izigame.me

Honestly, I'm surprised with how instantly I fell for the game's charms. It took me by the hand and whisked me away so effortlessly! You won't feel the touch from a distance, so the store page sells Fear the Spotlight short if you just glance at it. Given the market's over-saturation, we often don't have the time for a second look. See, it's a remarkable game, not just another low-poly PSX stealth horror. On paper, it's not even my thing! But it's too well-directed to throw it into some pile. Based on my word alone, I can't ask you to buy the game, not in good conscience. However, I implore you to try the demo no matter what your comfort zone is. If you find yourself even slightly intrigued by it, you're in for a ride, for it keeps getting better by the minute. Besides, this comes with the perk of being able to see it for yourself, skipping my ramblings altogether. If this isn't an alluring prospect, then I don't know what is.
Enough self-deprecation, let's tackle things in order. The graphics are tastefully retro, appearing rather sharp for what they are. Even with the filters. Atmospheric surroundings are imbued with a droning ambience and complemented by pitch-perfect sound design. The voice acting is natural and the fluent animation is minimal yet expressive. I had no technical problems, but I must note that Spotlight's reliance on a singular autosave is risky. It didn't let me down, though. Saving happens all the time, so there's no real danger of losing progress. This isn't survival horror, nor is it a walking sim. I'd call it a puzzle adventure with unsettling elements. As soon as I understood this, I knew this game wouldn't be what I hoped it would be. Turns out, you don't always get what you want, but sometimes you find what you need. And what I needed was to bathe in a warm, sincere light of this apparent child of love. Yeah, I know, unusually sentimental of me. Now, I'll explain for those in need of convincing.
Back to 1991
You start playing as Vivian, a brave asthmatic bookworm who likes her cool goth friend Amy. You know, in that way. No wonder! She knows how to pick locks, plays the bass, loves horror movies, and, after all, it's abnormal not to wish for a goth gf no matter who you are. Well, unless you're 40 like I am, which makes you a creep. Together the girls sneak into the school library at night to perform a Ouija board seance. The spirit answers their call and things go awry. Amy disappears, the school goes dark, and the storm rages beyond its walls. Strange sounds come from the darkness. You think you saw Amy... why is she crying? A fire starts, then a wall opens to swallow and spit you out in 1991. Whoever is responsible, they took your goth gf from you, so it's time to take her back! Mostly by creeping around disturbing places inhabited by burnt children while avoiding projector beams and solving light puzzles. Sometimes those are easy, but most of them I found unique and inventive. The kind that makes you feel kinda smart for figuring things out without applying too much pressure.
It kept the momentum going. And the process of solving always felt good, too, due to the controls. The devs went the extra mile there, implementing tactile stuff like moving your stick to unzip bags, lift latches, or pry things out. It reminded me of playing on Wii, in a good way. That little feature had the potential to be an annoyance, which happened many times before, yet somehow ended up feeling responsive and satisfying. It's just one of many nuances that betray the care that went into making this. The same goes for immediately comprehensive sneaking sections. They are never hard, yet never annoying either thanks to the great signposting. There isn't much to explain, things are elegantly simple. Explore, piece together hints and lore from the notes, solve puzzles, avoid the searing light for a bit, then solve some more. The loop flows organically, offering more versatility than meets the eye. This game is only short because it's condensed. And it's more than the sum of its parts, with its atmosphere and the craftsmanship towering above all else.
Schoolcore
Spotlight is a slow burner that doesn't waste any time. Enemy encounters are rare and there's no combat, hence no need to store resources or manage inventory. No hassle. The game emphasises horror, not terror. I wanted to say there was no place for panic, but that water lady scared me so much I scampered like a headless chicken. Either way, for the most part, the dilapidated environment creates suspense by itself. What could be more liminal than a school at night? Dark and morphing, your surroundings aren't openly surreal, being restrained to trip your sense of uncanny. Made stronger by the non-exploitative use of references. You could see a Silent Hill radio on a shelf, solve Resident Evil's puzzles, and Stephen King's Carrie is written all over the setting. The themes of nepotism, petty jealousy, bad parenting, and cruel injustice made up the school experience for so many of us. It's not all there is to the story, alas, the local symbolism is pretty transparent. It isn't hard to foresee where it all leads to. Or so it seems.
But at least you won't get confused. The school's layout is so simple you don't need a map. There's no guessing where to go next, it's almost linear up until one point where you'd get a more sprawling set of locations. But then the game provides a stationary map for you. Didn't need it still. You also have a to-do list, rather unnecessarily. But thoughtfully. As you might've guessed, one shouldn't expect a hardcore affair. This game is anything but sinister towards its players. Call it cutecore, warmcore, wholecore. At that, Spotlight manages to be touching without coming off as manipulative. It was intentionally designed to reach everyone. I'd argue even minors should be able to enjoy it, it's not gory or anything. Except for all the burnt children, I guess. I know how it sounds to you lovers of grit. I am one! It was a thrilling playthrough nonetheless, even though I was slightly disappointed by the lack of ambition in that regard. A drop of difficulty and more gross-out content would've only improved things. I'm sure Amy would agree.
Afterword
But don't let my bloodlusty whims condemn Fear the Spotlight in your eyes. Sometimes a game is just so tasteful and well-directed these things become collateral. Unexpectedly, the climax wasn't only narratively satisfying - the final confrontation was done imaginatively. In the form of a cool action puzzle. At that point, I was already pleased with my exploits and wouldn't complain even if it ended right there. And then I got to play the best part instead! Yeah, there's more than one climax, different yet cathartic. In fact, Chapter 2 is so different it feels like a free sequel. I didn't expect my favourable first impression to improve further. That extra mile in every facet of this game is disarming. The house is such a well-designed interconnected environment, and it's even creepier than the school. How's that for subtle symbolism? But nuff said. In the end, I'm happy for the girls, happy for the devs, and happy for myself. For that was a great find. A truly touching gem, so full of heart! Will trust you guys with my time again any day of the week.
My curator Big Bad Mutuh

Finally, it's back after a year of being delisted from Steam. Fear the Spotlight is a third-person horror puzzle game about Amy and Vivian, two high school students who break into their school, Sunnyside High, to perform a seance believing that it has a strong connection to the spirit world. During the seance, something happens and Amy vanishes, and it's up to Vivian to find and rescue her from the mysterious and dilapidated Sunnyside High.

Completing Vivian's story unlocks Amy's chapter from her POV.

The game consists of a few sections where you must solve puzzles to get pieces to solve more puzzles all while avoiding a monster shaped like a man but with the head of a spotlight beam. There are small story snippets giving the backstory between the students who perished during a fire that caused the school to close down. The story gradually becomes darker as you progress before the conclusion that led to the events is revealed.

The game has a lot of interaction which seems to be common in modern horror demakes - twist to unscrew, move your mouse in circles to tighten, click items to operate them etc. I enjoyed the tactile nature of the game and liked finding a use for all my items; puzzles were relatively straightforward and easy - you don't need to think much to solve them. Vivian operates on a breath meter which is recovered through asthma puffers - which aren't in short supply. As soon as you use one, you're likely to find another one. The game also checkpoints through every door you enter, so it's quite forgiving.

There's not much music in the game but it builds atmosphere quite well and the sound design and voice acting are all top notch. The voice acting felt natural for the characters and they were decently personified in the game. Amy's chapter reveals a lot more about the two girls and helps build them into more tangible characters. I found her chapter quite tragic and I really believed that Amy and Vivian relied on each other given the backstory of each.

It's not a long game - it took me 2.6 hours to finish the first time, then replaying Vivian's chapter AND then playing Amy's only took me 3.5 hours. I fully believe this is worth playing and one of my favourite of the modern indie horror games that are coming out (that aren't too scary).

After a game of oujia gone wrong, your friend gets abducted by unknown powers and you find yourself in the remains of the old schoolgrounds.
Overall a fantastic game, it looks beautiful, hand crafted areas with many details. Good voice acting, unique puzzles. Even the chaser is something you havent really seen yet. Wish it would have been longer. I guess the story is rather mediocre, but I dont intend to spoil anything. Not that it matters though, because you cant buy the game.
They removed the game off the store October 2023, because they want to add new content and plan console versions. There has been no news on this really. They also talk about improvements while the game sits at 98% positive reviews... what improvements. No one has anything bad to say, my experience was completely bug free, no translation problems or typos.
What you do with your creation is your choice, but so is my opinion regarding this. Taking it off the store instead of just leaving it for other players to enjoy, is something I cant understand. You can very well work on a project while keeping it accessible and also make profit at the same time. This is one of the dumbest marketing decisions I have ever encountered on this platform. Cozy Game Pals, you guys are masters at botching your own sales.
Today, 22nd of October 2024, they came crawling back and charge double the price from the original release. First you take away the option to purchase it, now you expect people to hand over twice as much money. Not even a relaunch discount included. I own the game, so why exactly should I care about any of this? Because it isnt about me and such practices are shitty, simple as. Im not sure how anyone with a good conscience can support this. Clown on me all you want.
Dear dev, what kinda response is that? I know I get the update automatically, since I own the game. Also, that filler content or "B-Side" you added is in no way worth as much as the base game. Im sure you doubled the price to cope for the loss in revenue when it was off shelves. The fact that you dont even have an introductory offer reflects that. You partnered with a publisher in the hopes to get some sweet investors. Nothing wrong with that, but it just shows how much yall thirst for money now. Maybe dont sabotage your own sales next time?
Horror/Surrealist centered Curator: KuriKuration