Fear the Spotlight

I would situate my experience with Fear the Spotlight somewhere between Mouthwashing and Resident Evil. The game begins in a very classic way. Two friends, Vivian and Amy, sneak into their school library at night to use a Ouija board. Of course, they're just having fun, never imagining that a spirit will answer. And ô surprise! The spirits did answer. Now Vivian and Amy are separated and plunged into a distorted and nightmarish version of reality. What follows is an adventure split into two parts, each focusing on a different protagonist. Perhaps it's because I had just played a much more complicated game of the same genre, but I found the beginning of Fear the Spotlight so easy it was absurd. The "puzzles" were given with the solution already provided, or with so many hints for such basic actions that it became ridiculous. So, the beginning of the game left me with mixed feelings. But after progressing a bit further, the game improves considerably. In addition to the puzzle-based progression, there are stealth sequences that add a touch of tension to a horror game that remains very accessible for the genre. But, the game focuses more on the story than anything else. Even though the beginning of the game is rather cliché, in the end, I really enjoyed the story. Besides reuniting our two friends, we uncover the story of a past tragedy, in episode 1 with Vivian. And episode 2 focuses on Amy's personal story. I slightly preferred episode 2, which I found better structured. Overall the game is well staged, with a satisfying conclusion. And throughout, the dialogs benefits from good voice acting. In comparison, I do regret the almost complete absence of music. Certain sequences, like the introduction, would have been much more impactful with music. Despite a somewhat lackluster start, I really enjoyed my adventure and its heroines, I highly recommend Fear the Spotlight.

A nice cosy retro horror game, if such a phrase makes sense!