Those Who Remain

The developers of Those Who Remain have crafted a game that excellently takes advantage of atmosphere to enhance the horror. The puzzles are simplistic yet fun, and how this game challenges your moral compass makes it more impactful than many other games in the same genre.

You better have to choose if it’s worth spending your spare cash, because it might not be the game for you and it might be for others.

I have played a lot of indie horror games over the years and many of them follow the same tired tropes. Things like stay out of the dark, a walking sim with occasional puzzles, insert occasional chase sequences, and tackle some dark psychological themes. Those Who Remain from Camel 101 features every one of these. The saving grace for many titles trying to set themselves apart usually comes from having either a strong narrative or well crafted gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, Those Who Rema...

Those Who Remain features an eerie atmosphere, inventive puzzles, and some moments of genuine tension via its shape-shifting world, but fussy controls, one-dimensional stealth, and a narrative that lacks cohesion prevent it from stepping completely out of the darkness and into the spotlight.

Those Who Remain won't stay with you for long, but with some good scares and a story that twists more than I expected, it's a decent horror story for an evening.

With two different endings, Those Who Remain is worth playing through all the way at least once to find out how the story ends. But with so many issues, it’s hard to find the motivation to jump back in to reveal that second ending. There’s a small bit of horror and well-crafted atmosphere on offer, but it’s short lived – and there’s definitely better games to play in the genre. Maybe give it a miss, at least until the technical issues have been (hopefully) fixed.

Although it had some good ideas at the start, Those Who Remain feels like the most cookie cutter horror game possible that barely manages to present anything fresh enough to keep you interested across the six hour playtime.

I'm a massive horror gaming fan, so it's disappointing when games continue to take the same paths in a bid to scare players. Those Who Remain is an example of wasting an interesting beginning and stretching it out over the entirety of a full-length adventure. It's just bland and mediocre – not awful – but forgettable, especially when there are so many better horror stories out there to be told.

Those Who Remain is difficult to recommend, but there is an interesting meditation on guilt, redemption, and judgement hidden amongst an unfortunate mass of clunky design and gameplay. It might even be that watching someone else play the game is the best way to enjoy it, so you won't have to fight the controls and frustrating checkpoints. Ultimately, the game itself fails to live up to the potential of its ideas. This is one that should remain on the shelf.

Although it often looks cool and has some strong level design, Those Who Remain is tedious, and loaded with boring item hunts and frustrating "stealth" sections/

From storytelling to game design, Those Who Remain's tepid approach to its overabundant tropes made me want to leave Dormont as soon as I arrived. My best advice to horror fans: ignore the exit—even if your tank is running low.

Those Who Remain is rife with frustrating puzzles and illogical scenarios, which greatly dilutes its horror experience.