![]() ![]() ![]() The suggestion and hinting here is easily as effective as the visual sleight of hand in leaving you to do the real work of scaring yourself as narrative clues fester. There are a couple of things I only registered on a second play through, the penny dropping like an icicle slipped down the back of my shirt. It’s worth poking around though, because it gets dark. You can take as much of this as you want, finding notes and objects that expand on the back story, or just collect the gameplay critical-stuff for an abridged version. He’s as much a victim as he is an architect of his own downfall. Of a failing 19th century artist falling into ruin in an empty house as his abilities fail him. Nearly all of them are real paintings too, pulled from actual Renaissance art. Then there are the more threatening options: monsters and freaks, blood smeared shapes and warped images that defy a clear reading. Even the ‘normal’ ones aren’t encouraging, consisting of dour portraits and grim faces staring at you. They’re both the cause, and expression, of the artist’s growing madness. Paintings play an integral part in the game. You're not passively observing scary things: those split seconds of uncertainty as you register changes unbalance you, letting the horror slip past your normal defenses almost subliminally. I’ve never felt such a sense of unease from a horror experience because I’ve never been so much a part of it. When things change it’s often subtly prompted without realising you’ve been tricked until it’s too late. The effect erodes your faith in just simply being able to trust the space you’re in. Pictures twist into horrifying images just on the edges of your vision, as nightmarish shapes and forms slide over the real world while your gaze is directed elsewhere. Or the room will have changed when you look back. Things shift under your eye: the door you just came through might not be there when you turn round. There are jump scares but where it really pushes into new ground, and secures a near groundbreaking status, is the way it wilfully abuses your senses. ![]()
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