A free, VHS styled, first-person found footage horror game, which runs exactly for 5 minutes and 30 seconds.
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Curto e GROSSO!
Não sou o maior fã de jogos do gênero mas me surpreendeu bastante, mesmo com tão pouco tempo de gameplay. A atmosfera tensa, o "silêncio" desconcertante, a incerteza do que está por vir... tudo isso contribui para uma experiência peculiar e arrepiante.
O que mais me chamou a atenção é o fato de não estarmos na pele das vítimas e sim de um serial killer que, ao que tudo indica, gosta de registrar os momentos infames daqueles neutralizados por ele. O estilo VHS e o espaço limitado favorecem o clima macabro do ambiente, passando uma sensação de claustrofobia e perigo.
Longe de mim querer entender a mente de um psicopata e acredito que não seja essa a intenção do desenvolvedor, porém, me deixou com um gostinho de quero mais! Sei que pode ser controverso, principalmente por se tratar de uma obra com esse tipo de foco, entretanto, ficaria extremamente satisfeito caso o projeto viesse a se tornar algo maior no futuro.
Não sou o maior fã de jogos do gênero mas me surpreendeu bastante, mesmo com tão pouco tempo de gameplay. A atmosfera tensa, o "silêncio" desconcertante, a incerteza do que está por vir... tudo isso contribui para uma experiência peculiar e arrepiante.
O que mais me chamou a atenção é o fato de não estarmos na pele das vítimas e sim de um serial killer que, ao que tudo indica, gosta de registrar os momentos infames daqueles neutralizados por ele. O estilo VHS e o espaço limitado favorecem o clima macabro do ambiente, passando uma sensação de claustrofobia e perigo.
Longe de mim querer entender a mente de um psicopata e acredito que não seja essa a intenção do desenvolvedor, porém, me deixou com um gostinho de quero mais! Sei que pode ser controverso, principalmente por se tratar de uma obra com esse tipo de foco, entretanto, ficaria extremamente satisfeito caso o projeto viesse a se tornar algo maior no futuro.
Interessante.
Free, incredibly short, pretty neat. Not much else to say about it.
It’s almost impossible to avoid the regurgitated tropes stuffed into horror games nowadays. This especially applies to the indie scene, where soulless projects can be thrown together in no time to make a quick buck. There’s a serious lack of originality or innovation in the genre; I suppose it’s just easier for devs to lean into cheap scare tactics and dime-a-dozen ghost stories.
September 1999, on the other hand, is a free horror game with a surprisingly interesting and well-told story - one that’s neatly wrapped up in the span of five minutes. While I won’t spoil much, I will say that I really enjoy the narrative that this game chose to tackle, and I think it was done well. There are clear comparisons to make to American Psycho; and obviously September 1999 isn’t nearly as complex or innovative, but it’s a refreshing idea to bring to horror games in particular. This isn’t any old dime-a-dozen haunted building simulator with a Samara ripoff.
You take the role of a man living alone in a small house. The first-person view is overlaid with VHS grain - even the time and date are stamped in the corner, a useful tool for tracking the chronology of September 1999’s events. The game doesn’t solely rely on this VHS gimmick, though; its entire visual style is actually quite amazing. Perfect realism is far from my favorite aesthetic, but it worked very well here I think. I almost felt like I was looking at real video footage sometimes! The only thing that struck me as a strange (and quite funny) choice was the protagonist’s apparent obsession with framed pictures of budgies.
There are a handful of little details to notice, too, such as the tape placed on one of the closed doors (if you’re not aware, this is done when someone wants to ensure that the person inside the taped room can’t leave without their knowing.) I’d even overlooked a few things my first time around that I only noticed on a second playthrough. An impressive amount of worldbuilding was done here, and in such a minuscule span of time!
There are some delightfully creepy audio cues scattered throughout the game, too. September 1999 plays with volume in very interesting ways; certain noises are so subtle that you might think it’s in your head at first, while others viscerally destroy the stillness of the house. Nearly all of the frightening moments are in large part thanks to this sound design.
In fact, September 1999 never once relies on anything like garbage jumpscares to make its point. Instead it utilizes visual storytelling and atmosphere! There’s not even any dialogue - something I think is really neat, as it means that anyone can experience the game fully without language hindrance.
Of course, there’s not really any ‘gameplay’ to be found in September 1999. You simply observe the story as it takes place around you. Actually, it can sometimes take a bit too long for the game to transition itself into the next scene; this can easily turn into a nuisance when you’ve already seen everything you need to, and you’re stuck waiting for things to automatically progress.
Still, that small annoyance didn’t hamper my overall enjoyment of September 1999. This isn’t a life-changing or genre-defining piece of work, but it’s something I really appreciate for what it is. It commits completely to story and quality over reusing tired old tropes. I definitely recommend checking this out, especially since it’s free and very short!
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Story: 3.5/5
Gameplay: 0.5/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Overall Game Score: 3/5 [3.2/5]
September 1999, on the other hand, is a free horror game with a surprisingly interesting and well-told story - one that’s neatly wrapped up in the span of five minutes. While I won’t spoil much, I will say that I really enjoy the narrative that this game chose to tackle, and I think it was done well. There are clear comparisons to make to American Psycho; and obviously September 1999 isn’t nearly as complex or innovative, but it’s a refreshing idea to bring to horror games in particular. This isn’t any old dime-a-dozen haunted building simulator with a Samara ripoff.
You take the role of a man living alone in a small house. The first-person view is overlaid with VHS grain - even the time and date are stamped in the corner, a useful tool for tracking the chronology of September 1999’s events. The game doesn’t solely rely on this VHS gimmick, though; its entire visual style is actually quite amazing. Perfect realism is far from my favorite aesthetic, but it worked very well here I think. I almost felt like I was looking at real video footage sometimes! The only thing that struck me as a strange (and quite funny) choice was the protagonist’s apparent obsession with framed pictures of budgies.
There are a handful of little details to notice, too, such as the tape placed on one of the closed doors (if you’re not aware, this is done when someone wants to ensure that the person inside the taped room can’t leave without their knowing.) I’d even overlooked a few things my first time around that I only noticed on a second playthrough. An impressive amount of worldbuilding was done here, and in such a minuscule span of time!
There are some delightfully creepy audio cues scattered throughout the game, too. September 1999 plays with volume in very interesting ways; certain noises are so subtle that you might think it’s in your head at first, while others viscerally destroy the stillness of the house. Nearly all of the frightening moments are in large part thanks to this sound design.
In fact, September 1999 never once relies on anything like garbage jumpscares to make its point. Instead it utilizes visual storytelling and atmosphere! There’s not even any dialogue - something I think is really neat, as it means that anyone can experience the game fully without language hindrance.
Of course, there’s not really any ‘gameplay’ to be found in September 1999. You simply observe the story as it takes place around you. Actually, it can sometimes take a bit too long for the game to transition itself into the next scene; this can easily turn into a nuisance when you’ve already seen everything you need to, and you’re stuck waiting for things to automatically progress.
Still, that small annoyance didn’t hamper my overall enjoyment of September 1999. This isn’t a life-changing or genre-defining piece of work, but it’s something I really appreciate for what it is. It commits completely to story and quality over reusing tired old tropes. I definitely recommend checking this out, especially since it’s free and very short!
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Story: 3.5/5
Gameplay: 0.5/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Overall Game Score: 3/5 [3.2/5]
A bit thin, not too scary, but there's enough there that it's worth the short play.
really cool for such a short game