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dkirschner's Among the Sleep (PC)

[June 4, 2022 02:19:10 PM]

This was a freebie on Epic around Halloween, where I also got Darq (a hidden gem) and another one or two spooky games. Among the Sleep, not so much a hidden gem though. I played it, despite its relatively low review score, because it was short and people generally said it was worth it for the interesting perspective of playing a scary game from the perspective of a two-year-old toddler. I couldn't help comparing it to Amnesia: Rebirth, which I just played and which will stick with me also for the interesting perspective, but of a pregnant woman instead of a toddler. Among the Sleep does have a creepy atmosphere and it certainly offers a novel perspective on psychological horror and the game's themes of alcoholism and abuse.

However, interesting premise aside, you can't save your game, and if you exit in the middle of a level, it takes you back to the beginning of the level, wiping all progress, even though it will say "saving" in the bottom right. Apparently the "saving" text is only an indication of a checkpoint, which wipes if you close the game. I had to replay a level because of this. Why doesn't it say "checkpoint" or tell you that it's not actually a save state, or tell you that you have to complete the game in one sitting, or something? I had to replay the same level a third time because I clicked on some DLC or something and it overrode my save, so when I went to "continue story," it continued it from the DLC. Super annoying, and if the game was longer, I would have quit.

The "drag" action often doesn't work. You'll have to move chairs and boxes to crawl on them or get them out of the way, and it sometimes doesn't register, or drags the opposite direction of where you are moving. The animations are wonky, with hands going through objects, climbing animations looking like the kid is scaling nothing but air, and so on. A couple times, I did climb onto air, and either got stuck, or, my favorite, bounced super high into the air (?!?), and then the monster in the level appeared beneath me, I fell into its arms, and died. The toddler constantly falls down when he runs, and the screen shakes when you move from crawling to standing and back. I appreciate that this is realistic (a toddler is going to alternate between crawling and standing, and can't sprint for a long time like an adult character would), but it is all really annoying and disorienting. I felt low-key nauseous after playing for a while.

And I could NOT stop thinking about all the safety hazards this poor kid was running into a la the game Who's Your Daddy?, which added some unintentional humor. "No, don't crawl on top of the stove! It could turn on any second!" "No, stay out of the cabinet with bleach! Do not drink that!" So yeah, neat little experience, but I'm glad it's over quickly.