Before starting this review, I must say that I had played many of SnowOwl's past games and thus had certain expectations when downloading It Moves. One of the biggest reasons for wanting to try out this game was that I considered it a kind of sequel to Miserere - not in terms of story, but the atmosphere and gameplay.

I was wrong.

But what does that mean? I'll dwell deeper into the game and explain what I liked and didn't like about It Moves.

Premise
A simple premise that is easy to leap into. The protagonist, a young boy, gets to sleep alone on the top of a bunk bed after his brother is given a room of his own. Nevermind the brother though, cause you won't even get the chance to glimpse him. He is mentioned briefly, but other than serving the premise, plays no role whatsoever. I don't have much of a problem with this personally, but I was certainly expecting to see him when starting the game.

Gameplay
The gameplay of It Moves is, if possible, even more simple and non-existent than that of SnowOwl's other games. The reason for this is clear: the game relies heavily on atmosphere. In fact, it rests on this aspect.

Although I don't mind simple gameplay, I found this aspect of the game somewhat of a let down. Not because the simplicity, but due to very little variety and freedom of choice. The game is entirely linear. There seem to be no branching paths, and quite little to explore. The areas you encounter are breathtaking, but the fact you cannot do anything but admire them kills it for me.

One thing I need to mention is that although there are not many jumpscares in this game, they are not entirely absent. One particularly nasty jumpscares occurs in one of the last dream sequences, when opening a door... you actually do get a warning of this beforehand via a sound that makes it clear something's gonna jump at you.

Also, that freaking creepypasta head... it doesn't really work as a jumpscare, it simply stares at you for almost the whole duration of the second dream. I honestly found it creepy, but also a bit bland. It could've been executed better.

Story
As I said before, the story is simple and straightforward. I don't want to spoil any plot details in this review, but I will say that I found the ending a bit... unsatisfying. This might be a problem of the source material (the game is based on a short story written by someone else) rather than the creator though, so I won't be too harsh on that.

Visuals
As usually with SnowOwl's games, it's the graphics that stand out and make the game shine. This game continues the tradition of dark, gritty, foreboding, and sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, visual scenes that keep the player amazed. There is a lot of resemblance to the graphics of Miserere, which was to be expected. The scenes are well thought out and terrific for creating particular emotions. Although most of the locations of the game are designed to be dark and frightening, there are a few places that are peaceful and relaxing to look at.

Audio
Once again, the music and sounds perfectly complement the graphics in order to manipulate emotions. There isn't much else to say about it - it simply works.

Overall
I played It Moves, expecting it be like Miserere in terms of exploration, atmosphere, and wonderful graphics. I feel like only the latter two were well-executed, leaving the potential for exploration lacking. As the game is meant to tell a linear story, this makes some sense, but I feel like more freedom could've been incorporated into the game. There is no motivation to replay this game, which I find disappointing. More branching paths, more surprises and more references in the dream world to foreshadow future happenings would bring some replay value into the game. These factors were what made Miserere so great, and they could do it for It Moves as well.

Pros
- Fantastic graphics
- Perfect audio that complement the visuals
- Horror aspect greatly executed - even without jumpscares
- Quite an engaging story

Cons
- Story is entirely linear
- Lack of freedom to explore
- Somewhat unsatisfying ending

Even with all my criticism, I sincerely recommend this game to anyone who likes horror games. There are only a few jumpscares and barely any gore (excluding some obviously "hand-drawn" looking stuff), making it suitable for even the more "lightweight" horror player. Prepare yourself for intense suspense though, cause there is plenty of that.