2/29/2024 0 Comments Past cure ps4The game leans heavily on its narrative moments and upholding an interesting mystery in order to pull players through the rote and numbing action.Īs intriguing as the story can be, the voice actors seem painfully uninterested in delivering their lines with the intended emotion and inflection that the script ought to call for. The world is simply not interesting or varied enough to create a narrative of its own (unless you want to make up a story about why the hell people would park in a maze-like pattern in a parking garage). Reaching the hotel suite led to a fun–if simple–investigation portion as I scoured various hotel rooms for clues, but immediately after, I was thrown into more gunfights in the same hallways that I had just come in from. Instead of embracing the narrative and nightmares, it spends far too much time sending players down boring, repetitive, pre-cut pathways filled with generic grunts to gun down.ĭiscovering the secrets did keep me going though. This area has a few simple puzzles to overcome and a number of confusing hallways to traverse, but it’s far more varied and interesting than the shooting sections or the stealth hotel level. Locked in a prison, Ian must find a way out while avoiding the gaze of horrifying ceramic-bodied humanoid creatures. When Past Cure dives into the nightmare realm, it really starts to come into its own. Past Cure spends far too long in this parking garage against these suit wearing thugs. Draining sanity makes the screen blurry for a split second, and then it recharges to a point, which meant that slowing down time to pop out and shoot generic thugs in a parking garage (and hotel hallways and some random high-end living space) was never more than a simple approximation of a Max Payne game. I though it might be something like using your powers to help you win fights, but draining your sanity will make you see things that aren’t there and have other gameplay effects. At the outset, I had hoped it would be an interesting mechanic. The sanity meter doesn’t actually do anything, other than dictate when you can and can’t use your powers. Then the game stuck me in boring and repetitive gun fights in a parking garage for far too long. I was taught to shoot and fight hand-to-hand. I was introduced to the sanity meter, which drained as Ian used his abilities. Every once in a while his nightmares seem to bleed outside of his sleep, with the creepy ceramic monsters seeming to appear in reflections and even fully manifest in his house. The opening of Past Cure acts as a tutorial, going back and forth between wandering Ian’s house picking up collectibles and living his nightmares. Ready for a boss fight? There are clear cut-and-dry divisions throughout the game that act as compartments for all of the ideas and influences that Phantom 8 must have had while making the game. Ingredients seemed to be tossed at me one by one instead of mixed and blended. Most things aren’t presented as a nicely digestible meal. After a long while, it would find a new element to latch onto, and the process would repeat. Instead it balls them up like tightly packed snowballs and pelts me with them until I’m numb from the cold repetitiveness. Past Cure doesn’t nuance any of its ideas. Sadly, most of the game is not versus this. A number of opportunities feel wasted as an intriguing mystery turns into a repetitive slog. Sadly, it never fully realizes any of its influences. There are some clear signs that Past Cure is an indie game, but an impressive eye for art and graphic design, and a certain cinematic flair had me excited in the opening hours. The opening moments even had me thinking Heavy Rain for a time, as they were presented in a very cinematic way. At times it seems like it wants to be Max Payne, and at others there’s an Evil Within or Silent Hill vibe. Many clear influences and styles shine through during the length of Past Cure’s campaign.
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