9.5 hours played
Written 12 days ago
I loved this game. It was everything good about my favorite pieces of horror media in technical terms, with a very tight original story. I felt like this is a proper game that keeps me busy and actually PLAYING rather than a walking simulator. The writing is shockingly good, nuanced, with very appropriate touches of humor and irony. I loved the breadth of topics this game chose to source the horror from, and how it treated them. My favorite technical part was playing a game with fixed camera positions - like Silent Hill 2 or the old RE - but for it to still feel modern. Another bit felt like a Max Payne dream sequence (the best dream sequence, that is) - but it was only in the feeling of playing it, not in any direct way.
A note on themes - Some reviews I saw suggested a particular (not very flattering) reading of the meaning behind the main monster - I don't know that I agree with that reading; I suggest you try the game and judge it yourself. If you're concerned, nothing here is graphic, at least when it comes to this widely-reviewed bit. I don't think that reading is dishonest or unbased, I just think that there's definitely room for interpretation here; I don't think this game is not as insensitive to serious topics as its being made out to be.
A note on historical themes - if you're at all familiar with Poland's history, Soviet history, you'll LOVE this. A GEM of a horror game set in the aftermath of Soviet rule, with its grand promises, its failure to deliver, and its costs. [spoiler] Bonus points if you know what it feels like to have a kitchen table heart-to-heart. [/spoiler]
A note on technical performance - I tried running this game on my PC in 2021, it crashed constantly. Tried running it on my upgraded PC in 2023 - it refused to work properly. I installed it for sh**ts and giggles on my Deck - it actually ran much better?? Maybe it's some Proton magic. I hit the spot on the configurations to make it look pretty decent: getting 20fps on the split world and solid 30fps when in a single world. There were bits (with mirrors, mostly) where the frae rate dips to single digits, but it was just once or twice for a few seconds. Crashed once after waking (I woke the Deck while playing this dozens of times; ADHD much). Some might say it's garbage performance, but to each their own; I'm just telling you what can be achieved on a Deck if you're into that type of thing/can only play on the Deck. The small screen really helps hide things that would look god-awful on a proper monitor. I beat it on the Deck in two evenings.