Post by JDCorley in C.H.A.I.N. comments

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Quick notes on each game (as i play them through, in groups of 5)

1 - Torch. Great intro game. A lot of "haunted PS1" games don't capture what a PS1 game actually looked and felt like. they're just generic smashed-graphics games. This one does some work to make it look and feel right. It's playable enough and creepy enough to launch the series.

2 - Ms. Blanch - Again, great job at feeling like a dream or a nightmare of a video game. Also, a very good rhythm as the game gets, uh, darker.

3 - The participants - The first game I felt really popped with the "narrative path" element of this collection. Not what I had assumed would happen next at all. However, the flashing glitch elements were not necessary. The color-division and edge-of-screen tearing was glitchy enough.

4 - Emerge. A little more by-the-numbers. This type of game is what I expect from a project like this. I think the ending is great but there could have been other moments like that building up to it where controls were a little bit orthogonal.

5 - Drip. A completely unexpected experience; not at ALL what I expected from a horror game collection. I would have made it even a little more cursed. Solid feeling play.

JDCorley4 years ago(+5)

6 - Dream Aether - At first I was a little taken aback by the lack of horror in the horror anthology entry but it was actually a nice vaporwave breather (get it?)

7 - Ball // Out - Tried to bridge the gap back to horror but I couldn't finish it because it was too hard. This entry raises the question of difficulty in "connected" anthologies like this, because perhaps I would have appreciated the next game more if I had finished it.

8 - (Can't tell the name) - A real pleasure of a game, capturing both the truly haunted/cursed PS1 vibe as well as actually working on the feeling of the movement and attack mechanics. Perhaps the game that most of all lets you develop a bit of skill in it (knowing when to backstep, for me, specifically, was a great feeling when I figured it out.)

9 - Swell - I liked the concept as a horror game concept, eating or being eaten, but even once I knew what I was doing I couldn't do it.

10 - Organ Even (I think? Hard to read) - Of course the best thing about all Alien videogames is playing the facehugger, right? Right. This combines that with a literally collapsing level geometry for an unsettling pleasure. A little hard to see where or how you're progressing though.

JDCorley4 years ago(+4)

11 - Day 11 - Excellent, but perhaps unsurprisingly given the predecessor, it doesn't seem to be part of the narrative. However, everything in it feels like it could have happened in a PS1 game.

12 - Avert Your Eyes - The presentation of this really hurts the concept. What, flamethrowering floating, murmuring eyes in a cave isn't scary enough without a smartphone and pixellation? It is.

13 - (weird collection of symbols) - The second arcade style action game in the collection, this one a runner. The graphical style at first seems grating but as it proceeds you start to feel like you're playing a game that was found in raw code rather than designed. Really cool.

14 - (some kind of eyeball thing?) - I just got done watching a 3 hour video on Pac-Man, so it's great to see a horror/creepy version. Sticks around just long enough to be fun.

15 - 15 - Similar to the previous game (interestingly enough), the map is small enough that even finding "that darn last book" isn't too hard. Fun game with just enough pop-in to feel creepy.

JDCorley4 years ago(+4)(-1)

16 - 16 - A nice little atmospheric point and click, a breather after a few "run run run" games. However, the giant eyeball ending...cmon. The digitizing candles are a really low key build, you can think of something better.

17 - Vale - Great lightning effects, good atmosphere. Again, this feels like the nightmare of playing a video game. I also like that you can move around inside the credits.

18 - Spooky Library - Again, this seems to not be connected to the previous game. i appreciate the new aesthetic, however, I have to say that the fixed camera angle makes death come...often without you really being able to see what kills you. Would love to see more of this one.

19 - Abraxas - Really solid....stealth (?) mini game. The ending's a good horror hook as well.

20 - 999,999 - A nice little showcase to close it out. Not a bad ending at all.

Overall thoughts:

* being a little stricter about endings and difficulty levels could have achieved the goal of the collection a little better

* the menu system, with the documents, faux disks, etc., is an absolute masterpiece!

* these games lack brightness and contrast features. i understand you want horror games to control these elements but this is an accessibility question for many users.

Best wishes, looking forward to the next thing from these creators.

adam pype4 years ago(+1)

thank you so much for the thorough write-up! it might not seem like much, but it really is super appreciated you took the time to address each game! <3 thanks for playing

JDCorley4 years ago

You're very welcome and best wishes to all the contributors!

Variant Tombstones4 years ago(+1)

Hi I made 15! Finding the last book isn't too hard but it can be pain haha, but thank you for your view on it!

JDCorley4 years ago(+1)

In my opinion the difficulty was just right. Definitely something to be proud of since it would have to be tailored to fit the limitations in draw distance and the movement speed/pattern of the monsters. Nice job and good luck with what comes next for you!

itch.io

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