Could've been way better, mainly by having some sort of emotional or environmental contrast. Just putting the joyful atmosphere of an amusement park against the horror elements isn't new or innovative or interesting, and constantly sitting in the same emotional state is getting old really fast, just like in most horror games. As an example, Stephen King's Joyland inverts the trope by making almost 90% of the story very fluffy and kitschy, and only turns it around at the very end - that's a contrast that works.

The only okay part is the last scene with the typical horror metaphorical transformation of space which kinda works but again is a trope. I think this is something that a lot of games need to look at, really. Unexplained transitions from reality to fantasy disguised as a 'psychological component' that never give you any more info than 'hey this scares the protagonist (you) so everything is scary'. Even Senua's Sacrifice, whose setting is predestined to have this blurry line, rises above this, so why couldn't The Park do it?

Reviewed on May 17, 2023


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