Quick Review: Layers of Fear

Man, I didn’t know making art tortured people so much.

....do I actually want to see under the tarp...

A creation of Bloober Team SA, published by Aspyr and released on February 15th, 2016, Layers of Fear tells the story of an artist lost within the daedalus of his own mind. This perfectionist painter, in his search for inspiration in making his masterpiece, encounters scraps and scenes telling his story, what led to his predicament.

This is an environmental narrative title, so gameplay is fairly minimal; aside from walking around and seeing things happen around the character, you can often pick up items to observe them in more detail, interact with items you find (opening drawers, but also playing music boxes, etc.), and pick up papers to read them. And, as you explore, the details get clearer, although never enough to get a definitive answer as to what’s going on, leaving a lot to interpretation.

Okay. Before I turned my back, I swear this
painting was a peaceful scene in a prairie.

The game begins on a stormy evening, as the painter, in first-person view, explores his house that contains more booze than anything else of sustenance. He is being reminded of his current work, which has gone down the drain; among other things, he illustrated a version of Little Red Riding Hood… and his pictures turned to unsettling gore. Geez, was he making the art for the Brothers Grimm version? He seems unable to obtain a satisfying result with his newest work of art, which waits in the office, covered by a tarp. One look at it, and everything changes.

He steps out of his office and into a hall that wasn’t there before, to a room that also didn’t exist a minute ago. A lot of effects in this game utilize the technique of "behind the black", meaning that they happen outside of the first-person camera's field of vision while your attention is elsewhere. Another common trick is to disorient the player by changing where doors lead, as another example.

Or the clean room you left through a mirror
reveals itself to be completely thrashed.

As you approach the painting of a dog, the
happy barking stops... and is replaced by whines
and the crackling of a fire...

It’s unclear if all this is hallucinations fueled by the artist’s own mental issues or if there are genuine supernatural forces at play. And through this, we learn about the painter’s wife, her accident and passing, and the daughter he had with her. In the painter’s mental state spiraling out of control, paintings become Hellish. Rooms are clean one second and thrashed the next. Things move on their own as if they were haunted. And something seems to be patrolling the impossible halls of this ever-changing place… Will the painter ever complete his magnum opus?

Meh, they don't even have Dark Side of the
Moon in that household.

This is either gonna turn the picture into that of
a monster once my back is turned, or it will
do something else... or nothing and I am just
getting paranoid...

A genuine love for art can be felt through this game; beyond the set-up of the story, there are plenty of nods to classical art, especially the works of several other painters that pop up in the décor. The scares cannot actually hurt the player character, there is no life bar or Game Over screen, but they're still very effective nonetheless. Imagine: You open a door into a dead end. No door in front of you, no door either side. Turn around... The door you came in from has also disappeared. Another example: Look at a painting of a gentleman. Move to look at another painting. A windy whoosh later, the first painting now depicts a monster, the paint bleeding out of the frame. There are so many more examples, I cannot list them, but believe me – it’s effective.

Combine that with effective sound and lighting work, and you’ve got a state of constant disorientation. The changes are like the world pulling you deeper into that insanity, whether you want to or not. And since these effects rely on camera tricks, I can’t properly show them with still images.

Geez, I hope I won't have to clean that up.

WHAT THE FLYING FUCK-
Of all the freaky imagery in the game, who
would think the child's bedroom would house
the freakiest of the lot?

The environmental narrative means that there isn’t much to the gameplay, but each chapter tends to contain a basic puzzle to solve – in one, you work a gramophone; in another, you find the missing pieces of a checker game; in another, you wind up the daughter’s music box. Don't be fooled; that last one is the creepiest of the lot. While there is some voice acting whenever you reach a plot-relevant object, detailing more of the Artist’s life, a lot of it is also delivered through the objects you inspect and the scenes put in front of you. A highly effective sequence involves the Daughter’s drawings on the walls evolving to show her growing disillusionment towards her dad, as an example. Finally, there’s a collection side-quest that involves finding mementos of the family, and there are three different endings to the story. In short, the Painter clinging on to his past keeps his mind a little saner.

A genuinely fantastic game, and one that ranks among the best visual experiences I’ve had all year. A definite recommendation. Look this game up, it’s worth it. You might also enjoy the game’s DLC, Inheritance, which takes place a few decades later and features the Daughter. It also has special events around Halloween. Layers of Fear is available on Steam for 21.99$.

Quick Review: The Hat Man: Shadow Ward

Something’s gone wrong in this asylum.

Well this looks pretty norm-

A creation of Game Mechanics LLC released on June 10th, 2016, The Hat Man: Shadow Ward is a first-person horror/exploration game about a parent searching for their daughter at the local insane asylum where she had been sent. Things quickly descent into horror as the parent (whose gender you select at the start of the game) stumbles on their child’s journal, which comes to life, explodes, and spreads its pages across the facility. At the same time, said facility turns into a decrepit version of itself, with hardly a trace of light around.

....Okay. Yeah.

What’s worse, the pages the parent finds while exploring this shadow world version of the facility indicate that there’s a very real, very demonic presence roaming its halls. The Hat Man is on the prowl. Can this parent rescue their child without coming face-to-face with that wannabe Slenderman?

Why are all of these decrepit buildings so dark...
Right. No electricity. Silly me.

The gameplay here is very basic; move around with WASD, use the mouse to control the camera, and click to open doors and pick up items. You can switch between items you find with the numpad and use them to progress; as an example, very early on, you get an axe, and use it to break a door, which leads to the rest of the psychiatric ward. Most of the time, though, you’ll find the pages of the daughter’s journal; 23 pages total. They’re tied to progression in the game, so new areas are unlocked when you gather enough. Also of note, louder music will resonate whenever you’re in a room with a page.

...what? You've never seen a skeleton
taking an oil bath? You gotta get out more.

You kind of need that auditory clue, as there is no map. The ward is procedurally-generated on each playthrough, which means that you can’t even rely on your memory to remember a “path” you’ve taken before. You acquire a flashlight early on, which you can shine on darkness monsters to make them disappear… Oh great, I’m having déjà vu. When the flashlight falters and the sound of heartbeat gets stronger, this means that the Hat Man is coming close. Coming into contact with it is an instant Game Over, forcing you to start over. Only one solution: Move, constantly, and pick up whatever you find on the way. You’ll always pick up the pages in the same order, so it’s not like you can “miss” one (and worst case scenario, if you “miss” one, since progress is tied to the pages you collect, you’ll just keep going through the procedurally-generated maze until you’ve picked up more pages).

Oh no. I died. ...that's it, really?
This doesn't even spook.

It’s… very forgettable. This game does ambiance fairly well and doesn’t shy from showing creepy things, but ends up feeling very repetitive since most of the hallways and rooms look so alike. Sure, there’s a new detail here or there, like a boiler or a splash of blood on the floor, but they don’t help make any of the rooms in the main part of the game feel different. The change from a normal psychiatric ward into a hellhole is sudden and inexplicable.

I don’t recall seeing dark ghosts in the maze of rooms; only in the starting room where the place becomes ugly. What’s even the point of having them, if they don’t appear anywhere else? Admittedly, the concept of being chased and, therefore, always having to move, is pretty interesting, but the concept is kept to its bare minimum, with hardly anything original to do with it. Last but not least, the voice acting for the journal pages is subpar, and while you can choose between playing the daughter’s father or mother, that option actually makes no difference whatsoever in gameplay.

Nope, no difference.

You can skip that one, definitely. But if you still want to try it, The Hat Man: Shadow Ward is usually sold for 9.99$ on Steam.

Quick Review: Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator

Cawthon’s a bit of a troll. Between surprise-releasing games before their announced date, hiding pieces of the plot’s puzzle in his website’s source code, releasing games for free and giving the vaguest answers to fan questions, he clearly has had fun during his career as the creator of FNAF. As an example, today’s game, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, was A) a surprise release (under the pretense of being a mini-game while a bigger title was in production) on December 4th, 2017, and B) free.

Eh... I can't say "managing a pizzeria housing murderous
robots" would be on top of my list.

A vacuum and a balloon on a  trash can?
Hey, when you're short on funds...

Not happy with how the other animatronic restaurants are managed? Well then, manage your own! You are provided with the location, a perfect little donut hole of warmth amidst a sea of insanity. With your starting budget, make adjustments to the place. Upgrade your tools, add entertainment and extra sources of revenue, and be wary of any liabilities that could crop up. You gotta spend money to make money; By spending more, you unlock higher-quality catalogs containing items with improved stats and financial returns. After which, set everything inside your modest little restaurant. Test the arcade games, make some extra revenue, you can even accept some sponsorships for more. Make sure to include a stage with animatronics; they’re the heart and soul of Fazbear’s Entertainment, after all!

I like the little guy on the bottom right.
This one is never trying to KILL ME.

Circus Baby, of Circus Baby's Enterainment,
isn't what she used to be.

Speaking of those… Sometimes, scrapped animatronics kind of just… er… wander towards your new restaurant. Is it because of the smell of pizza, or they're hearing kids having parties here… Heck if I know. However, you can salvage these scraps for parts, and sometimes in their entirety; money’s tight after all. They’re a bit too broken-looking for the main area, but we’ll find them a home. Just be careful, though; they might start wandering the empty rooms and vents in the building around your restaurant and give you the big spook, kinda like the stories you might have heard about the other Freddy’s pizzerias over the last 30 years. They’re likely to do that while you’re busy with the day’s tasks on the computer, too! You’re buying the plates and preparing menus for the next day, and suddenly YAAAAARGH! These animatronics, so inconsiderate. Thankfully, the decrepit computer you use for these tasks also has a system that will play music in another room, sending these robots over there and away from your location.

Even though everything else is more interesting,
THIS is the most important part of your job.

You have a week-long test period, ending on this Saturday, where a big party is planned. Make sure to salvage every animatronic you can, and most importantly, get them all in one place for the big party, just as the guy on your pre-recorded cassettes tells you to. That party is going to be the hottest thing. With some luck, this week could end the curse that befalls the Freddy Fazbear’s Entertainment chain. Manage this place perfectly, take away any remnant of bad luck around our name!

And of course, it has mini-games that you can
play while testing the attractions!

As a proper finale for the series (well… until its creator decided to milk this cash cow further), this ticks all the right boxes. It’s a fresh idea for the series, taking the game in a direction that’s very different from anything else we’ve seen in the franchise before (or since, to be honest). It closes several plot threads in the lore, attempting to offer satisfying answers to the mysteries that remained. It also offers a throwback to the earlier installments, with only a maximum of 4 animatronics going up against you, and a basic concept: Two vents, one on each side of you, and some music to distract the monsters. A bit of a shake-up as well, since you also need to complete some mandatory tasks every night while saying your own ass from a potential jump scarer.

The concept is enhanced by the salvage segments, where you add a new animatronic to your troubles; those parts are tense and genuinely great. You have that unease, that sensation of being alone with a killer. In comparison, there’s something comical about the simulator segments; there’s some horror looming underneath and they're ripe with black comedy, but otherwise harmless and complex enough to actually stand well on their own. I found myself a lot more engaged while playing those! To top it off, there’s 6 possible endings, and most offer answers to questions in the story, meaning that there's an incentive to try and get them all. Really, I think this is the game I’ve liked the most out of the six I’ve covered, probably even more than Sister Location.

You see that big square in the middle? That's
the pizzeria. The "perfect little donut hole of
warmth amidst a sea of insanity."
The vents around it are the insanity.

Now, since this entry closes the lid on the story, anyone unfamiliar with the lore up to that point won’t really understand what’s going on – Heck, it could be confusing even for people who are familiar with it. The "Scrap" animatronics this time are all throwbacks to prior titles. It’s also considered rather easy when compared to previous entries. One annoying mechanic is that sponsorships for the pizzeria will cause pop-up ads to appear on the in-game computer, making the actual scary segments a lot more difficult to get through. So, overall, not a lot of flaws. Of note, the lack of a Custom Night at the end of this one, although that’s because it was getting big enough to be a game all to itself, which Cawthon released as Ultimate Custom Night (and, with it, kept the story going for a brand new arc, with these animatronics and souls going virtual…).

....TABARNAK!

Well! This closes my review of the final FNAF game, and it closes my reviews of FNAF games, period. I can say I’m glad those are done with, even if I found out I liked the games more as I progressed, though ironically it might be because I preferred the ones that did something new and didn’t delve immediately into the gameplay the frachise is most famous for. If I had to rank these six titles from favorite to least favorite, I think I’d say… Pizzeria Simulator, Sister Location, 1, 2, 4 and finally 3. I don’t really intend to keep them now; I am now saying farewell to that series, and I can move on.

And if anyone complains that I did NOT talk in further detail about the current controversy around Cawthon's options... That was my decision. I tried my best to split the art from the artist. I certainly do NOT want to weigh down a quick review with longer talks about stuff like that; and as I said, all of the information about it can be found online.

Stick around, more reviews of horror games will come near the end of October, while I start working through more quick games for reviews.

Quick Review: Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location

Funtime Foxy will work just fine;
just SHOCK 'IM!

After FNAF 4, Cawthon believed the series was done. He tried his hand at a spin-off (FNAF World) that kinda crashed and burned. So he went back to the main series. However, it’s safe to say that he took it in an entirely different direction. Or, at least, attempted to tread entirely new ground. Welcome to Sister Location, released on October 7th, 2016, and home of Circus Baby’s Entertainment. We do have a Freddy… but we also have a Baby, and more new faces! Also, you’re not the night watchman here; you’re the after-hours technician, making sure that everything runs smoothly during the day. Gee, wonder why there isn’t one of those in that other pizzeria haunted by robots…

As a result, your tasks are quite different here. You spend every night doing new things, and the product as a whole feels a lot more involved in telling a narrative. The previous games told one as well, but not as overtly. While it’s not cheap on jump scares, it usually reserves them for anytime you fail the task or mini-game of the moment.

How the Hell do you want me to type anything
on THIS piece of crap of a keyboard?
0/10, don't recommend.

I strongly appreciated the tone throughout Night 1 and 2; it delivers on the creepy atmosphere we expect from a horror game, and FNAF in particular, but it includes many comedic moments that also serve as additional puzzle pieces towards the grand story of the franchise. It’s a sign of good writing where even jokes that seem innocuous actually have greater ramifications. The HandUnit malfunctioning when you write in your name (and correcting what you wrote to “Eggs Benedict”) is an early indication that something’s wrong with the place, even if we don’t yet know just how WRONG it’s about to get. It’s also one Heck of an odd name to end up with.

Your reward for each successful night is that
you get to go home alive and watch your
favorite cartoon (?) with a bowl of popcorn.
Exotic butters not included (yet).

Oops! Where is Ballora?

You spend Night 1 shocking animatronics to force them to perform, and this alone brings up a whole bunch of implications. The scares proper begin on Night 2, where you suddenly have to hide in a vent from little things called Bidybabs. And things only get worse from there. Although, this time around, the motivations for Circus Baby’s Entertainment’s animatronics are quite a bit different…

This is the FNAF game I’ve enjoyed the most so far. I believe it’s due to a combination of actual variety between sections, and the fact that the story takes center stage. I actually wanted to see where the plot was going, I was more engaged and I wanted to experience more, whereas previous games didn’t really give me that thirst. The previous games were doing fine with their simple concepts, but the franchise had grown to the point where it needed to do something more elaborate.

F... F... Fuck!

At least the post-mortem mini-games are back,
like they were in FNAF 2.

That said, the game didn’t exist in a vacuum, and is very closely tied to the overarching storyline, which made it a must-play for those who followed the series closely. Those who were struggling with the franchise’s gameplay up to that point could have given it a try, since it’s so different from every entry until then (barring FNAF World, a spin-off), but then they would be missing the information given before, which is necessary to understand that’s going on here.

That is, unless they read up on the lore and everything involving the Afton family.

On this, see you soon for the final entry I own.

Quick Review: Five Nights at Freddy's 2

The first game was Scott Cawthon’s last attempt at striking it big in the indie market before giving up. Fortune smiled to him. The massive and unexpected success of FNAF1 was great news, and grounds for a sequel, which came out a mere three months later, on November 10th, 2014. I’ll cut to the chase, since all of this is well-known by now: This title is actually a prequel to FNAF1, and is (arguably) the first game in the franchise’s chronology. It gets confusing sometimes.

I could've sworn there were three of those
earlier on this screen...

As a result, the animatronics here look brand-new, and there’s even a handful of new faces, some of which are more worrisome than others. Freddie, Bonnie and Chica are toy-like versions of themselves, but don’t let that denomination fool you; they’re out for the night watchman just like damn near every other animatronic. The creepiest is Toy Foxy, a mess of parts nicknamed “Mangle” that’s still somehow functional as a “robot”. New faces include Balloon Boy and Girl, an uncovered endoskeleton, a shadow Bonnie and a mysterious Marionette. Oh, and the animatronics of the previous game may come by for a surprise visit, too…

Oh great, this place is too cheap for doors now.

As for new mechanics, well… your office is a pretty open space; no doors, and two open air vents, which animatronics can come in and out through. There’s nothing to close if one of the inhabitants shows up unexpectedly; instead, you’ve got a big Freddy Mask to wear, to fool them into thinking that you’re one of them. You better be quick with it, though. There’s also a music box in one room of the place that must be kept wound up and play all night (through the camera system), or else the Marionette will come for you; said music box takes your attention away for several precious seconds, during which a guest might come in... Last but not least, you can shine a flashlight or turn the light in any room through the cameras, to see if any of the beasts are coming…

Cheap-ass company, can't even keep the lights on.

Should we be worried about that purple guy
up there?

Also of note, getting killed in this game can actually be beneficial, as some Game Over screens become mini-games that reveal more information regarding the story… although, as with everything else, several of these are vague enough to mean a whole lot of things. As an example, a game where you control Freddy delivering cakes to some kids while another kid, off to the side, is caught and murdered. (Don’t worry, answers are given… sometimes… in later games.)

I’m a bit split on this one; in spite of the additions to the cast and mechanics, it doesn’t feel like it does things differently enough from the first game. However, the difficulty has been upped and it shows. More animatronics can screw things up while you attempt to survive, and some might even help each other to get to you. You have to be ready for them coming in through the vents. An unprepared player will likely fall prey to an animatronic on Night 1, unlike in FNAF 1 where the first night is eventless. Fuckin’ Toy Bonnie, sneaking up on me while I was rewinding that goddamn music box… Bastard rabbit.

BOO!

The changes aren’t sufficient to make this game feel fresh, but there’s at least an attempt. The larger number of enemies to worry about makes the entire thing a lot tenser. This is also where the plot thickens greatly, feeding a lot of details, several of which are still somewhat mysterious. The mini-games are a good addition, if you find them. It's to be tried if you actually want the precious puzzle pieces it offers… but then again, it’s been almost 7 years, most people with even the slightest bit of interest in the series already know those details.

Scott Cawthon seemingly took the “it’s too similar” critique to heart, seeing as FNAF 3 and 4 shook up the formula (albeit with mixed results), and the next game I’m covering this week goes far beyond…

FNAF Week: An Intro

Among the games I’ve owned for a couple years, there’s the FNAF series. Titles 1 through 4 were obtained in a bundle, after which I think I was given 5 (AKA Sister Location) for free. Then, the sixth installment was free for everyone. There have been more games since, but I’ll focus on the ones I own.

That's not even the entire group.

For a while, I’ve respected Scott Cawthon for learning from his mistakes and using his flaws as an advantage, specifically making games in which the CGI models looked off-putting on purpose. I don’t know if he, or anyone else, expected such an idea to develop into a massive multimedia franchise (as it also includes novels and, as far as I can tell, a movie is still in development). He was struggling as an indie developer to leave a lasting impression, and one day, he did… even if some could argue that he’s now milking his one success for all its worth, as the series has expanded into VR, AR, and still more on the way.

That said, this year, Scott Cawthon has stepped down as creator of the franchise. It seems to be still up and running, but without him at the helm. The reason? Political and personal opinions Cawthon has that don’t mesh well with a large portion of the audience he had accumulated over the years, and for which he received backlash. I personally strongly disagree with Cawthon’s political opinions, but he is allowed to have them and I won’t yell at him for having them. And let's leave it at that, the posts about it are still out there if you want to look them up. Besides, I am not here to talk about this controversy.

Admittedly, I’ve wanted to be done with FNAF for a while now, and it kind of shows; it’s a franchise where the lore interests me more than the gameplay. In general, FNAF is more interesting when you watch someone else play, especially a streamer who actually has fun reactions to what’s going on. In my case, I couldn’t get rid of the games one at a time, precisely because they were purchased in a bundle; either way, I did possess them, therefore I did want to cover them on the blog. And, well, this year, I have a reason to do that. After which I’ll probably take them out of the collection since they’re not games I feel I’ll want to return to.

On the menu soon: FNAF 2, Sister Location, and Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator. After which I can close the book on the series.

Alan Wake's American Nightmare

Click here to read the (long) review of Alan Wake.

What? I’m not done with this guy? Well, apparently not.

Treading known ground while adding new
stuff? All good sequels do that!

Originally released to Steam on May 12th, 2012 by Remedy Entertainment, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is another DLC/expansion game for their horror/thriller masterpiece. It utilizes the original game’s engine and some of its characters. However, this time, the mood is radically different, with the gameplay feeling more like a survival shooter, and the story being more in line with classic pulp fiction. It’s also the proper appearance of a villain hinted at near the end of the original game, Alan’s evil Dark Presence-born doppelganger, Mister S        h.

Wait, that’s not right. It’s Mister Scratch.

Just a second. So if I say the word “Mister” alone or the word “Scratch” alone, it’s all good! But if I try to say Mister Scratch… Okay, something’s fucking with me and I don’t like it. I’ll have to roll with it.

But don’t worry, this time it should be just one article, not five.