This is the beginning of my deeper dive into the world of indie retro style survival horror games that I've been reading more about recently. This isn't the most recommended game but its premise is one that I couldn't resist. This is a game where you play as a guy in his 20's who is playing a horror game. As he plays the game strange things start to happen in his apartment as the game slowly starts to take over his life, blurring the lines of reality. I enjoyed this game a lot. It was a great overall experience with the exception of the graphics as it's very much an indie game but I feel it did a lot for what it had. It's made by mostly one person with a small team of others who helped. And in doing this it allowed him to flesh out interesting concepts with going between the main character's life and the game he's playing and even getting to a level of him playing a game within the game which I loved because each game felt like it modeled something from different favorite series of mine with the first layer being more akin to stealth psychological horror games like PT and Amnesia, the next layer being more like a classic Resident Evil or Silent Hill game but in first person and the third game mentioned being like a more horror focused 2D Zelda like game. The latter was made incredibly scary with its level design with monsters waiting in the shadows waiting to ambush you.
The story in this game was very compelling in finding out the story of the creation of the games within the game. It had me guessing until the end. But even more so the moments of horror and scariness of the game were executed so flawlessly. The music and sound design made encounters with enemies feel threatening at the same level as the juggernauts in the genre. But there were also other moments that I don't want to spoil here because I feel they are best experienced that with some it answered a question that I've had and seen posted around over the years. This is in regards to how a remake or potential remake of Eternal Darkness would be handled with modernizing the sanity effects that mess more with the player than the character. And with some of the stuff that Among Ashes does, it shows what can be done with that, even using the trophy/achievement system to scare the player. Of course with Eternal Darkness being a Nintendo property and them being the only game company that doesn't have said system, if they did remake the game, that likely wouldn't be a thing in it. But when it comes to Among Ashes, the atmosphere and horror experience is one that I recommend to all horror fans, this is truly a hidden gem in the ocean of indie games.