Asylum Review (GREG_LP)
WOW, what an amazing game. I currently finished my first playthrough. I don't jet know if there are more endings in the game, but still I am quite impressed. The tension and dread kept rising with every new information I gathered. I am still trying to figure out what the ending means.
Here are my thoughts (Spoiler warning! Just in case):
-Controls-
Like Scratches, the game uses Point & Click controls to navigate around the Asylum. Some may argue, that these kinds of controls are dated and a former workaround for the hardware limitations older Puzzle games had to deal with. But, like in Scratches, this works in the Game's favor: Every click in any direction is like a jump cut. The fear that something lurks behind any corner of the Asylum, paired with the rising tension of the story, is quite a nerve wracking experience (in a good way of course). Small nitpick: This control scheme comes with its drawbacks. Like in Scratches, you sometimes need to stand in a specific spot in order to interact with certain Objects. Unlike in Scratches however, there is a feature, that shows you the hotspots you can click on at your current position, which is very helpful.
-Gameplay & Puzzles-
The puzzles were very doable. No complaints here, and a huge improvement over the somewhat confusing and convoluted puzzles of Scratches. But I must say they were sometimes a little too easy. Near the ending of the game though at 4 am, there is a weaker, not really immersive, "Chase section" that I personally didn't like. Let's talk about the "talking-with-characters" mechanic. It is quite interactive and fun. The biggest problem I had was finding the characters in the building, especially when the game decides, that at this time, the character just isn't anywhere in the Asylum.
-Technical aspects-
First the bugs (there are not many to be found) (Keep in mind: I completed most of the game at launch): I played Asylum in german and sometimes text wasn't translated, randomly in the middle of some papers. In rare cases, the game displayed at the beginning of some internal monologue boxes something like "Übersetzter Text" (in English: "Translated Text"), which I suppose shouldn't be there. Also, rarely, some voice lines didn't trigger.
Second, other things: Some characters voice lines strangely sound... compressed? I don't know why, but I know that the voice lines of the MC are noticeably better in quality (They were rerecorded last minute, as far as I know). But the delivery of the voice acting is good.
(Other thoughts: I think the game consists like Scratches out of 2D Still Images brought to live by FMVs (door opening, etc.) but there are real time 3D elements sprinkled in: Like the main menu book, the notepad and most of the character animation. I am quite impressed how good everything blends together, nice compositing work.)
-Horror-
I personally was a little more scared playing Scratches than Asylum. Which is a compliment because Scratches is one of the scariest games I ever played. I guess I never felt 'alone' because of the other characters. But the cosmic horror aspect of the story still terrifies me, even after playing. It all comes down to what somebody personally is afraid of. The few jump scares were quite affective. No cheap jump scares here.
In conclusion: Play it and READ EVERYTHING! The writing is one of the best and scariest parts of this game. It kept me at the edge of my seat!