Among the Sleep Reviews
Where it starts off on a high, the short story, lack of depth, and occasional bug all come together to make for a slightly numbing experience; it feels like there's no journey, no resolution, and a lot of unfulfilled potential.
Among the Sleep builds an engaging, terrifying experience on top of simple, buggy mechanics
Cute, and sometimes unnerving, Among the Sleep draws the player to an affecting conclusion, but its banal puzzles and shallow storytelling doesn't do a lot to inspire many thrills.
Among the Sleep makes good use of its unusual concept, taking you on a distinctive journey through the frightening dreams of a young child.
Among the Sleep succeeds at being a creepy baby simulator, but the real monster turns out to be boring, buggy puzzles and a shallow world and story.
There's plenty to admire in Krillbite's debut but, like a child itself, it's messy, loud, confusing and it grows up far too quickly. The length is the key isssue. For all its efforts to get inside both the player and the characters' heads, Among The Sleep doesn't linger long enough to leave a mark or more than a fleeting memory.
While sparse in terms of legitimate scares, the unnerving story and chilling vibe make it worthwhile
Among the Sleep is not just a great horror game, but a well-told, emotionally affecting story that has more to offer than just an unique premise.
Among the Sleep wants to be a combination of Gone Home and Slender, but doesn't quite reach the emotional and storytelling highs of the former or the bowel-rending scares of the latter. Krillbite have done some fine design work, though, and the core idea is new and unique enough to give the promise of greatness to come from the new studio.
Among the Sleep puts the player behind the eyes of a two-year old and tasks them with surviving a series of wildly traumatizing scenarios. Careful hands and compassionate minds push Among the Sleep's delicate subject matter away from abject immorality, however, not with enough guidance to pivot an honest story into a capable game.
Krillbite Studios' baby sim-cum-horror tale starts strong, but comes undone as it pushes into the supernatural at the expense of the real. It's often scary, but not always effective.
With a bit more time and cash or just a more solid plan of how to make their creatures scary Krillbite could eventually make the greatest survival horror ever (remember it took Frictional three Penumbras before they made Amnesia), but Among The Sleep is not that game. Waaaaaaaah.
That's what's most disappointing; there's absolutely the spark of a really cool whatever-this-genre-is game in Among the Sleep, and for a while it looks like it's going to get there. Too bad it ends barely a quarter of the way in, passing the baton to something both much less interesting and perpetually trapped in its shadow.
Among The Sleep is a poignant horror adventure more interested in the nature of trauma than scare tactics.
Among the Sleep is a horror experience that's more interested in delivering on its premise of exploring traumatic events from the perspective of a two-year old than in shocking you with gore or employing jump scares in order to get a cheap reaction out of you, which is good.
Frequently-terrifying first-person crawler flounders at times, but the ending makes it all worthwhile
Among the Sleep does its job in presenting a powerful message, one that seems all too familiar in today's world of emotional video games, yet it lacks solid gameplay and only presents brief challenges.
Besides those two larger complaints, Among the Sleep was a fascinating experience. The concept is one that has rarely (if ever) been seen before, and it really lets you look at the world from a different perspective as well as creating a real sense of vulnerability. It's a rarity but Among the Sleep is even a game that could be recommended even to people who aren't necessarily huge fans of the horror genre. Despite this, Among the Sleep starts out pretty tame but ramps up the horror as it progresses so it should also leave ardent horror fans sated. Just make sure you play it late at night in the dark with noise canceling headphones for full effect; you'll thank me later.
Among the Sleep is ultimately a cool experience worth seeing through to the end. There's a novelty to the perspective that's hard to deny, and when the game focuses on that it's great. If you enjoy a brisk, atmospheric journey from a fresh perspective, Among the Sleep is a solid choice.
Among The Sleep was a bit of a letdown on the horror front, but if you're looking for an interesting interactive story, you should definitely give it a shot. The immersion mechanics were great and they managed to make you feel powerless, if only for a brief period. It would've been nice to see some more realistic environments and subtle scare tactics and, if these were added, it would've been a fantastic game, rather than just a good one.