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Holy Christ This is Scary

I don't scare easily. That's why I go looking for horror games so that I can find something that might possibly scare me, and boy did this do the job.

My three criteria for rating games are as follows; does it have a good atmosphere, are the scares well done, and is there a good story. Leave does very well in two categories, but, unfortunately, falls flat in the third.

The creator did an excellent job of immediately setting up an amazing atmosphere. As soon as I walked out of the first bedroom, the lighting, combined with the music and sound effects, put me in an instant state of fear. I didn't stop being scared until well after the credits were over because I was expecting another scare at any moment.

Now lets talk about the scares. Like I said before, I don't scare easily. I played through all of Mermaid Swamp, Schuld, Desert Nightmare, and several other genuinely scary games without screaming or jumping out of my skin once. After I encountered her in the bathroom, every time I would hear that red-faced bitch coming, I would start shaking. Then, when the game did the horribly mean thing of jump scaring me with her creepy face, I jumped and squealed a little. (Oh, the shame.) I don't normally like jump scares. However, these were executed in an appropriate manner and managed to get many a squeal out of me.

The only real problem I had with Leave is the lack of story. I know, in your intro, you mentioned that the game was more about the scares than the story, and that's perfectly fine. But, putting that disclaimer does not exempt you from at least telling some kind of story. The scattered diaries were far too vague to explain much, and I still don't know who the main character, the red lady, or the man waiting outside were. I can venture a guess, but there's no way to know if I'm right or not because the game never really explains. Having a game be more focused on the scares is not a problem, but you still have to tell us a story for us to be truly engaged.

Overall, I rate the game a 4 because it managed to scare the crap out of me and the atmosphere was awesome. Just work on clearing up that muddy lake that seems to be surrounding your story and the game will be perfect.