Requiem for Reality

Picked up this little guy on the PSN. Quite a game if I do say so myself. It has some good terror elements, especially the fear of being chased...creeps you right out. Hiding in things waiting for them to leave. Let me explain.

So there you are in some village in the some lost woods in Japan (why does it seem like every scary japanese game has this lost village premise?), and you're trying to find a way out....or...a solution whats going on. I guess it really depends on what character you are and what chapter you are in.

There are (I think) 6 characters playable. Each one you assume the identity of in each chapter. Everyone of them has their own purposes and objectives, as well as sub-objectives (sidequests for you RPGers) which add to the element of the chase. Rather than just being chased around all night in the dark there are other things you can do so that other parts of the game can be unlocked later...which serves no other purpose than to say you did (that is you can still complete the game without doing many of the sidequests).

Quite a number of stages you start off with no weapon, this is problematic for this series because there are these monsters (called Shibito) everywhere, and the AI is pretty good on them suckers. So often you will find yourself running for your dear lif and hiding in some sort of aparatus, praying to God that this thing doesn't open the door, because he's carrying a garden ho.

Speaking of that, nearly everything in this game canbe used as a weapon. Street signs, beer bottles, frying skillets. This actually makes the game pretty interesting, because you will use these items to save your life, and feel a bit of relief when you find one...even if it's just a scalpel.

There are 4 episodes, with 3 chapters each (12 in all) that are downloadable from the PSN. It ends up taking about a Gig up of space. So just keep that in mind. But it's a pretty good pick up, kind of a different twist on the genre. Rather than walking around trying just to solve puzzles and survive, you are running 70% of the game and hiding 20%. Puzzles are still a good part of the game, but you almost don't have time for puzzles when spider shibito are trying to eat you while you're on the phone.

It's a pretty eerie game. So check it out!