Fear Society 2

Fear is short and fleeting, but at least it does come in variety.

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Fear Society 2 caught my attention when I noticed it was an anthology, presented as a horror game experience. Curious about the game, I decided to give it a shot. True to its name, I did get a delicious taste of spookiness within most tales the game offers however halfway through the game I began to realize Fear has great strength in many aspects but lacks in the one point I'd expect it to excel in the most.

First, however, I must begin by praising the original music made for the game along with the atmosphere they very much evoke. The pleasant, but chilling tunes work hand in hand with perfectly selected sound effects to always keep you on your toes. Even the little beeps and other sound effects used for menu buttons were a treat, as all of them were customized and made to fit the horror theme. The atmosphere is of a similar vibe to old horror movies, which combined with the troupes Fear Society 2 explores, was gratifying for my nostalgia. Fear doesn't use horrifying imagery as its main horror element, but surprisingly still pulls off a good feeling of tension and fear through clever use of audio and well set-up scenario. The immersion that I get to experience is not from the eyes of the protagonists, but rather as if I am listening to a spooky tale told over late-night radio or over a campfire with friends. Very charming.

And of course, how can I not praise the transitions? Every one of the five tales gives you a short introductory transition, which is a satisfying break from normal cutscenes most other RPG Maker games employ. The graphics and the audio weren't too campy, adding instead more personality to the overall charm of the game. Going back to cutscenes, Fear also showcases important events well, in ways that don't bore me to death. There's a particular part in the "Room 303" story where the protagonist gets to use the security footage and we were shown what actually happens! While notes lay scattered in various parts of all the tales to conveniently provide lore, Fear perfectly makes use of the rule "show don't tell" in almost every case.

It was a bit underwhelming to find plenty of times the choice to attain good/bad endings are practically handed out for you to pick. This pattern is notorious in "No Witness", becoming especially annoying after realizing the effort I spent trying to solve the mystery based on the clues provided were fruitless in the end as the option to investigate the true culprit was not provided as an actual part of the mystery-solving. Another one I recall was in "The Call", which surprisingly gives you a bad ending if you take the more rational option.

I should point out now that the gameplay in Fear Society 2 isn't bad. It is a puzzle game at its core, providing variety in that aspect and achieving the perfect balance between not being hard enough and being too hard. I was in fact fond of the detective portion and also enjoyed the puzzle-heavy school escape portion. That being said, Fear Society 2 promotes itself as a horror anthology game and I expected to immerse myself in a harrowing tale more than anything.

This takes me back to the point I was trying to mention. Surprisingly, the one thing that I feel lacked in comparison to the quality of other aspects such as the audio and graphics, was in fact the way the stories were written. For all the tales in the game, I am always left with a sense of wishing for more, confusion, or dissatisfaction with the plot twists involved. The basic premise was always interesting enough even if plenty of scenarios were typical horror settings, but the reveal at the very end is either predictable or far too grand than what the short experience every single tale could hope to encompass. "The Call" evokes a disturbing idea of parallel worlds entwined but entangles itself with too many loose ends. "Midnight Will Come" gives a glimpse of ritualistic sacrifice and the mystical but was much too short for the horror to truly set in. The first half of all five tales is always made to set up the reveal at the end of the other half, leaving me confused for most of the first half and making the ending more often than not predictable. Still, the writing does a good job of giving a great "I knew it!" moment at the end of some tales, so perhaps that was the intended angle of approach.

Other issues were very minor and mostly my own personal pet peeves. The small maps used in the game make rooms feel too similar despite having different furniture. Graphics while mostly customized was left basic for the input in the vault which stood out jarringly from the overall murky palette. Audio volume was also incredibly loud at the start, forcing me to turn it all down to the lowest. The game has no noticeable bugs however and runs perfectly smooth.

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My final score is 2.5. I was able to enjoy the game to the very end and the atmosphere the game creates with a combination of audio and impressive transitions was an absolute delight. Unfortunately, Fear Society 2 feels way too short for the mechanics and story elements it tries to explore, leaving too much to interpretation. I still think it was a great series of spooky tales, but very much like ones I sometimes stumble across in various media, I can't say that they were very memorable.