Hello fellow gamers, Racula here and welcome to another exciting review from XPN Network.
Released on the 6th March 2024 on multiple platforms, Reveil is a first-person psychological thriller game.
I couldn't wait to get stuck into this game, to see what it was all about and I'm not going to lie, my brain got hurt.
Can you make sense of it at all?
As I mentioned before, Reveil is a narrative first-person psychological thriller game. It focuses on the main protagonist, Walter Thompson.
His wife and daughter are missing, where could they be?
Looking for answers, through five chapters, you explore your environment and fragments of memories.There are five endings to unlock in Reveil, but which one is the true ending and which one's aren't?
You'll have to figure that one out for yourself, but they can all be achieved in the last chapter.Personally I find this a little bit on the cheating side, since you can chapter select once completed for the first time and go back to the last chapter, to get those other endings, instead of restarting the game from scratch.
FYI: Reveil Trigger Warnings
Before the game loads up onto the main screen, two warnings come up.
One is a warning for flashing and strobe lighting in the game, for those with epilepsy.
Second warning is more a trigger warning, as Reveil does contain some sensitive subjects.
Which some players may find disturbing and is urged to take regular breaks when playing.
Wait! There are puzzles to do in Reveil?
That's right, there are puzzles in Reveil and you'll encounter a fair few of them throughout the game.
Though some of them can be a bit hard at first, they’re all fun and simple interactions.
A few even involve some fun minigames thrown into them as well.
Not going to lie, I did have to use a guide with some of them as I did get stuck once or twice, as there wasn't much hints at what you are supposed to do.
Reveil - it's like an illustrated realism
On the technical front for graphics, Reveil's enviroments look great.
Every major area of the game looks so real, yet wrong, like a familliar sight turned on it's head.
It also does a thing, where the changes to the apartment are alternated every time you return.
This makes the game more creepy more than terrifying, but there are still plenty of moments to keep you feeling uneasy.
For example, you'll begin to think you're imaging things, when a number items start to shimmer for a couple of seconds.
Sometimes the entire screen will shake, as if it's an earthquake happening, or like Walter is having a seizure.
Now with it being a thriller, there isn't much horror to this game in particular.
Other than a few jump scares scattered throughout the game, Reveil tends to focus more on atmosphere then active horror.
Personally, I was only scared a little bit in the second chapter and that was really it, nothing else.
Bright light bright light!!!
Now I know why the game has a warning about certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear. The flashing and bright white lights in the Reveil, were a bit too much for my liking and were giving me a headache at times.
Even with the brightness turned down, it really didn't help much for me sadly.
Great music is always important
Sung by a haunting female vocalist, there are several original songs in Reveil.
All dark and mysterious indie-pop with folk-based sounds, there are some instrumental tracks as well.
Whilst you can hear them mainly in Walter's living room, some do play during your explorations of the game.
Some faster paced background pieces add to the tension and scary atmosphere.
While gentler tunes complement the more emotional and nostalgic scenes.
Is Reveil worth playing?
To be honest, I enjoyed the storyline of Reveil, it was definitely a mind blowing experience.
If there was a few more jump scares, it would've added more to the game play experience in my opinion, but then again, it would be more of a horror then a thriller type of game. Reveil is fully controller supported as well as being played on keyboard and mouse.
Overall, it's definitely worth a play if you like these types of first - person, psychological games.
Reveil is currently available to play on pc. Click on the links below for where to find it.
Thank you to everyone who took time out of their day to take a moment to read this review, your support is always appreciated and means a lot to me.
XPN Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (Gold)
If you enjoyed this review, make sure to check out the latest reviews on XPN Gaming website.
Comments