Keeping the Fox at bay

  • nhubi
  • 02/28/2015 08:49 AM
  • 3194 views
What would you do if you had 7 days to atone for your greatest crime?

That is the basic premise behind Follow the Darkness. In this world there is a the rumour of fox spirit, oft referred to as a fox god though always described as a female in a mask, who appears to those upon whom judgement is soon to be made. Once she has appeared you have 7 days to discern which of the acts you have committed is deemed to be the worst and then to make amends, otherwise you die. The problem for our protagonist in this little morality tale is that she awoke from a coma three days ago and has suffered short term memory loss. So not only does she have four days left to ascertain just what she has done and find a way to atone for it, she has no starting point for the deed that has brought her to the attention of the Fox.

The fox spirit in the game is neither inherently righteous nor iniquitous, it's a critical observer. Sent like the banshee of old to warn of impending doom, though with a drop more compassion as there is an escape clause. Atone for your crime, not simply repent, but make reparation and you postpone your fate. No one can avoid it forever.

The game opens with an exposition about the modus operandi of the Fox, how it first watches, then stalks and finally chases it's target until at the end of the 7th day if you have not found a way to atone, it drags you down to hell. The sequence is a little wordier than it needs to be and is framed as a discussion between two offscreen conversationalists. It's not badly done, but could benefit from tighter pacing.

We soon meet Rina, our unlucky protagonist as she is about to be discharged from hospital, somewhat against doctors orders, but Rina knows something the doctors and nurses do not; the Fox is outside her window and has been watching her from the moment she awoke. She knows the rumour and suspects the identity of the apparition outside her window so getting out of the hospital as soon as possible is a priority.


Good first step.

Rina's first stop once she gets out from under the care of the nurses is to visit her friend at the very prettily mapped local shrine, given the nature of her stalker, this is hardly surprising though the easy going way in which both the shrine maiden and her father accept this spirit as real is a little convenient. There is a momentary demurring and question about the possibility of this apparition being some form of prank, but that is almost immediately discounted. The idea that this newly released patient may be suffering from hallucinations due to her recent injury and coma is never even contemplated. This sort of easy acceptance would have felt much more natural if the game had been set in Feudal Japan rather than its modern day equivalent, though the idea of a Shinto priestess researching a Kitsune inspired apparition and then texting the results is rather charming in its own slightly dissonant way.

Rina then makes her way to the last person she remembers seeing, her friend Nagisa, only to be told by her mother that she has gone missing and the last person she was with was Rina herself. The first pealing of the alarm bells can be heard here. As each new piece of information is provided the game creates a journal entry, a very nifty and efficient method of keeping track of the information that Rina has managed to gather. The Journal is accessed via the cut down menu interface, but it does need one more slight addition to it, the information that using the arrow keys will take you to other sections in the journal rather than just your information notes. You also have an entries section where Rina muses on her situation and a people tab giving a brief outline of the various characters Rina has met.

There is not a lot that Rina does other than to revisit old haunts and look for clues, as the Fox gets inexorably closer, it's a remarkably passive stance, and for all that she states she is terrified everything in her demeanour and language come across as detached.


No rage against the dying of the light here.

Even the chase sequences where that all important stamina comes into play still didn't seem to have more than a passing effect on Rina, in fact I as the player was more unnerved and frustrated than she was. A prime example of this apparent apathy is that fact that though she only has 48 hours left to live after her run in with The Fox at the hospital, she still goes home and goes to bed. If I was on a clock like that I'd be dosed up on caffeine and whatever stimulants I could filch from that hospital to make sure every precious second counted. You can sleep when you're dead, though in this game that's a moot point.

The stamina system is implemented really well, with a blood tinted darkening screen and laboured breathing as your stamina bar drops lower and lower and your ability to run is curtailed. If there is an issue it's that though being caught by the apparition chasing you does damage there is no way to tell how much. Health supposedly can be rebuilt via health items, but I never found any. Even if I had I would have had no idea if I was wasting one when I used it. The initial instructions stated that taking more than 4 hits would result in a game over, but that health would naturally rebuild over time. However there is no indication of how fast or slowly that regeneration occurs or how healthy or indeed how damaged you are is ever made available to the player.

Once you hit Day 6 Rina's attitude seems to change and become more determined, a sort of reversed fatalism. She's taking the stages of grief backward, starting with acceptance she's now worked herself up to anger, and it is a welcome change. Unfortunately it doesn't last, and she reverts to her more blasé attitude about her impending doom.


Would madam like to slit her wrists now, or after luncheon?

The ending wasn't shocking, enough foreshadowing had been given that you knew the direction it would finally go, but it was handled with a fair degree of sensitivity and finesse. It could have been easy to leave the player completely lost as to the motivation of Rina and Nagisa and the consequences of their actions, but the developer took the time to justify Rina's act in a way that made it believable if still reprehensible, and ultimately tragically misguided and futile. The only section of the ending that rang false to me was Yukari's acceptance, it could have been narratively resonant if she had not already been shown to be capable of strong emotions, if her altered state had somehow divorced her from her previous feelings, then I could have seen that outcome as plausible, but in an ending that could have gone wrong very easily a single sour note does not detract too much.

If you are looking for happy endings and neat packages tied with a bow, this isn't the game for you. But if you'd like a few chase scenes without jump scares and a gentle look at some darker themes then you'll probably enjoy your hour or so in this game.

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Very good review, nhubi! A pity to hear about the narrative problems you mentioned, but the premise is quite unique and the dialogue in the screenshots appears quite strong. I ought to check it out in due time.

Also, I think that the sorta-fatalism you mentioned can be explained somewhat if you remember that the spirits are real and so is the afterlife. I would personally find it a lot easier to make piece with going to hell than with the ... alternatives, so this could be at play here.
nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
Thanks NTC, and whilst I do understand an aspect of resignation, what strikes me as out of place is the lack of willingness to even try to fight. The spirit gives an out, atone and you can avoid its hand, but whilst she seeks to find out what happened she never seems to be doing it to save herself just to fill in the hole in her memory. When she finally garners what did happen, then I can fully understand equanimity, in fact I think that is one of the aspects of the final sequence that really works, but until then where is her anger, her raging against the unfairness of it all, her lament about the fact she is 17 with a unjustified death sentence not only hanging over her but following her around being enigmatic at her? Her few moments of anger are always destructive towards herself. "Kill me now, why wait" type of statements rather than 'If you want me, you'll have to fight me.' It just felt too passive for such a momentous situation.

Still I'm glad I made you want to play it, it's well worth the time.
OK, I see what you mean, and I hope the creator and any prospective readers will take your points to heart. I'll be sure to also play it and offer a second opinion as soon as I have the time.
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