Played on Xbox Series X

Developed by Camel 101

Released 28th May 2020

'Fractured Minds', released in 2017, has received praise from the BAFTAs for its incorporation and highlighting of mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression. 'Martha Is Dead', released in 2022, was remembered to be one of the scariest horror games to come out the year of its release and gained more publicity after having to be censored on PlayStation services. The thing these two games share on top of being highly-rated atmospheric horror games that are built as walking simulators with some puzzle elements, is that Wired Productions also published them. They're not the only horror games Wired Productions has published, with 'The Town of Light' and 'Close To The Sun' also being part of that list. However, one game that sticks out like a sore thumb in Wired Productions' list of horror efforts is 'Those Who Remain' as it lays low on Metacritic with a score of 49 and is the one I played recently given its expiration date on Gamepass. I was expecting something valuable here, especially since indie development often has the formula for success, but that clearly wasn't the case.

Story

The weakest part of this whole game is the story and it's unfortunate that it also makes up most of its content. The narrative follows Edward, a father and husband who had lost his child in a car accident of his doing. After pulling up to a motel in the quiet and seemingly abandoned town of Dormont, supernatural occurrences force him to face his and the town's past. It truly is the most cliche horror tale of a haunting dead girl who got wronged; vengeful spirits from the protagonist's past actions and other stale plot devices. These tropes have been done so many times, not just in horror games, and most of the time their execution is incredibly weak. There were some attempts to differentiate the story and make it more interesting than the plain, wet piece of cardboard it is, but even then, these efforts were lacklustre and actually made this story come across as even more poorly written than before.

After exploring a section, the player can make these choices where they "forgive" or "condemn" the soul of the person who was responsible for the death of Dormont's outsider girl. A morality system is a neat idea until you engage with the context the game provides you with and ultimately makes you feel nothing for or against these people and their loose connections to the incident. The only reason you'd pick one or the other is to see the good or bad ending of the game, and not of your own intuition or intrigue for the characters. Portraying morality as black and white as it was, only adds to the disinterest and boredom you feel as it makes each situation even more shallow. It's not like it amounts to much either, as the awkwardly-made ending concludes things weakly with there being no satisfaction in breaking this curse deal or losing against it. You essientally have little motivation to be a part of this town's drama besides the fact that the way forward forces you through it, and the times it talks about the player character's issues, they get sped through and sloppily linked back to the girl's death as if they had similar circumstances, to begin with.

Gameplay

As for the gameplay, it's also disappointing. The best way to explain it is that it feels like a 'Roblox' horror game but most of the budget went into trying to make it look good. 'Those Who Remain' is a walking simulator horror with puzzle-solving moments. You do not fight the threat chasing you nor do you actually hide, you kind of just shimmy down to the next scary-looking level and that's it. I wouldn't mind this if the gameplay provided entertainment in some shape or form.

The puzzles can be simplified to having to find a key/item to progress in another room and that's it. No riddles or matching pictures or clever way of moving forward, just "find the key". The times when it was varied (most of which can be found in the front half), they felt like they were cleverly designed, like slowly lighting your way forward by switching between worlds at the gas station. I don't know why the creative talent disappears after the midpoint. Still, whoever's idea was to search what felt like 100 lockers and drawers per location for a poorly highlighted key clearly hasn't played any horror puzzle games before.

As for the horror side of things, it fails to meet any expectations. The only parts of the gameplay where it switched to horror was when you had to avoid the darkness, navigate through an area with a wandering enemy or get chased by one. The whole "they're in the darkness" was an ok gimmick that just felt too unoriginal to make its impact last past its first appearance. As for avoiding the enemies in these areas, it was easy as their player detection was limited to whatever was in front of them. The only time they served to be a danger was when they threatened me with an increased playtime because of how slowly they moved and how much they blocked the way forward. The chase sequences were no different as they would run after you too slowly or the exit was easily accessible, negating any chance at fear or tension.

Other nitpicks that I need to get off my chest are that: the pick-up-and-throw mechanic only got used around 2-3 times in this game despite having potential for more; the player character can so easily get stuck on chairs and barrels that it becomes frustrating to deal with; having to be incredibly precise with interacting is fine for tense moments like having to turn on the light switch in a room but for other things like just opening a door to the next level - it became too finicky and could've used some adjustment. This game reminds a lot of 'Mental Hospital - Child of Evil' in its execution, with the difference being that 'Mental Hospital' at least had some good attempts at horror and its short duration made sure that the flaws didn't sit with you too long. Here, there's just not enough horror to make it enticing, not enough puzzle diversity to feel rewarding and not enough polish to justify the other shortcomings.

Characters

The characters are so plain and forgettable that I only remember the protagonist's name (not even the dead girl's name stuck with me despite getting spammed every other dialogue). There's no substance here as everyone is some form of exposition for a story that can easily be brushed off as uninteresting, and when they're not needlessly explaining the narrative, they present such one-dimensional caricatures that are only there to be reflected upon within the next moral choice you make. Zero flavour writing.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere being the best aspect doesn't say much given how inadequate the rest of the game is, but it does strike a middling point where it works. The visuals are quite good. The monsters have this cool design that is linked to the story and the concept of an armed crowd staring at the player from the darkness is well-executed, not just artistically, but also with how it's a clever way to get around invisible walls without causing a narrative disconnect. The environments also looked decently detailed and effective in portraying the desolate town; whether in the house of one of the guilty or at a police station. It looks like most of its objects come from some horror pack found in the asset store, which does make the game come across as even more unoriginal, and this could've been excused if the rest of the game had shown promise. The sound design is ok - it merits no compliment or criticism. As for the music, it's forgettable. On the technical side of things, I did have to restart the game a couple of times because of the bugs, like the player being sucked up to the ceiling after dying, or the next objective/item to interact with not appearing.

Story - 3.5/10

Gameplay - 3/10

Characters - 2/10

Atmosphere - 5/10