Visage Takes Psychological Horror To A New Breathtaking Level
Visage is a psychological horror game not for the faint of heart, boosting some of the most intense atmospheres I have seen in a game, period. The dark-lit halls and the ghost of the past that haunts through each memory of your riddled drunken body are rising, only hyped up with musical backgrounds that drag the heart through its own pacer gram fitness test. In these halls, you are Five Nights at Freddy’s, and you will uncover what the drink has hidden from you. There is no real escape. Stay in the light, friend- else your demons may just burn you alive.
Just what are we doing here?
Visage is a story about a house and the history trapped inside the wallpaper. As the player, you get the happy job of exploring every room to allow the families, yes, that’s right- families that have died in these halls and seeing the various acts of horror played out. Kind of like What Remains of Edith Finch but with a little less family curse and a little more hell-bound feats of horror. Just a little. The game was created by Sad Square Studio and released in 2017 for the PC. It has garnered quite a reputation with mostly positive views on Steam and people relating the fear factor to be akin to P.T., just a bit of a feat.
Every game has its quirks.
The thing that Visage plays into is the idea of managing sanity, something Don’t Starve can understand. You need to stay in the light as much as possible to keep the ghosts speaking to you away. Unfortunately, repeating swiper no swiping hasn’t seemed to keep any of them from stealing away the right to breathe, but we’re working on that. When that bar gets too low, you’re sure to meet a ghost! You need to manage this with the fear of solving complex puzzles without any handholding or clear direction. Visage has no qualms about sending you to the wolves, and dying is a part of the chore list in this family.
The consequences of our actions
Are always with us, no matter how hard we try to avoid them. Even if we as a person forget our sins and step over the ledge of damage-avoiding responsibility, the effects won’t go away, someone has to hold that pain, and that someone will make it known…even if it’s been years past. Karma does not forget. Visage does a great job of showcasing this fact of life and highlighting how destructive a lifestyle set up like that is in the end. One is much better facing their demons when those demons can’t melt in and out of shadows. The weight is in every room, every wall, and every picture. It won’t let go till you do.
