You wake up in a room in some scientific facility of sorts having lost your memory, that old chestnut. And everything around you is wrecked, like a storm just had its way with it, cutting off most of the power. Of course. Then, you begin to discover the corpses. Oh god, this must've been a really bad disaster alright! Well until you find a note from someone over a dead body reading that "they" are after him and that he would rather go on his terms with the cyanide capsule he has than let "them" have their ways with him. OK so now things are looking even less on the up-and-up, but you have to keep going, you need to find out what's going on in this strange place. And there's no way of escaping the premises anyway so you might as well go exploring. As you go into the hallway, what is this? A glimpse of movement around the corner? Another survivor perhaps? Could it be? Of course you, being the player, and aware that you're playing a horror game, know better. The ominous music doing its thing, being ominous and all, should clue you in even further. After doing some item hunting (the majority of things you can interact with will sparkle which is helpful in a game as doused in dark as this) you go outside and HOLY SCHNIKES there are monsters ambling about. Now you know for absolute certain there's no screwing around here, something is horribly wrong here and you need to get to the bottom of it.

The story keeps the game moving along well enough but I wouldn't call it the game's highlight. This is a game that plays around with the idea of quantum mechanics and the possibilities they offer, including opening the way to look inside other universes in other dimensions. Funny thing is, going into the game knowing almost nothing about it except that it was a horror game, I had recently just started watching a bunch of videos on that very subject. Mostly, I don't understand any of it, but the concepts I can grasp every now and then is what keeps me interested in the subject (grasp... well that is probably an overstatement - really I have no idea how scientists came to theories such as the Many Worlds Theory, the calculations behind it, or anything technical and mathematically related to arriving at the idea and so many other ideas, but the idea itself? Awe-inspiring, amazing, and the confidence of the scientific consensus in its high probability makes it more so). As such, I have not the slightest damn clue how true to the idea of quantum physics this game stays to. It is rare except maybe for some books written by people who know what they're writing about to see fiction that is scientifically accurate in any sense. From my brief knowledge of the topic and how the this game plays with the theory, it would seem to grasp some basic concepts, creatively interpret others, and make up some crap altogether (besides the obvious stuff I mean i.e. monsters 'n' shit) that nonetheless all feels like it gels together well enough so that the setting doesn't feel scatterbrained (except arguably the ending - I might talk about that later, but I'll just say right here I didn't mind it myself). The creator, DarkGaia I believe, says he was 15 or 16 when he made this. The game has received a number of updates since then, so I don't know much of the original game remains intact here, but still for that age this is still impressive in its overall conception and design. And the use of quantum computing gone wrong as the central basis for the story is at least as convincing as most movies or any other games based around something science-y. Outside of that, the story is basic. There are but a few characters, including yourself, in the whole game and none of them really develop (unless you count one character's off-screen and merely written-down past before the disaster that befell upon the facility as the beginning of his character arc which I really don't, especially since it's talked about so briefly and passively, though it does provide interesting background). I have no real problems here though, it's just the personalities of the characters are... well, pretty nondescript save for the one I just alluded to, but they are identifiable and just likable enough to want to keep them alive, so good enough I guess.

The story and setting is fleshed out via the usual RPG Maker "cut scenes" and through notes you find scattered around. Notes provide some interesting background info on things like all the goings-on before the disastrous test started, including the administrator's weirdly giddy behavior the days before the test is to start. Then there's notes documenting what happened right after, despair over the inability to escape, the monsters killing everyone one by one, providing interesting observations of their own, etc. A lot of the times though the notes are just an excuse to give you the key you need to solve a puzzle. The notes mostly though describe the experiment they're testing, using an fully revved up quantum computer to "breach" into another universe, a window to see straight into it. Instead what happens is a "merge." You might be able to figure out what that means but according to one of the characters the consequences would be disastrous and destroy the universe let alone your world if not reversed somehow. When you reach that point is when the game is accused of jumping the shark. It takes on a very different tone, replacing horror with... well you'll see. It's a prettier place, still has enemies who may be the most annoying ones in the whole game, and a boss fight! The second and last one of the entire game in fact. This is perhaps where the tonal shift is at its climax, with the kind of cheesy dialogue exchanges and a creature in an environment that looks far more befitting for, Iunno, I'm sure there've been people thinking 'Indigo Prophecy' the very moment they reach that end (note: I have not played Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit and have no idea how exactly it ends). All I'll say is that the transition isn't THAT bad, and in fact is a nice little break from what you went through before, and whatever silliness abounds from it I find charming in some way. And the genuinely good points, such as the general look of the area, props it up nicely. If it weren't for those TERRIBLE, ANNOYING FUGGIN' enemies exclusive to this area swarming around in too-big numbers then it's be possibly a great area. Enemies in general in the game can be a nuisance in fact. More on that in a bit.

As for how the game plays, I find this the most interesting aspect. Plenty of ideas used before, some done well, others that could be better, and some new ideas, which are a mixed bag. To start, the game is fairly nonlinear, in that you have an open area where you can head back and forth between any available buildings within the perimeter. It's not truly nonlinear from the start though. There is basically only one building you can access and as you gain more and more pertinent items the more areas you can access. There are a lot of doors, a few locked cabinets, cave-ins, chests, and so on to remember across the four buildings available to you that keeping track of everything can be somewhat taxing. Like, the Level 2 Security Card. You get that very late in the game and yet I ran into a few doors much earlier on that required that card for access that I forgot about, and it took some time to remember where they even were! (there are three that I am aware of, in a one-room building outside where some life-saving items can be gotten, and a couple doors in an underground area) Other times when you find or are given a set of keys you are told "go to the office in the Main Building on the west" or whatever. Problem is, none of the areas are labeled. I couldn't tell the admin office from the janitor's closet. I assumed in most cases where you were told to go was in the biggest building of the four? Keys for the "Warden's office"... where does the warden reside? Might have been mentioned in a note but I don't know where that note is first of all and second its directions would likely not have been helpful anyway. I suppose process of elimination eventually helps find things; I've played a few RPG Maker games where you find a key and go around pushing on doors until you find the ones that unlocks it. Difference was, those were confined to a single, fairly homogenized environment, and navigating the areas was a simple process (go upstairs? or downstairs? The choices!) but being given keys to unlock doors here is more annoying since the areas branch out a lot more, there are a lot of keys you find, many of them unlocking more than one door (doors in completely separate buildings sometimes), and all the worse considering the backtracking and enemy-dodging you must do. Buuut still, whether it's prying a door open or finding a secret passageway, the fact that there are plenty of areas to find and access means it always feels rewarding to find and access new areas, especially the ones with goodies or important items in general needed to advance (exploration! just do it).

And it's not just your inventory you'll rely on to open some things. This game throws in a decent number of puzzles at you as well. If you have an understanding of basic math some of the puzzles shouldn't pose much of a problem, only thing is you'll probably be pulling out sheets of paper or using a calculator to get through these. There's some pattern recognition ones and the usual puzzle where you need to correlate a letter in the English alphabet to its respective numbered placement and so on. Nothing too brain-breaking if you carefully observe the puzzles but they do at least require some thought put into them to get by so that's cool (I'll even admit there was one puzzle that I got stuck on and had to look up the solution for - it's the one that goes something like "the big guy always stands behind those half his size" followed by a long string of numbers. All I knew was that it had something to do with numbers, and probably a number close to one that's half its value, but I kept getting it wrong - the solution as it turned out... it made sense in a way I guess, it seemed I was on the right track but going the wrong way; I don't know if I'd have discovered the solution by myself unless by accident).

Now some people say if there's no foe or active threat in a horror game then it fails as a horror game. I completely disagree with that but for those people they certainly can't drop that criticism on this game. The vast majority of areas in the game are swarmed by a type of enemy. There are only three types - the gray-looking things that are the slowest and presumably weakest, the Frankenstein's monster-looking things that make a funny, audible "arrgh!" sound, and move faster than the other enemy. Without a doubt these are the biggest annoyances in the game when taking into account that you'll encounter them innumerable times (they even get their own outdoor area to party wheeee!). The third enemy is only in the last area. If they were a frequent occurrence I might consider them the worst and on a purely individual basis alone they are, but again, you only see them in the last area of the game, unlike the previous enemies, so their terrible-ness is a bit easier to put up with. What makes them so bad is... well let's just say they're a lot bigger and therefore harder to maneuver around. Movement patterns are the same for all of them: they shamble, one step at a time, in a given direction, and if you're standing there, it'll typically be toward your direction which can be a problem when the area is swarmed with enemies or if you're in a small room or hallway with little maneuverability (one advantage you have is that they're not very intelligent; like if they're on the other side of a desk and you're standing on the opposite side, they'll just stand there, programmed to try to move straight to your location which, of course, they can't because there is a desk blocking them - hardly a flaw or a point of criticism to me since in some instances taking advantage of this was the only way I could get to an item in time and then out of the room before they could run into me). Then there's another one, one who is, let's say, very different from these guys. He'll get his own paragraph in time.

Alright then, time to warm up my hands and get ready to talk about the game's most contentious aspect. The aspect that makes the game stand out as well as it does both because of the novel concept behind it and what a good idea it seems but also aggravating due to the way it's executed - What I am talking about, dear reader, is the "how to deal with enemies" aspect. Because there are so many enemies in the game you'll probably find yourself running around most of them (the best strategy in pretty much every possible instance), BUT in addition there are a few types of weapons you can collect. You have knives, the weakest but most common type of weapon, stun guns, a step up, and finally these hypodermic needles containing something that will kill an enemy instantly. You also run into an unloaded handgun and then find ammunition later but sadly you can't use it as a weapon, it's only used for a puzzle. Every time you run directly into contact with an enemy while having these weapons, it'll automatically use the strongest item you are currently holding to attack/push them away (very rarely do any of these actually kill the enemy), and they all are one-use items only, which means you have to be conservative in their usage, but it's also peculiar when you think about it. Are the stun guns all on their last charge? Is your character more a "knife thrower" than a "slash the enemy and save for later enemies" type? And what about that pickaxe you carry around to the end? Surely that would make for a more useful weapon than any of the others excepting the syringes, but whatever. There is also another weapon, one you only use for the boss fights, and it's badass. A plasma cannon (yes you heard me) that kills them all in three hits. There's a catch though - you need to wait a minute and a half for them to charge up per shot meaning it's a game of running in circles around the room with the boss chasing you (in more erratic patterns than the normal enemies it seemed) until the charge is finished and you can ram right into them. What happens if you don't have a weapon on you? Naturally you take damage. Three hits and you're done. You do find first aid kits that can restore your health fully around though (I cannot emphasize enough how important exploration is in this game) so you're not completely screwed.

Now... the pros and cons of this. The pro of course is that it's a unique and neat system (at first at least) that seems very strategy-oriented when you find yourself in a tight spot, exactly the kind of system that fits within the survival horror mold. That's about it unfortunately. For me it provided more annoyances than anything. First, weapons are rather few and far between in the game, which is good if you're making a survival horror, but it is so easy to waste them because you were running by and an enemy happened to face you and bump into you as you pass them by. You'll find quite a few weapons being wasted in this manner in fact. The sheer number of enemies in the game, the amount of backtracking you have to do, and the fact that with the exception of the syringe containing whatever, the weapons rarely kill anything means you have to be VERY careful or otherwise just be like "screw it." The weapons in reality act more like shields, they're not needed for any particular foes and if you're good enough I suppose you can easily advance through the game without picking up a single one. They're just there to deflect damage until you run out and your actual life is now on the line.

Now the even bigger pains: the environments and lighting, and the ways you can be easily cornered by an enemy for a particularly stupid reason. OK so first off this is a very darkly lit game. Almost everything is dark. The only thing enabling you to see is some light source you're carrying that lights up a circle around you, but anything outside of that can barely be seen. Which is fine, it's a horror game, darkness is a common staple of horror. But then there's the environment. There are so many objects you'll find getting in the way, especially annoying in the outdoor areas, and navigating around them trying to avoid enemies becomes a pain in the ass. It can be hard to tell whether you can walk through something or not too much of the time, or you'll run into something you didn't see that you can't walk through, forcing you to walk around and hope no enemies bump into you, the dark just becomes more a nuisance than an atmospheric element at some point.. All I can say is keep inside the better-lit, less-enemy-populated indoor environments as much as you can and not wander outside back and forth too much, and do so only when what you've figured out what to do next involves going to a different building.

And the enemies cornering you? That's been a major complaint I've read from other people and it's true. Whenever you collect anything or interact with a door you haven't before or do anything that triggers a text box, it doesn't actually pause the game. The monsters will still be there freely roaming around. A lot of cases if you want an item and an enemy is approaching you have to be quick and try to exit the text box as fast as you can to get away before it can take away your health or one of your weapons. That's annoying enough but worst of all is accessing doors. Now at the start many of them are locked which is understandable, so you go your merry way to find all the keys needed to open them. However, like most games like this you have no idea which doors are or aren't locked, so sometimes you'll get a message saying something like "Door to Butt Room Locked - Requires Butt Key to Enter." While it's telling you this there is a likely chance an enemy will advance upon and stand right behind you completely blocking your way. If you have a weapon, you can usually knock them out of the way (though in some strange instances using a weapon will cause my character to freeze up completely, disallowing me to move the fuck away, and when the enemy recovers my idiot character will just continue to waste more and more weapons until his dumb ass decides to move or he, deservedly, is killed - a bug, perhaps?) but if you're out of those luxuries then you're pretty much dead. The enemy won't move back at all and will just pummel you the three times needed to knock you cold dead and then... bam! Game Over. So just so you know when you are examining a new door make sure that every enemy that could possibly reach you is out of range, or if you're sure that the door can be opened using a key you just recently obtained.

Situations like these means it's a good idea to to take advantage of using save rooms as much as possible. Yes, the only way to save your game is in designated-safe rooms where no enemies are and can never enter (oh I'll talk about that guy in a moment) and you can tell you're in a save room by the change in music. If it's a more relaxed, upbeat tune that starts to play (and if your menu shows that you can select the "Save Game" option) then you're probably good to go. There's another way to save if you're out of range of a save room completely, via compact discs lying around you'll find every now and then. These are some of the rarer items in the game (I only found 3 in my playthrough). I didn't think I'd need to use them at all since all was well and save areas easily accessible to the point of no return but in the last area of the game which has only one save point and when returning to it after making much progress was not a feasible option, these were nice to have around.

So are there any other dangers that lie awaiting for you? Well, there's a couple of puzzles that will kill you if you execute them incorrectly (always love those - not being sarcastic, whether it's a Sierra game or some other game, I get a real kick out of puzzles that murder you, especially if followed by a sarcastic message with some terrible yet awesome puns in it). Oh, yeah, and some fucking insane homicidal monster that shows up occasionally to chase you down and murder your ass. Yeah that's probably something to be wary of in the game. Now he only shows up at scripted points, so it's not like Ao Oni with the purple monster coming out at random moments. But still, when he does show up you almost never see it coming and you have to act fast to get him off your tail. Typically he'll burst into a room which if you get out and there's a crate next to the door, your character will automatically push it to block him (yes that will most assuredly stop him!). When that no longer is an option you just simply have to run until he loses track of you. And the sa(f/v)e rooms I mentioned earlier, I am happy to report that indeed he will not go into one of those. He was chasing me at one point, and so I ran in to save my game, and found he never showed up. Then I exited the room and the chase along with the chase music commenced. Perhaps if the rest of the facility members kept in these places more people would still be alive! If anyone could be considered the main "villain" of this facility it would most certainly be that monster. Not just because of the threat it presents but the way everyone talks of it. You are told it is responsible for the deaths of most of the slashed-up corpses you constantly run into, are told that it can't be stopped and it's going to kill you and the other living characters eventually like it has everyone else. He's a nasty SOB, basically. I never got a good enough at it look to provide a decent description of its sprite but from what I could see he resembled to me Leatherface if he had more of a fancy for purple and green color outfits. No he doesn't carry a chainsaw but it looks like a bladed weapon of some kind, I think. Well, anyway, consider him this game's Nemesis, or the game's Sawrunner (freaky-ass thing from Cry of Fear), or the game's Ao Oni even! Whatever. Now having played a ton of horror games with chase scenes before I've begun to grow rather tired of them and increasingly see them as an overdone cliche that provides more aggravation than terror but here I didn't mind them so much. Probably because it occurred less often, or they were more spread out, and when they happened it was actually intense and not annoying. It does it well is what I'm saying. And after putting up with him for so long it is definitely, highly satisfying when

As a horror game overall it definitely succeeds on a lot of fronts. While having so many enemies to maneuver around and the annoyances they cause I just talked about takes away a bit from that, there is still a good sense of dread, good use of the software to create creepy environments and the sound assets, from sudden crashing sounds to screams, keeps you on edge. And that monster that chases you down, yeah, once he shows up you know you're definitely not safe. There are also little in the way of jump scares I am happy to say (if you don't count the sudden appearances of aforementioned monster), but for two. One at the beginning when some monster figures suddenly flash and disappear around you. By itself it was a well-executed jump scare but I never figured what sense it made in the context of the game, since hallucinations or psychological trauma don't play any kind of roles here (no I don't count amnesia, especially since you never even encountered said monsters when the disastrous event occurred and you still had your memory). The second one is just silly. I hope it was intended to be because if not, wow. There's a room you walk into, and suddenly a giant, screen-covering monster face flies across the screen. For no reason. It just made me laugh more than anything at its "wtf"-ness. It seemed so out of place and random. Thankfully that's the only moment where the game does anything like that.

So I'd say, yes, it's a game worth playing in spite of its many flaws. The story and characters weren't the best I've seen but OK enough to keep you invested just that much to go through and try to reverse this quite literally, and understatedly, catastrophic event that has happened in the game. Despite the tonal shift at the end, I still wanted to see how it ended. Oh, speaking of which, there are multiple endings, something I did not expect while playing. What ending you get is based on who lives and who dies, and these depend on certain items you find and what choice you make during certain dialogue box prompts. I got the second-to-best (second-to-worst?) ending my first time. Thankfully I didn't need to go very far back to reverse my decision and actually get the best ending where everyone lives. And good thing I found that one area around the corner of one of the buildings from earlier that contains one of the crucial items required to keep one of the characters alive. So, yeah, in addition to proper decision-making, it's all about E-X-P-L-O-R-I-N-G. Can't emphasize that enough. Find and open every room and every cabinet with every key in every area you can find. It'll help tremendously in the long run. As a horror title it's also pretty good too. It is very much a survival horror and while it teeters more toward "survival" and less "horror" the moments where it brings the scares (goddamn Purple Leatherface!) it really delivers even if some of the ideas it implements for the "survival" category don't exactly work.

DarkGaia has acknowledged many of the problems that this game has and the next two games are supposedly much more polished. I definitely will try to get around to playing those and seeing where this series is headed. And hopefully he'll get One Night 4 finished some day as well (I refuse to play that one - I only will play completed games on here, NO DEMO IMPRESSIONS FOR YOU!).