LAYERS OF FEAR: LEGACY

Layers of Fear has gone through several game platforms, and in 2016 arrived on PS4, Xbox One and PC as a whole original experience, which was later enriched by quality DLC Inheritance a half year later. This year was released on the Legacy Switch, linking both parts, giving a unique chance to take the Victorian horror anywhere in the world.

Who else did not play the Layers of Fear, the Legacy version delivers a nice batch of content, and the game for two years has not lost its spell. Practically, it combines good gameplay, a totally accessible mechanism for both beginners and novices, and even goes beyond the level of abstraction and psychological horror. It's not common where you get bumps, trillions of zombies, but subcutaneous terror and your own anxiety, which is also driven by the six-inch Switch Screen.

Thanks to the portable version, I have played most of the game in about eight places in the world. In the hotels also different apartments. Take the horror with yourself, it asks courage and talk about what horrors I experienced yesterday when sleeping by duplicates. No Layers of Fear at first glance is an idea we know from many works: the central figure of a mad painter trying to finish the opus magnum while neglecting his family (wife with his daughter) falls into the sphere of madness and psychological disorder. He resigns to the environment, and those who want to help him, end up in self-sacrifice, and turn to dangerous situations, the moment in which you find yourself, and you discover what has happened so far.

The focus is on the title image that the painter is trying to complete. The basic part of the game is divided into the six levels you are trying to get through and the further you are, the psychic state of the figure is worse, it sees much more miserable perception of reality, mixing dark characters, rats, demons, dogs, scary sounds or other scenes. Authors throw objects, rumble, or cause more strange effect. The gradation is well-used - in the first level, you are familiar with the main environment (the Victorian style house), in others you can see more and more debris, bizarre effects, unexpected scenes, etc. Some follow on past parts, the psyche of the author reminds them and moves into rooms, walls, or floors.

The house is good to know as soon as you walk in the same premises: about a dozen rooms (bedroom, children's room, study, living room, kitchen, storeroom, cellar) and occasionally stairs or corridors. You are non-stop in these spaces and the game works so that you keep walking, while the authors change the world around you. This effect is also used by other games (most recently Anamorphine) and is a nice bar for occasional players who do not have to understand the complex level of design - just know that there are rooms, they have to visit them gradually and the screenwriters and designers always change what they need. If it sometimes means going through the same corridor three times or creating a labyrinth from a single staircase, it can be done.

This makes it easy to control and interface: one lever is enough to move, occasionally look in the right direction, sometimes you collect a few items. If you get to the doors that can be accessed, the icon is active. If not, you will see the Lock icon. If you arrive at the junction and you will not be able to give advice, try all the doors in succession, and those that are going to let you go have the icon. You do not need anything more for basic functionality. But the game also hides the collection of items and sometimes their active use (for example, finding a key in the game box). And the game keeps track of how you handle your wives and daughters (whether you are or ignore them), whether you see paintings on the walls (they have meaning), and how to collect items like hidden sheets or something else in the drawers.

Later, some simple jigsaw puzzles appear, but mostly consist of a combination of active elements, such as putting the mechanism in motion, finding the subject or the right path. Sometimes in the game he gets prone to the game and in the author's madness they lose their orientation (especially in the fifth and the sixth level), respectively. the game has so many brothels and inactive items coming out of its misery, that you can not move forward, and then feel your own frustration. I do not know if it's an intention or a mistake, but in the final game the game becomes more demanding and less satisfying. Paradoxically, the best is the second third, you can already orient yourself in the house and in the controls (what you learn in the first third and sometimes scratch your teeth) and the status of the character is not so unbearable that you would not be able to play it any further. Then you will find out why you get to the same place at the end of each level and that the showcase with six items makes sense. Likewise, the bits of the sheet.

When you understand the classic video game attributes (how to play, how the mechanisms work, or whether there are more walks, objects or jigsaw puzzles), you can finally start focusing on the screenplay value of the game. Respecting not just the common elements of the game but also the content level - what we are trying to say and that there are not just the objects, points, or trophies. The script does not really address a light topic, and is comparatively difficult to understand when it comes to non-linear flashbacking. To that, the fundamental elements are through memories, lingering dialogues or fragments of the past. They are dosed gradually and each level tells us how a husband is stealing from a family and how it hurts them.

It's not easy to play. You will learn about alcoholism, animal torture, domestic violence, family disabilities and lack of schizophrenia. The ultimate madness of the painter is going to be a really perverse outcome that would not have to be embarrassed by some film horror. The bottom line is ruthless, and practically all three ends (evil, neutral, good) carry a trap of wits. In addition, gambling is also based on the fact that scriptwriters will not do many things directly, but you have to read them from individual flashbacks, articles, and chatting. What was the letter and what about the scene? Why did the dog appear and what do you do, rat, do the rats again? In what condition is a wife and what is happening to her daughter? Really just draw three characters and their destiny ...

DLC Inheritance then focuses on the daughter who returns to the house to experience her own series of flashbacks. The authors here use existing sites and past events to give you the chance to look at them from a new angle and experience another piece of story, an expanded epilogue. In this regard, it is necessary to have a mapped original game and points, because the Inheritance (heritage) is addressed, for example, by the father's reference to the daughter: not only physical, but also abstract in the form of an imprint of upbringing or the rise of talent in the genes.

The trip of the house to the house is as demanding as the father's, even darker. The authors are mindful of your decisions in the details of the type or tend to more to your father or mother portraits. Or, as a father tries his daughter to grab tips on drawing pictures, it does show a hard upbringing to certain terror. Obviously, the girls are clearly reflecting on her, and the wandering around the house raises further wounds.

Even the Inheritance has three ends (the passage itself takes 2-3 hours): good, bad and true, but the authors have come up with very demanding plot, making it hard to choose your favorite, as everybody hides a lot of extraction resulting from the upbringing and relationship with the father. I recommend going through all - lots of find out.

Layers of Fear: Legacy plays on the Switch bravado. The aforementioned control, with a few exceptions to the disobedient camera, will not let you in the heck and you will enjoy home-walking and painting. The display is greatly utilized and comes with touch control. The sound is very good - the authors recommend playing the headphones and I can confirm: the combination of night-time in the bed with the headphones is top and gives a dazzling atmosphere. In addition, the surround sound in the house is great for listening to the headphones: rush, buch, cheerful enjoyment. I also appreciate the vibrations of the console in intense moments: when you switch your hands in the shuddering scene, it adds an impressive effect.

Psychological horror from Poliakov has gone off and its Switch version is a good recommendation. Personally, I enjoyed many passages, sometimes I wanted to quickly skip those unpleasant or unappreciated, but the overall experience remains at a high level. It's crazy to play, not linear, not easy to grasp. It impresses me as the Poles have captured the video game medium and console capabilities and delivered something beyond normal games (horror, adventure). It will not be the title I want to enjoy repeatedly - but one thing is holding on to the memory.

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