Xbox Series Awakening Analysis

THE Horror games They cover many genres. From walking simulators to frenetic third-person shooters. In any case, in many cases, more than a genre it can be the setting or backdrop of a game whose strong point is not horror. Although a little late, we were able to delve back into the darkest part of games and today we bring you the Xbox Series Awakening Review.

Developped by Pixel separation and edited by Daedalic Entertainmentthe game was launched on March 6 and came to current-gen consoles and PC. The developers themselves define it (we’ll see if that ends up being the case) as a first-person narrative psychological thriller. Likewise, they ensure that it focuses on plot, puzzles and exploration. Let’s see if this is the case over the hours of play and in which direction the balance tips more.

The story

As for the historywe can only tell you the starting point of the game, because going further would lead to spoilers and it is better for you to discover it for yourself. In the game We will be Walter Thompson and we will wake up with a terrible headache in our bed. When we wake up, we will see how our daughter and wife are not here. So we’re going to get some painkillers to help with this intense pain and we’re going to go down and see if we can find our loved ones.

From there, The plot takes us through various scenarios and situations.but all of them have the Nelson Brothers Circus as a common link. Many questions to answer will await us in the story: where are my loved ones? Why this preeminence of the circus? Is what I see real? And so more and more questions that, little by little, are resolved in the last part of the game, which, by the way, has several endings depending on our final decision.

In any case, the plot is followed with some interestcompleted by the notes and documents that are found due to the different scenarios in which the game takes place. What does not help the credibility of said plot or, in a word, the immersion, will be the protagonist himself of the story.

The immersion is broken

On the one hand, for the flatness of the dubbing usedhaving little charisma and feeling very flat in their reactions. On the other hand, it will be a voice that will constantly take us out of the game due to its constant interventions. Perhaps with less interventions and a little more “acting” the game would have been more appreciated. I think that what should be the connection between you, as a player, and the story of the game itself is precisely what makes a game feel like it has a flaw in its personality, at least when it comes to the story.

As for what is playable strictly speaking, in the game several mechanics are mixed or features ranging from walking simulator to classics riddles graphic adventures. Eminently, what we will do will be more oriented towards a walking simulator since we will explore and progress the scenarios for most of the gameplay. But in addition to moving where we are guided (the game is very linear), we will have brief glimpses, as we said, of other mechanics.

For example we will have moments of secrecy in which we must move little by little so as not to favor any creature that could catch us. There will only be 2 moments throughout the game and they will be very easily resolved without getting caught, but at least it serves to add something that the title lacks in most of the game: tension. Although we have some light scares, the horror element is perhaps more marked by the sinister nature of the scenarios than by any other playable element.

Reveil Analysis: A walking simulator with touches of other genres

There will also be rare times when it will be necessary escape from a creaturehaving to run and use the environment to finish safe and sound. Another detail that is appreciated by adding a bit of tension and “action” to the slow pace of the game.

But maybe besides exploring and walking, what we will do most in the game or at least where we will invest the most time will be in solving puzzles. Although there won’t be many, we will have a few and, in particular, one will require our time and ingenuity. The other puzzles are clearer and quite simple, but the difficulty will be noticeable in one of them, probably due to the little context we have access to before facing it. In general, without most being particularly ingenious, at least they feel well introduced into the plot and exploration.

And as the cherry on the cake and for the most completists, throughout the 5 chapters of the game we will have various collectibles to be found scattered throughout the game. Without looking too hard, you’ll probably find half of them, but you’ll always know how many you’re missing thanks to the counter that appears when you find one.

Technically and audiovisually…

Regarding the technique, We have not experienced any bugs or inconveniences in the version played (Xbox Series X). Of course, it is not a graphically excellent game. Even if most of its scenarios are more than compliant and have a good aesthetic quality, it is when we approach many objects and walls that the seams of the game appear. We see lots of very poor quality textures and that they should have worked more. But, being objective, this fact does not tarnish a more than notable audiovisual section (except for the dubbing of our protagonist). Also add that the use of the quick resume works perfectly.

Analysis of the awakening: conclusions

In summary, We are facing a correct game in what it offers us but, in my humble opinion, I noticed it a bit flat in terms of personality. Surely with another voice actor (or more effort of empathy on his part) we would talk about better sensations. This does not mean that it remains a recommendable title for all those who like horror more for its setting than anything else and who are not very demanding in terms of gameplay.