just scan for viruses lol | File_
2people will open anything on the internet these days π΄
REVIEW
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Pixelated graphics, point and click gameplay and creepypasta inspired horror of beings that defy understanding. A familiar formula and no doubt effective in showcasing creepy and disturbing machinations for our enjoyment. Welcome to File_.
Story follows an everyday individual called Raven as she spends her time on a computer interacting with basic virtual leisure. Through e-mails and programs that grow more menacing and threatening over times both in the virtual world and the real world, Raven uncovers a reality bastardized by a malicious force.
Gameplay is exactly what you'd expect from point and clicks. Click on the screen to interact with objects and sequences that progress the game forward. The game emulates a side scrolling platformer, telling a story through characters and the environment within the platformer, becoming more and more sinister every time you return to it. The notion of things going awry seems to be the prevalent theme to this game as opposed to traditional gameplay tropes being implemented.
It seems to me this whole game stretches out a session of torment as this "File" entity teases Raven over time with victims she comes across in the platformer as well as her sister Lenore. That it tortures these people and either traps them in its world or showcases them like trophies, their prolonged suffering over time on display. The end also hints at disturbing plans made for Raven as we are left with a cliffhanger of the entity being a voyeur, stalking its' prey. A pretty gruesome and hopeless situation to be in, which is often reflected in many creepypasta stories.
To add to the point above, the entity might psychologically mess with the victims as they try to play its' "game" (as we see with the jumpscares after every time Raven exits out of the game) but seem to have fallen victim to it before they could "beat" whatever game they were playing. Considering the entity taunted her with her potentially shallow and empty life, it stands to reason she isn't fazed by her life crumbling before her. Makes for a depressing thought too that she might not have cared for her sister as much as we would like to think otherwise.
The horror in this game amounts to being cheesy after a while. It has a pretty efficient approach to overall horror with despair being perpetuated by an existence akin to omnipresence. When it comes to individual scares like after the platforming segments, they just seemed silly or goofy to me. Static retro environments can only do so much I suppose.
A minor criticism but having to click on things specifically based off happenstance and without direction becomes annoying real quick. Having visual cues to highlight you're in the right spot is appreciated but at its core, like I said in the video, it runs the risk of being repetitive, dragging out the experience unnecessarily.
It was a bit neat to have more engagement with the game via hidden binary and morse code but it falls flat pretty quick as it applies itself as "side-quests". A scary distraction but only temporary and has no impact on the rest of the game.
All things considered, File_ is a pretty standard experience in this line of gaming. For point and clicks, complexity is highlighted in the impact of horror and how it leaves you feeling as opposed to playability. The scares may be hit or miss for me this time around but I appreciate the melancholic undertones as the story unfolds, especially with how the game ends. That's good enough for me.