REVEIL , an upcoming psychological revulsion , dropped a demo . What ’s there to see ?
REVEILis another first - person psychological indie horror game desire to toss its hat into the tintinnabulation with a neat petty trailer and a forgetful demonstration I got to play . If I were to compare it to another of its form , I ’d say it reminds me most ofDevotionin terms of the feeling and aesthetic it ’s going for . But what does REVEIL have to volunteer to the circus that is horror ? This is my REVEIL early impressions review .
Gameplay
Like with most first - person repulsion games where you take the air around , the gameplay is minimal and simple . You walk around and interact with objects , you have F to press out for a torch . The most intimate and engaging part of the gameplay was examining certain target and minigames . You sometimes have to drag your black eye and look all around an object you ’re zoomed in on , examining it to figure out how to solve a puzzle . It ’s a good setup for the grease monkey that leave alone me having to think at multiplication .
Then there were minigames I had to play for mystifier , which used the control in different ways to make for a more involved experience . The big highlight is the marble box puzzle . If you ever went into the sportfishing gob in Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess , you ’ll have instant nostalgia like I did . This one is more merciful in a originative way : as your marble fall into holes and has to readjust , ominous and creepy-crawly black eyes start covering the holes you fall into . It ’s an effective style to prevent frustrationandunsettle the player . I wish I saw more of it in the demo .
The actual puzzles themselves are what you ’d bear from a revulsion plot . I think they were exactly what they needed to be . None of them were in particular complex , just a issue of discover the surroundings in enough detail . And in a repugnance game , the last thing you need is halting the flow by get stuck on a puzzle . If anything , making the player look more at your in - deepness environments and objects is to your welfare . Also , the graphics are gorgeous , which helps bring to this effect .
Story
REVEIL ’s story is quite ambiguous to unravel . As per distinctive revulsion game fashion , a lot of note are around to try and trace it , but the game does n’t outright say you much , alternatively providing context clue . Which reach sense for the type of psychological revulsion it ’s trying to be ; it ’s common and fits the account structure to slow give away what ’s going on . What I can piece together run something like this :
The master fictional character is Walter Thompson , a guy with a wife and daughter . His married woman and young girl perform at a carnival together in a mother - and - girl act . However , his daughter seems to be suffering heavily emotionally ground on her failing grades , multiple birthday political party invitations she could n’t make due to shows — telling us she ’s alone — and a revealing sketchbook . It becomes clear quick the game is not a linear serial of events . or else , it seems like we ’re in some kind of nightmare or delusional psychological journey as we start from inside houses to out in the Wood through doorways and world gets screwy with jolting fabric . Something definitely happened with his girl and married woman , but the demo is n’t willing to secernate us what , only leaving you to speculate .
Analysis and thoughts
There is a reason I immediately thought of Devotion . Devotion is a top - tier repulsion game story in my opinion , managing to finger very real with a story close to reality underneath its layers of psychological repugnance . This report , too , does n’t feel fantastical or supernatural in any way , which take me hopeful for it . “ kin man screws over his wife and daughter ” is n’t exactlyoriginalby this period , but itisa basic premise that can go in so many unique direction . We can deflower the people around us intentionally or accidentally in unlike path , and conduce to a thousand different - season psychological repulsion experiences .
While I can not say if the history is right or bad — there is too little given — I desire to engage with it . I want to roll in the hay if REVEIL oversee to deliver another slowly unraveled gut lick with something too real behind it . If it can do that , I ’ll consider it worth the time . At the very least , I have it away the engaging circus theme and esthetic . For being such a staple horror aesthetic , it feels like there are n’t many genus Circus - themed secret plan .
Is it scary?
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No . The demo ended just as it started to get more unsettling , which is unfortunate . There were a few good creepy-crawly moments , my favorite of which was the aforesaid marble puzzle and the girl ’s sketch pad . The sketchbook was predictable but interesting enough to keep me curious . A few time , I simply stared at an object and said , “ I do n’t wish that . ” The last part of the demo , the circus funhouse , definitely does n’t attend fun , and I would hate to be there in real life . It was atmospherical , but they barely did anything with it before the demo ended . Hopefully , the full game has much more repugnance to proffer because the demo had almost nothing . I can separate the developersknowhow to build up for psychological scourge , but they did n’t show much of it off .
That being said , I remember REVEIL for not being afraid to have scenes in large-minded daylight and still cope to be a small spooky . A running - down circus in broad day is hard not to be a little unsettled by .
This little puzzle made full use of the angling. Screenshot: PC Invasion
The trailer was more interesting
It ’s difficult to give a tentative score because there was so little to go off in the demonstration . I was n’t bored or unengaged , but ultimately , nothing really befall . It was just as the demo felt quick to fight down on the gaseous state pedal that it stopped . I ’m not amplify when I say the trailer get the game look more interesting than the demo .
Take this tentative military rating with a food grain of salt , but I ’ll have to give it around a 5.8 . I want to see more story , horror , and creepiness . I did n’t get enough of any of it to sense slaked . If there ’s another demonstration for the secret plan , I hope it has more to show .
From what I saw , REVEIL can go in either direction . The implementation could fall vapid and deliver an unsatisfying , anticlimactic psychological repulsion that feel too conversant . Or it could utterly nail the execution and I ’ll be back to tell you all about why . At the least , the detailed environments make me intend the developer make out what they ’re doing . For that , I ’ll be optimistic about its future tense .
See, THIS was creepy. Screenshot: PC Invasion
If you wish Devotion , Layers of Fear , or even PT , you ’ll find closeness with this game . It ’s mightily up that alley of psychological horror . If those games are n’t your matter , I ca n’t imagine this secret plan will advance you over . But if they are your pep pill , seem forward to welcome another solid submission into their rank and file .
More REVEIL articles
Effective use of environmental storytelling. Screenshots: PC Invasion
The demo kind of peaked early starting you off in this room. Screenshot: PC Invasion
There’s just something about a rundown circus. Screenshot: PC Invasion
