Remorses
Overview
Remorses is a survival horror set in the late 90s where a journalist moves to the woods and explores a haunted manor, only to discover that the rumors are real and he’s trapped with a real witch. In order to escape, we must solve puzzles and avoid the enemy by watching the surroundings and listening to cues carefully. There is little to no hand-holding; the secrets must be explored and resolved with our wits. The game can be saved anytime manually and features achievements depending on our playthrough.
Gameplay
The adventure is played in first person. The first segment after the introductory scenario is a walking simulator that takes 15 minutes to walk through the forest, with a few points of interest. Once we reach the manor, we’ll be trapped inside a small bedroom. To progress to the exit, we must find interactions and items we can pocket. One of them we can use is the lighter, which works for dark rooms the best. Other items can be used from the inventory automatically in the right situation. Opening our inventory, we can inspect and rotate the items for a better look. Some interactions can be hidden within these items.
Sanity is the main mechanic that acts as an invisible health bar. In order to restore it, we must open one of the windows located in the manor. Since the air slowly suffocates, failing to open a window will kill us. It is unknown if there are other hazards that affect this. Sanity will be restored on certain story segments. A visual warning is displayed when our sanity is low. Note that interacting with windows takes some time.
We are not alone inside the manor. A wandering enemy can be found in a few hallways nearby. Its AI pathfinder depends solely on ‘clues’: lights might flick and the room get darker momentarily, or audio clues might play (or if the enemy is closer, their grunts). Ignoring these warnings will trigger a chase, and we cannot escape them. Opening windows during these clues will still trigger them, otherwise making the AI more aggressive. We don’t have a health bar, so the enemy will kill us instantly.
Searching for items can be a bit daunting, but it is manageable. Some puzzles will require interacting with the room a little, such as a light switch to spot something in the corner. Other puzzles have some backtracking, moving us room through room. This is the whole premise for Remorses. Achievements can be earned by progressing and spotting items hard to find. We can save the game at any moment, and we have six spaces (ideal for multiple save spots). Depending on our performance and our choices, different endings can be earned.
Audio & Graphics
Should you be playing with low graphics, the textures will get blurred but give you a better performance. There are a few soundtracks, but those aren’t necessarily good. The HUD is minimalistic; it only shows interactions, objectives, and tutorial messages. Because the game relies on visual and sound clues, these are very subtle but work just fine.
Pros & Cons
Pros-
A decent psychological/survival horror adventure.
The clue system works very well.
Cons-
It gets difficult as you progress; there are little to no clues further on.
I was hoping you could outrun the enemy, but no.
The story isn’t that great. Voice acting is okay.
Rating: 6/10
Now I know what it feels like to open a window of opportunity—Oh god I’m being chased!
