Horror games have been a big part of the gaming community, from Silent Hill to Resident Evil to Amnesia. We all screamed, enjoyed it, and discussed which part was the scariest. It’s always good to hear about new releases in this genre every year. Especially in recent years, we have seen a spike from indie developers in the horror game market. And we can confidently say that Last Visit is a shining star amongst them. The official trailer was uploaded to Youtube on the 29th of April. Later, the demo was released. We played it, and wow! The thrill is real! Before reading this review, we recommend you watch our playthrough to see what horror Last Visit has shown us.
Last Visit is an adventure-type first-person horror game that offers narrative-driven gameplay with puzzles and chills down your spine with every step. The game was created by a single developer named Pawel (Pavrek Games). He is a big horror fan and was inspired by Amnesia: Dark Descent while making this title. While you will feel Amnesia throughout the demo, Last Visit offers unique gameplay (at least as an indie game) with no safe zone. Before getting into more gameplay, let’s go over what we know so far about the story:
Visiting Granny Has Never Been So Scary – Last Visit Story
We are playing as Gabriel, a good grandson who visits his grandparents each year. Our grandmother, Anna, lives in Kamby with her two brothers. She lives in the middle of the forest (how convenient, isn’t it?). Once again, we went to see Anna. We find that a terrible thing happened that messed up the house. Now, in the middle of the woods in the dark, we need to figure out what happened while maintaining our physical and mental state.
Last Visit does a good job of bringing tension with well-timed jump scares into the game. We will be talking about the features and the overall gameplay (with tiny spoilers). First of all, the sound effects are amazing. monster or animal voices when running in the forest, footsteps in the hut, and Gabriel’s (antagonist) monologues at some high moments.
Last Visit Gameplay
Movement is simple and easy to learn. (I want to point out the long-ranged flashlight option because I haven’t seen anything like this in any other horror game. That made me sure I was in for a treat). You can interact with several things (closets, doors (usually locked), collectibles, puzzle items.). You can’t pick up random stuff and say, “Hi, mister glass. Can you keep me company?” Which is a bit bad because I love some friends’ comforting me while playing. Plants will aid you in difficult circumstances. Collectibles (the secret items and places) will help your progress. Actually, this is one of the unique parts of Last Visit. The secrets you collect are for skill upgrades. Faster regen and an increased ray of the flashlight are some of the examples. In most horror games, they are just little easter eggs or small pieces of the story.
The game is highly narrative-driven. If you are not interested in reading notes or listening to Gabriel, you are not in the right place. Yes, monsters, wildlife, and the world itself (especially lighting) are SCARY. But you will only experience half of the game like this. Even though we haven’t finished the game so far, the story so far is promising. Every note and place makes you wonder what’s next. Also, the tasks aren’t. That means you can complete them in any order. That means various gameplay options, which is unusual in most horror games.
Puzzles are entertaining and challenging enough to keep you in the game. They are not impossible to solve. But the everlasting tension makes you sweat.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure about the open-world feature. Because as an Amnesia type of game, open-world would kill the linear-horror experience in which every step you take is a new place with new horrors. And from what we have seen in the demo, it’s good. I would still choose the linear gameplay. But I appreciate the developer taking a unique path and proving that there are other ways to enjoy screaming at my screen.
The jumpscares and other scary stuff were horrifying enough for the demo. They were some places that genuinely gave me a heavy breath. And some of them made me say, “Oh, what was that? It must be the ghost of my grandmother. Keep searching for the key.” But the variety of monsters kept me wondering what else there could be in this forest.
Before we end this review, we would like to thank the developer for letting us, the gaming community, try the game. For a single developer, this is a huge success. We can’t wait to experience the world of Last Visit to its fullest. Considering the demo and features we know so far, it’s a 7/10 for us. But we can’t be sure how good it is until we play the whole game. The game will be released on the 19th of August this year. Until the time comes, we highly recommend our followers play the demo and follow Pavrek Games on Twitter. Also, be sure to add it to your wishlist on Steam.
