Release Year: 2016
Developers: Bloober Team and Incuvo
Layers of Fear is a single-player psychological horror gamer where you’re a disgraced artist who is hellbent on finishing his masterpiece. In order to do this, the player must explore the house to gather the “materials” he needs for his work. That is easier said than done, the house is not only full of puzzles but also constantly changes and provides the player with several jump scares. You can play this on most platforms: Linux, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It has one DLC called Inheritance, where you play as the painter’s daughter as she revisits both her old home as well as her childhood.
The player must gather the materials the painter needs to finish his masterpiece. To do that you have to complete six chapters, one for each element needed, and by the end of every chapter, the player returns to his studio and adds the new element to the canvas (this action is how you save the game). To find the elements needed, you explore the house, solve several mini-puzzles throughout the exploration and a more complex one at the end of each chapter, and gather family “mementos” that will shed light on the painter’s past.
The controls are pretty simple to grasp and very smooth, at least on PS4, the only small issue I have is with running but since this isn’t a survival horror that didn’t bother me too much. In 2019 (3 years after the game’s original release) they made it available for VR. However, there are several moments during the game when the environment becomes distorted and changes quickly so keep that in mind before trying the VR version.
This is the biggest issue I have with Layers of Fear: every time you’re near one specific type of collectible it triggers a (very) loud sound of screeching rats. That gets annoying quickly, especially if you choose to play the chapters on a roll. However, the voice acting is incredible, one of the best I’ve come across, and it makes the painter’s monologues feel realistic and makes me connect to the character in a way I didn’t expect. The background sound consists of a piano melody that is both creepy and eerily beautiful, it does wonders in building the dreamlike/nightmarelike ambiance of the game.
The game is from 2016 and the graphics quality is on par with what you’d expect: it looks beautiful (as much as a gothic creepy house can be) but it’s not that detailed, meaning, the same type of furniture and decorative objects are replicated all throughout the house. I played it on a PS4 and didn’t encounter any bugs/graphic issues but I don’t know how well it runs on other consoles/computers. I have an issue with games that are in the 1st person POV, they make me incredibly nauseous and dizzy. If you’re like me, I recommend that you disable the “head bobble” effect in the settings and reduce the field of vision. On top of that, I also turned my brightness all the way up, otherwise, it was almost impossible to find the collectibles.
Speaking of the collectibles, I absolutely adore them, especially the rat drawings. They’re all well-made, the developers even made sure that the documents/notes/drawings are all on different kinds of paper and each character has different handwriting. Furthermore, it has the option (pressing square while holding the paper on PS4) of showing what’s written in block letters in case the player has trouble reading the original fonts.
This is perfect if you like story-driven games focused on exploration and puzzles. There are no combats and no chase sequences, although you can die during the game, it’s not a graphic death nor does it significantly impact your gaming experience. Layers of Fear relies primarily on psychological horror created through the eerie and decadent atmosphere of the house, the painter’s tragic backstory, and several jump scares. Furthermore, if you’re like me and appreciate hunting for collectibles (ie: rat drawings, creepy photos, and family trinkets) you’ll have a lot of fun with this game.
Although this is far from being a perfect game, it is one of my personal favorites and I highly recommend it. The combination of a creepy house, intriguing backstory, collectibles, and different endings hits all of my sweet spots. The experience was great and provided me with hours of entertainment as I was determined to get all the endings and collect all the items.
For Trigger Warnings click here
Originally written in 2022
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