im asuming Kip? who mentions everyone at the workplace and how boring, annoying or mean they all are.
Kip also hates his job and starts hearing the guy on the radio who tells him to go to the green light. This could be depression and his own thoughts metaphorically, and/or various snippets of realisation sinking in on how the world works and the hellhole we are stuck in untill we grow old and die having wasted our life at an office desk.
His wife cheats on him with his boss and he wants a divorce but wish her well.
We last see him in the very end sitting as a skeleton with a note saying he tried to go through with it but failed and will remain a hero, or looser if you prefer that term.
To me this and the rest of the note mean he was stuck at that place untill he gave up, he didnt have the courage to leave to seek a better place but instead took his own life.
OR that he was killed by his boss. The note at the boat house says he left some fuel for the next guy, and that someone blew up his car trying to stop him from leaving.
Fred has the courage and makes it to the end. On the way we see monsters from his dreams and the radio guy guiding him, who becomes more and more friendly instead of hostile. This could represent the doubts turning to increasing determination to trusting himself to make the right choice to leave his job. To create and paint.
On the way he enters a house I asume is Arnes. Kip was there too before him and left a note.
Fred sails for the lighthouse representing freedom, truth and light.
We see him climb up high and passing through what look like bowels of evil, to then finally reach a green cavern with a table with what looks like paint cans and some paintings.
The first time I played this I thought he killed himself. The day after I came to this conclusion instead, and after playing it a second time believe he is alive and made it out of that hellhole.
This added with his boss trying hard to persuade him to stay, even begging.
This also with the ending voice, the radio guy, talking about insecurities, pain and doubt, then saying that he was always with him, always watching, waiting for that light to set him free. Which represent hope, willpower and determination to break the chains. Or god?
The intro in the first game says:
'The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear and it starts with change.'
Which would make all this fit.
ALAS! Now we make a full return to my first conclusion again, because in the first game we see Layla find a corpse with the name Fred, asking herself 'who is Fred'.
So maybe it was him taking his own life after all and that the truth, the light, merely representing death and being at peace that way.
Why are devs always so damn cryptic! xD
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Those were my thought at least:)
Great story in both games and I think most will not understand it truly and fully, maybe I dont either:)
But I think there is much more to these games than a mere sim with jumpscares.
'I wanted to create something that mattered' -Fred (dev?)
🐧 Arch Linux EndeavourOS