Recent reviews by bunjirou

Did I like Layers of Fear?

....Yes, but it's complicated.

When it comes to horror games, it takes a bit to scare me outside of the occasional startle and jump. And Layers of Fear, while it had it's creepy moments, didn't leave me feeling afraid.

What I like the most about horror games is exploring locales in a relatively spooky atmosphere, and that is what Layers of Fear does deliver in a competent way. The locations are interesting, the environments are very detailed-- presentation is basically the strongest point of this game. Given the well done realism and environments that can really pull you in, it's lovely. I can imagine how well this whole game would translate to VR-- given it's already been done with the original release of Layers of Fear.

But-- that's about the most I can say about Layers of Fear. It's got great atmosphere and interesting places to explore. I don't really think that it really passes in a 'gameplay' sort of way. Walking Simulator aside, Layers of Fear's interactivity is rather limited compared to what the more modern releases in this type of horror genre would be like. It's a very... claustrophobic game, which, in a sense, is also good at making the player uncomfortable.

The game itself also has some 'creases' at the seams, notably with a few nitpicky details.

- Voice overs aren't consistent. Sometimes it reads the whole document, sometimes it only reads a portion of the document. Sometimes words that are censored out are skipped over, censored out with a garble-ish sound, or just replaced with a common 'they' or 'this date'. There is no golden standard that they all follow, so it's a bit jarring.

- Minor spelling errors for subtitles. I can't recall what the word was exactly, but I do remember an english word being typo'd in a level select transition for the Actor section.

- Several times I've had to reload the latest save. Such as-- getting dropped out of the map on the Painter's story when I tried to double back into a room I came in from, leaving me falling into an abyss. Or how a sudden scripted shove clipped me into a table in the Painter's story. There is another example I can think of, but I can't go into detail without being somewhat spoilery.


Layers of Fear is not without it's flaws, and I don't really know if I can easily recommend this to most users that are looking into the horror genre for the first time. I do think those who have an interest in exploitative games could find some enjoyment out of it, and with how much content is buried into this game, I'd imagine they'd be able to spend a couple nights with it and have an alright time.

I'm left a bit indecisive on how I should rule my recommendation because of some of the factors I've laid out, but I'll let it pass due to I myself enjoyed the game enough to see it through to the end.

I got to shoot a shotgun that fires out giant wrecking balls everywhere and just destroys everything in sight

It rules

I don't think I've played a better game on steam lately. A Hat in Time just kinda.... nails it for me. Sure, maybe there's enough content for me to play through maybe only a day or two. Sure, maybe there are a few bugs. But honestly this game is filled with all sorts of charm. I haven't stopped playing it ever since I got it.

The music actually makes you feel what it wants you to feel. The characters and voices are charming and lovely, the graphics are beautiful and cute, the gameplay is so great it feels good just to even move. The game took me back to how it felt to first play Super Mario Sunshine as a kid.

To be honest the bugs I have experienced don't even bother me or feel incredibly glaring. It's all just... too much fun. So much fun that I've 100%'d the game, and gotten every single achievement. The modding makes it even more fun, so many different levels and hats to choose from that the content just keeps coming. I may have 100%'d it, but I'll still keep playing. Just like Super Mario Sunshine, I'll revisit and revisit this game again and again most likely.

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