Intro: The stories of our three protagonists all revolve around her….Araya. In her Unstable, fragile mind Araya is overcome with a sadness that clings to her like dust to an old home. She is the glue that holds these three separate yet very kindred spirits together. Much like a fingerprint death is unique; Araya’s death is one of the more fascinating tales I’ve come across in a horror game. Bringing horror back to its roots, Araya’s ghost takes us through a journey that is rooted in Thai legends, lies, and a friend who needs answers. Interwoven, But It Makes Sense: Araya brings back the horror of the nineties with new age graphics, putting us in an abandoned hospital in search of our missing friend, Araya. Since this game deals with three different perspectives, we first are going at this game from the perspective of the friend Merissa, then a security guard Rama, then a mischievous kid Boon who needs to pay off a gambling debt. Marissa’s perspective is the glue of the three perspectives of the story, we find out the most when we are playing as her, and see the most visually stunning themes as Marissa. Going into the game it would seem to the player that Marissa is going on a wild goose chase for unachievable answers, but fear not wandering gamer Marissa gets the answers she’s searching along with unwanted ones as well. Going into an abandoned hospital in Bangkok sounds fun right? Marissa receives a text message from Araya, her friend who had gone missing over a year ago. (Spoiler alert, Araya is dead) so we are on a wild goose chase, running after her ghost thinking that it’s her. Meanwhile, Marissa is also being chased by a necromancer named Jit. Jit is our story's main antagonist and the one who I suspected killed Araya. Continuing on in the story you meet Rama, Rama is the hospital security guard who also has to run away from Jit. Jit does a lot of chasing people in this game. Much like Outlast, all you can do is run from things, there is no combat unless prompted to do so. As usual, you see notes in this game that clarify the story and actions taken by certain characters, including Araya. The notes are actually very well done in this game. Unlike a lot of horror games, they aren’t cliché and unimportant they bring the story to life and hold meaning for how you actually go about completing the game. Really makes me happy to see that the notes are utilized in a logical way, rather than a cheesy thing put in just because it’s a horror game. When creating a story for a horror game you don’t HAVE to have notes. Notes are supposed to provide a reason, a purpose to our character's actions, and history on them as people in that universe. The way this game goes about the note system is smart because the notes come to life, and don’t just provide us with semi-decent horror. There are Thai legends and history, artifacts on our characters, and more! Going on in the game we then meet a character named Boon, Boon is here because of gambling debt. I’m serious. In order to clear said debt, he needs to go to Bangkok hospital to complete certain tasks. Taking photos of the graphite, lighting a candle and a few incents along with summoning a few spirits you know, ordinary things. All of these characters bring to life our main protagonist Araya, ironically enough. Best Friends Until the End: When it closes on the last few chapters of the game it becomes very eerie to go through. This game at certain points reminded me of silent hill three. The colors, the ambiance, even the things that we find out about Araya. Finding out that she’s a misanthrope who had manic depression and bipolar disorder explains a lot of her story not just with Marissa but with her sorted love with a man named Sorn, and how she died. At a certain point, Marissa then finds the body of Araya and goes unconscious, only to go through this mental maze of hearing Araya’s and Sorns arguments. As we walk through the mentality of Marissa it gets eerie and for anyone who plays this game, trigger warning there is a lot of nasty stuff that happens visually. After viewing Araya hang herself Araya turns into a vengeful ghost that believes no one loves her. Now we go back to Ramas perspective and he encounters the body of Araya and the unconscious Marissa. As Rama you can pull the nail from Arayas head which releases her spirit. This bit was fascinating because in japan there is Ikiryo which means living ghost. I came across this in my research when looking up the history of necromancers, and Ikiryo is fascinating because it is the separation of the soul from the body, it is the disembodied spirit that leaves the body of a living person. While Arayas spirit was trapped by a nail in the head from the necromancer that killed her, Ikiryo explains her detachment from life, from her friends her family all of it. At the end of the game, Marissa awakens to find that the whole hospital is burning and she has to get out. Araya, however, wants to stop this from happening and tries to kill her along the way. Since Araya is a vengeful spirit, she took on her grudge-like form, long black hair and all, and tried killing the one person who was there for her in life. Don’t worry you and the two other people who your story intertwines with getting out safely. Now there are two different endings depending on whether or not you killed Jit. They aren’t too drastic but you do have the option to kill, or spare Jits life. Laying Things to Rest: Overall, this game was fantastic. There was a lot to this game that I couldn’t really cover in this review since I want there to still be a modicum of surprise. While yes I do give spoilers I don’t want you to know EVERYTHING about any given game that I review since a little surprise is nice, the fact that I cover the main overarching points of any given game is a part of any review, spoiler, or not. This game transported me back to when horror was legitimately unpredictable and gruesome. The notes were FANTASTIC, the story was sad and gut-wrenching, and the gameplay had its hiccups but not enough for me to get disappointed over. Marissa now knows the secret of her dearly departed friend, Rama through his journey has some clarity, and Boon has his debt paid off. Araya still holds pain in her heart that only the timeless infinity of death can heal.
Comments