Immortality analysis. Sam Barlow unsettles with ruthless mastery, but stumbles over the most obvious

Talk about Immortality it is to do it on a peculiar work like few others. It could not be otherwise if we take into account that maestro Sam Barlow is directing the entire orchestra with the baton. The creator of Her Story returns with what may be the game of her creation that will leave the most mark.

This is not an interactive title in the style of Telltale Games or Quantic Dream. This is not a movie that we just sit down to watch. What has happened to Marissa Marcel is especially striking, disturbing and it is really difficult to define without trying it. Let’s try to make sense of this puzzle.

What the hell is going on?

The muse of so many directors, photographers, artists and the central nucleus around which she orbits Immortality. Marissa Marcelplayed by Manon Gage, is a young actress who participated in three films throughout her life, although none of them were released.

A true rarity that causes his fans to start investigating his past, discover the tapes lost in the dust and search for clues between hours of footage. A huge puzzle in which each new piece takes us to another point in the plot, like an infinite labyrinth.

Under this premise we have Ambrosio, a film recorded in 1969, Minsky a year later, and Dos de todo closes in 1999. Three different stages, characters that come and go while We try to solve many doubts.

The fundamental mechanics that the title presents is that of seeing the recordings that were made for each film, either of the footage itself or behind the cameras. Therefore, we have two plots to follow that are intertwined: that of the film itself and what was experienced in the team’s rehearsals and parties.

We can pause at any time and even go forward or backward frame by frame (or faster if we wish) to perceive all the details. The way of unlocking more scenes consists of highlighting objects, faces or any element that draws our attention. In this way, we will be transported to a completely different scene that will have a small relationship with what we have highlighted.

Pivoting between times and people we will begin to enlarge the film cuts, in an endless amalgamation that is sometimes difficult to order. For it, Immortality introduces a series of filters with which it automatically classifies the footage in real chronological order or by tapes. In turn, we can mark some as favorites and highlight them against the others.

All in all, we cannot do anything more or anything more than that. Far from the well-known narrative titles that flood the industry, here we will not have to make decisions. Our task is to observe, be attentive and be able to solve the mystery behind what happened to Marissa.

Of course, there is a small surprise hidden sibylline between the controls. At no time does the game warn about it, it is absolutely disturbing and you will begin to realize that the scenes have many ways of looking. It is better not to reveal anything, since the feeling of discovering it for oneself is great.

superb staging

An outstanding like the top of a pine and perhaps the greatest value that it presents Immortality. The casting made by Sam Barlow is absolutely masterful, with some actors and actresses who do not fulfill the role that has been assigned to them, but more than embroider it. To this we must add the difficulty of having to interpret fictional actors in turn.

Hans Christopher, Ty Molbak, Miles Szanto… many of them are really charismatic, they fill the screen with their movements, phrases and help you get carried away deeper into the game. They manage to perform perfectly in all kinds of situations, since the films they play touch on different themes.

The scenery is not far behind. Each set, each scenario perfectly recreates the atmosphere of the time. The sharpness that the image acquires over the years is evident, along with the costumes, hairstyles and technology used. A trustworthy immersion and to which absolutely no but can be put.

With these conditioning factors on the table, the plot gradually begins to whisper the real truth to us. It does not take us by the hand nor does it ever point directly in the right direction, but we must be the ones who manage to clarify the reality behind everything.

And the truth is that can be really complicatedeither. By dint of being honest, the truth is that the credits have jumped in front of me before I had the puzzle completely solved. Yes, there were pieces well arranged and my mind had drawn an outline of what, presumably, was happening.

However, I have had to look for answers outside the game, since I have not found them in a first game until the end. In Immortality we ran into around 150 different scenes and after having unlocked around 130 there were still unknowns in the air.

dark and arbitrary

And despite everything, Immortality makes the hair stand on end. Having goosebumps is very common., because you see that things are happening that are not bad, but that do not fit at all. There is something forcing everything, there are looks, attitudes that suggest a lot between the lines.

Sexual, provocative, violent… Sam Barlow has no problem touching all the keys of human sensations. He also does it without any cover, without hiding, since we will see partial nudity or sex before us. Some ingredients that season even more the cloudy cake that is being cooked

There are shots that are hard to hold your eyes on, though music doesn’t help. On too many occasions it begins to sound shrill, without us doing anything, anticipating that something important is going to happen so that nothing really happens.

In turn, how to progress can be very confusing. The reasons are obvious: we jump from scenes to scenes that don’t seem to be related and we have to be very careful which scenes we’ve seen and which ones we haven’t. With such an amount of footage on hand, it’s surprising that Sam Barlow’s team hasn’t included a feature to mark what’s already passed before our eyes.

And hodgepodge that can be a little chaosso it is best to organize yourself to see the sequences in a specific order so as not to get confused.

iGamesNews’s opinion

Immortality It is a find among the rest of video games. Absolutely covered and hoping that the brilliance of Sam Barlow made him shine, this experience is totally worth diving into. Not all audiences will enjoy it because of the themes it touches on or how cryptic it can be, but it’s a unique narrative exercise.

Each scene invites you to see more, to discover, to delve into Marissa’s past and find out what happened to that playful smile that was drawn on his face. The truth is that the game borders on the video game category, since our interaction is really scarce. We will not change the course of history, we will only dust off a painting to see the painting in its entirety.

Whether due to its history, brutal performances, magnificent staging or particular proposal, it is clear that Immortality It will stay in your head for days, leaving an indelible mark.