Survival Horror is a genre that has been through many forms. We have seen it handled in Resident Evil and Silent Hill, as well as Five Nights at Freddy’s and in many games, like the latter, the genre relies on jump scares rather than true tension and suspense. That is why I found Clea to be a truly interesting game, as a big promise of the game was that there are no jump scares present. This is not exactly true, but the scares in the game due utilize tension and atmosphere far better than most and do not rely on sudden movements to terrify. As time goes on and you play more however, the nature of the fear changes and you realize the game is building to something and knows when to hold back.
The game stars a young girl appropriately named Clea, who with her younger brother following, must explore the Whitlock Mansion to find your way out. Clea’s parents conducted experiments on ghouls called Chaos Servants and they know are pursuing you along your escape. The key to survival is to hide and keep your brother safe and to do so, you will need to explore the mansion and unlock more areas and therefore more places to hide.
Hiding is not a simple matter either as you will need to pay special attention to the game’s audio and visual effects to know when you should stay hidden and when you should make a run for it. The slightest mistake will end in doom, and you need to be patient for the right cue. This is where the game succeeds at survival horror more than others, since you will know when the scare is coming and it is up to you to prevent it. If you are aware of the surroundings and pay proper attention, you will be fine, but the game knows how to increase the tension and make you panic. You will heat footsteps coming or see shadows moving and suddenly have to hide, and if you are not quick enough, then you will meet a sudden end.
This is a game where audio and visuals are of key importance, so do not play with the sound off under any means, or you will simply go nowhere. You may want to play on the TV instead of handheld mode also, in order to better see everything in order to not miss an important cue. This is not to say that handheld mode on the Switch is bad, but due to the dark visuals, you may not see everything. Conversely though, handheld mode may actually bet better for you o hear everything, should you choose to use headphones. If you have a good sound system on your TV though, then that is the way to go. The game uses simple animations to give the game a art style resembling dolls, and the mansion itself feels like a haunted dollhouse. This is great for a setting and definitely gives the game a unique feeling.
I do feel the puzzles the game has , aside from the hiding puzzles, are not that special and are just kind of there, so there is not much point talking about them. It feels like they were shoehorned in when the developers felt they were needed. The hiding mechanics are great but the rest seems just awkward in the overall experience. I do feel Clea has that special something, because it understands how to use fear and scares well, but the confusing controls for the puzzles do hold it back a bit.
In the end, I do cautiously recommend Clea s it is a novel experience when it comes to horror games and something to try any time of the year
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
A review key was provided