FRIST_008 Layers of Fear (2023) Review

Layers of Fear (2023) is a remake, a remaster and a sequel all at once. If you haven't played any of the games: twenty hours of an excellent psychological thriller, just get it. If you've beaten the first two, the game is derivative and not worth full price. The remake of the first part is what makes it worth playing. Much more psychedelia and sound work, the notes are voiced now, and listening to the voice of an artist going mad is something else. The puzzles were simplified so much that I never once had to google anything, and nothing pulls you out of the story. The game got easier, but getting the ending you want got harder. New mechanics. Layers of Fear is no longer a walking simulator: there's running now and a lamp you can use to drive the monster away. Chases with nowhere to hide, where you have to run and solve puzzles at the same time, are the most tense moments in the game. The jump scares are gone, and what you get is no longer horror but a carefully staged thriller, which is exactly what I personally wanted. Doors and heavy objects move with inertia, and that's woven into the game well. But there's no point rotating objects in your hand: there's nothing on the back. Running on the stick quietly resets if you catch on something, so it's better to put it on a button. The second part is a lazy remaster: new lighting on a new engine, and nothing else. The intro cutscenes are still in old stereo and are twice as loud as the game, and 90% of the drawers are still empty. The new story of the writer at the lighthouse, which ties the parts together, is toothless, not scary and almost without psychedelia, only half an hour long. You can't see all of it without replaying both games, which is disrespectful to the fans; it's easier to watch it on YouTube. DLC. The child's story got prettier, but interaction with the environment stayed the same. The pianist's story is very interesting and original, in the spirit of the first part, though without puzzles, just running around. The free Halloween DLC about the director, where you place the figures on stage yourself and shoot your own horror movie, is made with real money behind it: new tricks, talking mannequins, and for the first time in the whole series I actually jumped in surprise, and in places I even walked backwards. If the remade parts are a thriller, this DLC is real fear. Visuals and sound. The graphics are enchanting, there's true black, except in the basement, where the hero seems to have cat vision. The surround sound is atmospheric but not scary, and buggy: the light switch sound was fixed in a patch, but the piano sound is still broken. The DualSense is a disaster: haptic footsteps in the safe zone and the lightning vibration were removed in a patch, the adaptive triggers only work on the first door and the elevator gate, and the speaker is almost silent. Looks like it was all done just to pass Sony's certification. Verdict. For newcomers: 9, don't think twice. For those who played before: around 8.5 because it's derivative, or even 7 because of the sloppy job on the writer's story and the second part. The free Halloween DLC adds so much new stuff that now it makes sense for series veterans to pick it up on sale too.