After my quick return to Earth, I moved to the other side of the couch at the Wired Productions booth, following the completion of my demo with Deliver Us The Moon, to check out Those Who Remain, a psychological-horror adventure title from Camel 101.
In this one, you are Edward, a regular dude who pulls into a motel for *reasons* before having the town of Dormant go dark, for some terrifying reasons. As you discover the story behind this one and fight through, not only the demons hiding in the dark, but your own, you will have to deal with a series of traumas that are tough to push through.
Those Who Remain is a puzzle-adventure, of sorts, as you have to utilize any light sources you can to survive. Everywhere around you is darkness, and in it lies an evil group of creatures always ready to kill you. As you notice the glowing eyes staring at you from the darkness, you are constantly unsettled and scared, feeling a bit like a paranormal version of Children of the Corn.
Whether you follow the street lights, comb through a home running light switch to light switch, or use your trusty lighter, you will find yourself screaming from light sources, just like we all do in real life when our house makes a creaking noise or we hear a branch break in the woods. It is that connection to our real fears of the dark that make this one of my most anticipated horror titles of the year, along with the puzzle mechanics that are superb.
Puzzles are handled with these environmental hazards, as you are trying to make your way back home. You’re constantly trying to illuminate a path forward for yourself, and it is this singular cause, mixed with the variation of how you accomplish that, that makes this one special. Once the more super-power-like abilities are introduced, in which you can enter a dark realm (think Stranger Things) where time and objects work differently, that you then have to manipulate objects in one plane before returning to the next, which felt a bit like solving puzzles in Portal.
Those Who Remain far exceeded my expectations. Not that I thought it wasn’t going to look and feel great, but I was shocked how well they connected it all together into a solid package in a time when truly good horror games are released few and far between. Currently slated to release on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One on May 15th, this title will also appear on the Nintendo Switch sometime in 2020, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.
Steven started this Nintendo adventure with a Game Boy Pocket and Pokémon Blue and never looked back. Having played through every successive Nintendo system since then, he has grown a deep passion for the games they have made. The Nintendo Switch has really brought Steven back into the fold, which is why he writes about it.
Some of his favorite games include: Luigi’s Mansion, Pokémon Silver, Super Mario 64 & Sunshine, Animal Crossing, Pokémon Snap, The Wind Waker, and Breath of the Wild.
If he isn’t having a great time writing for Nintendeal and the various other outlets he dedicates his time to, he is probably watching the Detroit Lions continue to disappoint. Go Lions!