Layers of Fear 2

Although less scary than the previous game, Layer of Fear 2 is a beautiful but chilling game with wonderful writing and voice-acting. It maintains pieces of the first game that many loved while changing enough so that it doesn't feel repetitive.

Layers of Fear 2 is an abstract, slow burn psychological thriller that strings you along with increasingly skilled and disturbing imagery, then leaves you shaking and looking over your shoulder.

All in all, Layers of Fear 2 has its flaws but stands out as an improvement over the original, which was still one of the scariest games on PS4 and Xbox One. The sequel's mechanics are the same as the first one: there's no combat, puzzles are sometimes obtusely perplexing, and the control scheme can be somewhat clunky. Yet, the criticisms that the first one was heavily reliant upon age-old gimmicks, cheap deaths, and general mediocrity do not hold water with Layers of Fear 2. It is nothing ground-breaking, but it is a unique horror game that can be easily recommended for lovers of the genre.

The Nintendo Switch is increasing its horror genre library with the spooky port of first-person psychological thriller, Layers of Fear 2. If it’s one thing Bloober Team knows how to do best, it’s their use and portrayal of spine-tingling atmosphere and narrative storytelling skills that have us both intrigued and terrified. Originally released in 2019 on consoles will the unsettling themes and scares still as effective on the Nintendo Switch?

When I started Layers of Fear 2, I was thrust into what looked like a hotel corridor that was flooding. Where was I? Did I miss something important? But then I picked up a mirror and received my first jump scare.

If I could, I would score Layers of Fear 2 somewhere between Null and Infinity, but I can't, and as everyone is going to have a different view on Layers of Fear 2 the score is pretty much irrelevant. If you know your films and consider yourself reasonably intelligent then I would recommend at least taking a look at Layers of Fear 2. I *think* I enjoyed it, but I honestly couldn't promise that you or anyone else would. What an odd curio of a game.

Though it is not without its fair share of flaws, the revamped Layers of Fear contains everything that fans enjoyed about the original series and elevates them with improved visuals and new gameplay mechanics that help alleviate some of the monotony. The writer’s story offers an intriguing through-line that sensibly ties together each narrative thread. Technical hiccups aside, Layers of Fear wraps up the series in a graphically enhanced package that is easily the best way for players both new and old to experience the franchise.

Layers of Fear (2023) does a good job of leaving the core of the original and sequel intact but with major graphical issues and a bland additional story doesn't quite reach the new elevated status it was hoping for. The games on their own still hold up relatively well.

Short on puzzles and scares, Layers of Fear 2 ultimately feels like an overly dark walking simulator. You’ll have covered a fair bit of ground by the time you reach the credits, and avoided some pretty unusual hazards, but the unfair deaths you’ll have suffered along along the way will leave a bad taste in your mouth. And the game’s story doesn’t quite pay off, either. Layers of Fear 2 is a swing and a miss for Bloober Team in my eyes, unfortunately. I just hope it can come back and hit the ball out of the park with its next release.

Method acting.

Layers of Fear 2 has some mildly redeeming qualities, but there are too many better horror games available to waste your time and money on something that requires you to dig so hard for fun.

Credit must go to Bloober Team for setting a different course for its sequel; it's just a shame that it didn't bring the chills and scares that littered the last outing.