Layers Of Fear: Inheritance will have you on the edge of your seat as you unravel the mysteries in this Lovecraftian horror.
Blooper Team’s Layers Of Fear was a riveting Lovecraftian horror exploring the grizzly secrets of a disturbed painter attempting to complete his magnum opus. Permeating the very walls of Layers Of Fear’s Victorian mansion was a lingering sense of dread as you gradually learnt that the unnamed protagonist you were playing was no hero, but a mentally ill monster who had destroyed his own family in pursuit of art.
Layers Of Fear: Inheritance serves as epilogue to the main campaign. This time you play the painter’s daughter as she searches for answers to the horrors of her past. Returning to her childhood home she faces her inner demons while jump-scares like crumbling walls and blood-splattered walls keep the suspense high.
Working off of the same narrative design as its predecessor, Layers Of Fear: Inheritance tells its story through a series of flashback. At one point the protagonist sits for a portrait while the painter, her father, tells the tale of a witch who would eat a princess if she didn’t sit still. The grizzly underlying themes in such moments are clear and written in a way that would make Poe himself proud. The story then journeys through themes of family relationships. At one point the painter gives you the option of painting in oil or a more basic medium like crayon. Your response affects the relationship between father and daughter and changes the game’s ending.
For a game that revolves fully around a story told through flashbacks, it’s bizarre that it can be completed without uncovering all the story. The first completion can feel empty, gaps left in the narrative, and the average playthrough will leave you with numerous collected items that seems entirely pointless. In truth, every items tells part of the tale, but you won’t realise that without another playthrough.
This minor inconvenience is trivial, though; no more than an ink splodge on the wonderful narrative that Blooper Team have crafted, and it certainly won’t be another to prevent you from enjoying this dark tale. As you investigate the dark corridors of the Victorian manage you’ll be on the edge of your seat eagerly interpreting every clue as you unravel the mystery of the painter. Was the painter well-meaning but troubled, or a psychological monster hell-bent on tormenting his family for the sake of art? You’ll be dying to find out.
This sense of developing mystery is the biggest improvement from the original game. Layers Of Fear made it obvious that the painter was a tragic figure, and because of this obviousness there was little reason to replay that game. Inheritance adds uncertainty and mystery, demanding that you discover the full story to know the truth. That a horror game can be so evocative without relying on cheap scares speaks volumes of Blooper Team.
A wonderfully well written tale that so faithfully pays homage to its inspirations—Lovecraft and Poe—Layers Of Fear: Inheritance is certain to thrill horror fans and anyone who appreciates a gripping narrative.
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