THERE IS A TAPE IN THE DINING ROOM
Like most of Anatomy, it is not a line that should be utterly terrifying. Consciously - thanks to it being the first moments of the game, and having absorbed enough of the game through osmosis to know the game is not heavy on jumpscares/whatever - I knew there was nothing truly to be scared of in that room that is going to rip my head off IRL. And yet the first two times I tried playing this game, the sheer intensity of just walking around the few innocuous rooms at the start of the game was enough to have me Alt-F4 before anything had even really happened.
And yeah, I will concede, when it comes to this sort of thing I am a bit of a wuss. Particularly when it comes to the interface screw-y glitchy horror you get in a lot of Itch games, which Anatomy does like to throw at you.
But whilst that stuff always freaks me out, the general presentation of Anatomy is what really hooks under my skin. Just moving around the house has this weird feeling of intensity to it. The sound design is impeccable, the lighting just right, with a narrow field of view that makes it feel like the whole time you're never really sure you're alone. And of course, the fact that the game's setting is so deliberately ordinary adds this extra, primal layer to it all. Like an old memory of being alone in the house I grew up in and the fear that came with it resurfacing.
The main conceit of the horror is also really cool and well done. The concept of a place or location being the source of the horror itself is nothing new, but the intimacy of Anatomy adds a nice layer to it, especially with the very erudite sounding sciencey person who reads most of the tapes to you - the game's horror thesis is still gnawing at me a little, and I do kinda buy the point the guy on the tapes is saying...
So for a 30 minute experience of dread, Anatomy is fucking great. Probably the best horror game i've played since PT, even, and frankly, is very comparable to that game in general but for having less of a focus on direct scares. I do think it has issues - the game desperately, desperately needs subtitles and an actual options menu. It wouldn't clash with the game's aesthetic even as it basically already uses VHS closed captions on occasion. Without them i literally had to go find a subtitled playthrough on youtube to parse the entirety of some of the last tapes you collect. I would also say the game's one big actual scare is a bit dissapointing - its ok, and a perfect rounding out of the game's big theme, but looks a little goofy compared to the rest of what is an immaculate aesthetic, and is nowhere near enough of a crescendo to match up to the sheer dread built up before it.
Also, and this is the smallest of nits to pick, but the UNITY PERSONAL EDITION logo popping up every time you boot, for game that you will have to do so 3 times in 30 minutes to finish, is a bit immersion breaking for something that is otherwise so utterly captivating.
But don't let that take away anything too much from Anatomy. The small issues I have with the game are also mostly in retrospect. When playing it I haven't been as scared by media since PT, and it's theme is one that feels like it's going to linger with me for a while just like it. When a game makes walking down a simple Hallway I KNOW has nothing at the other end scary, that's when you know you're dealing with a properly excellent Horror creator.
Like most of Anatomy, it is not a line that should be utterly terrifying. Consciously - thanks to it being the first moments of the game, and having absorbed enough of the game through osmosis to know the game is not heavy on jumpscares/whatever - I knew there was nothing truly to be scared of in that room that is going to rip my head off IRL. And yet the first two times I tried playing this game, the sheer intensity of just walking around the few innocuous rooms at the start of the game was enough to have me Alt-F4 before anything had even really happened.
And yeah, I will concede, when it comes to this sort of thing I am a bit of a wuss. Particularly when it comes to the interface screw-y glitchy horror you get in a lot of Itch games, which Anatomy does like to throw at you.
But whilst that stuff always freaks me out, the general presentation of Anatomy is what really hooks under my skin. Just moving around the house has this weird feeling of intensity to it. The sound design is impeccable, the lighting just right, with a narrow field of view that makes it feel like the whole time you're never really sure you're alone. And of course, the fact that the game's setting is so deliberately ordinary adds this extra, primal layer to it all. Like an old memory of being alone in the house I grew up in and the fear that came with it resurfacing.
The main conceit of the horror is also really cool and well done. The concept of a place or location being the source of the horror itself is nothing new, but the intimacy of Anatomy adds a nice layer to it, especially with the very erudite sounding sciencey person who reads most of the tapes to you - the game's horror thesis is still gnawing at me a little, and I do kinda buy the point the guy on the tapes is saying...
So for a 30 minute experience of dread, Anatomy is fucking great. Probably the best horror game i've played since PT, even, and frankly, is very comparable to that game in general but for having less of a focus on direct scares. I do think it has issues - the game desperately, desperately needs subtitles and an actual options menu. It wouldn't clash with the game's aesthetic even as it basically already uses VHS closed captions on occasion. Without them i literally had to go find a subtitled playthrough on youtube to parse the entirety of some of the last tapes you collect. I would also say the game's one big actual scare is a bit dissapointing - its ok, and a perfect rounding out of the game's big theme, but looks a little goofy compared to the rest of what is an immaculate aesthetic, and is nowhere near enough of a crescendo to match up to the sheer dread built up before it.
Also, and this is the smallest of nits to pick, but the UNITY PERSONAL EDITION logo popping up every time you boot, for game that you will have to do so 3 times in 30 minutes to finish, is a bit immersion breaking for something that is otherwise so utterly captivating.
But don't let that take away anything too much from Anatomy. The small issues I have with the game are also mostly in retrospect. When playing it I haven't been as scared by media since PT, and it's theme is one that feels like it's going to linger with me for a while just like it. When a game makes walking down a simple Hallway I KNOW has nothing at the other end scary, that's when you know you're dealing with a properly excellent Horror creator.