I'm not very superstitious, but I had access to too many horror movies at a young age, so I think it's understandable that I would at least be wary of the supernatural. That said, the one thing I've learned from watching movies like Paranormal Activity, The Exorcist, and What Lies Beneath is that you should never, under any circumstances, mess with Ouija boards. But unfortunately I had to suspend my strictest rule when playing PS1-style survival horror, the Fear the Spotlight demo, and I'm still mad about it.
The problem begins when the protagonist, Vivian, accompanies her most rebellious friend, Amy, to her school after hours. Amy seems to think that a ghost has been following her through the school hallways, and decides that it is best to grab a Ouija board that they had on display in the library to try to communicate with her spectral stalker.
As soon as I saw that evil piece of cardboard, I knew we were in trouble. To make matters worse, after exploring the library to try to find a possible exit, I saw a memorial to 24 children who died in a school fire; That means there are 24 ghosts ready to attack us as soon as we get our hands on the library. board.
However, following Amy's advice and using the Ouija board was the only way to progress, so I had no choice but to give it a try. I even tried to take my hands off the planchette (the wooden arrow), but every time I did it Amy yelled at me, so I didn't see any progress there.
Eventually, whatever spirit was stalking Amy in the school hallways reared its ugly head, destroyed the library, and possessed her (if only someone who was really smart and knew this was going to happen had said something sooner). But the horror game had to start somehow, and after being whisked away to a hellish otherworld at the end of the demo, it looks like we'll have to try to rescue Amy from being possessed for the rest of eternity when the updated version of the full game will be released on October 22.
Ouija board aside, the Fear the Spotlight demo was pretty fun, especially considering it was really just the prologue. There are plenty of retro horror games, but they work for a reason, and this low-poly version was still scary enough to keep me on edge the entire time. I'm not ashamed to say that as I navigated the library in total darkness with only a candle to light my way, the strange, distant creaks and faint footsteps scared me so much that I had to start listening to Chappell Roan to calm myself down. below.
In the final moments of the demo, Vivian also ventures into a fiery crack in the wall to rescue Amy. I hope this means that the rest of the game will play out in a strange mirror version of the school where hallways and rooms morph and change as we venture through them. This type of psychedelic horror is what I like the most because it makes you feel small and out of control, which is exactly how I like to experience horror games.
But even if this were not the case, it would not be the end of the world. The school, as it was in the demo, is creepy enough for the rest of the game. My only frustration with the setting and demo was the lack of “highly tactile puzzles” that the Steam Description fiance. I had to figure out how to open a glass display case, but that only required walking through different rooms and opening drawers to find a key, so I'm hoping there will be more complex puzzles to deal with in the rest of the game. game.
But the demo was really just a tutorial, teaching you how to get around various obstacles, like avoiding spotlights, using items, and dealing with Vivian's asthma with an inhaler you found lying around in the library. So it's still early days for Fear the Spotlight and I'm excited to move on to the rest of the story at the end of October.
